question about neon tetras
 

I have a few neon tetras mixed with some guppies. They appear to get along during the day, but I always seem to lose one after I turn off the lights and check on them the following morning. Are the tetras naturally weak? The guy at the LFS told me that tetras have the highest death rate at the fish store and was trying to convince me not to buy them.

Rodney wrote:


I have a few neon tetras mixed with some guppies. They appear to get
along during the day, but I always seem to lose one after I turn off the
lights and check on them the following morning. Are the tetras naturally
weak? The guy at the LFS told me that tetras have the highest death rate
at the fish store and was trying to convince me not to buy them.

Neons are bred in their millions in ponds in places like Singapore.
There is very little quality control. How long has your tank been set
up? What are your water parameters like, pH, GH, KH, NH3, NO2, NO3? Bear
in mind that guppies naturally come from slightly alkaline, hard water
while neons come from acid, very soft water. While both will exist in
different conditions it is hard to find an optimum for both species.

BTW can you turn off MIME/html on your newsreader and just use plain
text please? I have to reformat your post in order to make it
presentable.

Peter
--
Add my middle initial to email me. It has become attached to a country

Thusly "Rodney" Spake Unto All:

I always seem to lose one after I turn off the lights and check on them the following morning.
Are the tetras naturally weak?

Yes, neon tetras are in my experience weak. As has been pointed out
this is probably due to the way they are bred in south-east asia:
there's no culling of weak fish, and they're bred with prophylactic
dosing of antibiotics, meaning the breeder experiences few losses, but
the downside is that the fry never develops its immuno defence system.
When the antibiotics leave their system, they're wide open to
infection.

My experience is that the deaths taper off with time, so that after a
couple of months you'll be left with about 1/2 of your original neons.
The remainder will prove quite hardy and long-lived.

Note that this is my personal experiences with neons. This has been
discussed before, and many reported very few losses with neons, and
many considered neons to be very hardy fish.

"Rodney" wrote in message . com...

I have a few neon tetras mixed with some guppies. They appear to get along during the day, but I always seem to lose one after I turn off the lights and check on them the following morning. Are the tetras naturally weak? The guy at the LFS told me that tetras have the highest death rate at the fish store and was trying to convince me not to buy them.

Both species are bred overseas, and tend to die off quickly over here. You need to develop your own strain it seems to keep them well.

--
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

I also have some red minor tetras that are doing extremely well. Should I go ahead and put them back into the community tank? They seemed too hyper for the other fish to handle.

--
RODNEY WONG
"jk" wrote in message et...

"Rodney" wrote in message . com...

I have a few neon tetras mixed with some guppies. They appear to get along during the day, but I always seem to lose one after I turn off the lights and check on them the following morning. Are the tetras naturally weak? The guy at the LFS told me that tetras have the highest death rate at the fish store and was trying to convince me not to buy them.

Both species are bred overseas, and tend to die off quickly over here. You need to develop your own strain it seems to keep them well.

--
JK Sinrod
Sinrod Stained Glass Studios
www.sinrodstudios.com
Coney Island Memories
www.sinrodstudios.com/coneymemories

Rodney wrote:

I have a few neon tetras mixed with some guppies. They appear to get along during the day, but I always seem to lose one after I turn off the lights and check on them the following morning. Are the tetras naturally weak? The guy at the LFS told me that tetras have the highest death rate at the fish store and was trying to convince me not to buy them.

How big are the neons? They only have a life span of about 1 year, and often
the large ones are 6-9 months old by the time they are sold in stores.


Sean
http://FishGeeks.com
http://FishBanners.com
http://FishClubs.com

Thusly Sean Spake Unto All:

How big are the neons? They only have a life span of about 1 year, and often
the large ones are 6-9 months old by the time they are sold in stores.

True about them being 6-9 months, not true about their life span.
Their maximum lifespan is about 10 years. I personally have tetras
which have been with me for over 2.5 years.

Mean_Chlorine wrote:

Thusly Sean Spake Unto All:


How big are the neons? They only have a life span of about 1 year, and often
the large ones are 6-9 months old by the time they are sold in stores.


True about them being 6-9 months, not true about their life span.
Their maximum lifespan is about 10 years. I personally have tetras
which have been with me for over 2.5 years.


I do not believe the neons live to 10 years, but I'll do some digging and see
what I can find out.

Sean

Don't know about ten years but I've have them past six. I've had black neons
eight years.

I do not believe the neons live to 10 years, but I'll do some digging and
see what I can find out.

Sean