New Neon Tetras Dying ? :(

[kevarms]

Hi,
New to the forum and seeking help. I've had a tank running for a year with 4 neon tetras and 1 pleco. Last Sunday I added another 5 neons and I think they are struggling for some reason. Last Wednesday I noticed one of the new ones (they are smaller than my older neons) was spending all it's time on the surface. It looked like it was feeding but I've never seen the other neons feeding like that! Friday morning it was dead.
Yesterday another of the new ones started behaving the same and I believe that one will be a goner soon unless I can find out the problem. Going to do a water change today and see if that will help. In the meantime, any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Kevin

 

[The-Wolf]

it is a sad fact that neons, much like their larger cousin cardinals, do not travel very well.
the stress of being caught, bagged, shipped holding center, caught, bagged and shipped to a wholesaler then
to a shop, caught bagged and put in your tank is often too much for them.

 

[kevarms]

So there's nothing I can do? I've changed the water and the little chap is still hanging in there but still spending all his time on the surface.

 

[nmonks]

Basically no. I'd go further than The-Wolf and suggest that most commercially produced neon tetras are raised in very poor conditions and have a very high probability of coming with any one of various bacterial and protozoan pathogens (usually simply called "neon tetra disease" though more than one illness may be involved).

Neons used to be quite expensive, either because they were shipped in from South America, or bred on fish farms but not easily. Over the years, as farms have produced more and more of them, the price has dropped, and the pressure is on farms to produce them ever more cheaply. The only way this can be done is by cramming them into tanks and using masses of antibiotics (and likely hormones) to keep them from getting sick. As soon as they leave the farms, the antibiotics fade away, and the neons gradually get frail and often sicken and die.

If you buy neons for 99p each, as sure as God made little green apples, those neons will have been intensively farmed and the likelihood is high that they will die within a year. Wild-caught neons kept in soft and acidic water conditions can live for up to 4 years. If your retailer is offering wild neons, then definitely go for them, if you have the right water conditions for them.

Your best bet is to opt for cardinal tetras, which may be more expensive but are usually wild caught and if kept in a clean aquarium away from neons usually do very well once settled in. They do need good water quality though, and preferable soft and acidic water as well. Otherwise, opt for some other type of tetra. Several are "bullet-proof", such as x-ray tetras and bleeding heart tetras, both of which are sturdy fish that will last for years of not abused. X-ray tetras thrive in hard water (in the wild they even live in slightly brackish) while bleeding hearts are so fast and agile they're able to survive even with slightly aggressive tankmates such as dwarf cichlids and pufferfish.

Cheers,

Neale

So there's nothing I can do? I've changed the water and the little chap is still hanging in there but still spending all his time on the surface.

 

[kevarms]

Thanks for your informative reply. I was quite surprised to hear that commercially bred neons are prone to disease. I had thought neons were very hardy fish, one of the reasons I opted for them, and my originals are now over a year old.

It's too bad there isn't much I can do about the new ones dying off (the sick one was dead when I came home this evening) apart from keeping my fingers crossed.

I'm in Ireland and the variety of fish available here is pretty limited. I've seen cardinal tetras but my water is quite hard. X-rays sound a better bet if I can find them.

Thanks again,
Kevin

 

[nmonks]

If you have hard to very hard water, then my suggestion would be to get fish suited to that. Life is always much easier with fish suited to your water conditions.

X-rays tetras are ideal. Other hard-water tetras include cave tetras, red-eye tetras (Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae), Beunos Aires tetras, black widow tetras, and bloodfin tetras. All of these will do pH 7.5-8.0 and a hardness of up to 35 degrees-GH. Neons, cardinals, glowlights, bleeding hearts, Congo tetras and so on all prefer soft water and don't always work well in hard water. Some people with them manage fine, but others don't so it's a bit of a gamble buying them.

Also consider livebearers, rainbowfish, gobies, wrestling halfbeaks, and glassfish, all of which either prefer or tolerate well hard water conditions. There are also numerous "rare" livebearers about like goodeids that are out there if you search (sometimes you can buy them through fish clubs or at auctions). Obviously, you can also keep any of the Rift Valley cichlids in hard water, and with a bit of salt, brackish fish, too.

Hard water is actually a blessing once you understand it. Plants that like hard water thrive without CO2 fertilisation, and hard water resists pH changes making it wonderfully stable. Snails and shrimps will do well without "dissolving away", and you can use things like shells as caves for gobies without worrying about water chemistry. The filter bacteria also seem to like hard, alkaline water better, so all in all you can expect good water quality as well as stable chemistry. But you do have to understand what fish will do well in hard water, and hunt them out.

Cheers,

Neale