"Mike" wrote in message
om...
Net damage on a Neon is usually a broken backbone. They would really
have to be brutal to have destroyed a tailfin to just a few spines,
so
I'm more inclined to think the fish was being attacked (anything else
in
the tank besides Neons?), and/or is diseased (weak or diseased fish
are
more likely to be attacked). My further inclination would be to
return
the Neon to the store for exchange.

Thanks for the advice. I had hand-picked 3 neons from the tank, and in
the 2 hours from store to tank (1 hour in the bag, cycling water), the
tailfins disappeared. The only thing in the tank and bag were tetras,
and I don't see anything that looks like dead skin in the bag.

In retrospect, I watched the guy at PetSmart trying to dump the tetras
from the net to the bag, and he was pinching the net itself with one
hand while shaking it with the other. I'm almost certain that he was
pinching the tailfin. I don't think that its back is broken, since
it's made a few major jumps in my tank.

If you wanted to keep the Neon, then Melafix the water to discourage
fin
rot, separate the fish if it's getting attacked, and watch for any
signs
of diseases which can use the sick Neon as a host before jumping to
other
fish.

Taking it back isn't really an option; PetSmart is about an hour drive
from me, and that's not worth the $2. I don't have a hospital tank to
separate him, but so far he doesn't look like he's being attacked.
I'll use Melafix on the entire tank, unless you say it's a bad idea.

I've used Melafix in my Neon tank many times. Works fine, slow but mild
stuff.

Fin re-growth varies by fish type, age and amount of damage.
Typically,
I think that within 3-4 months it's all or mostly all back. Larger
older
fish take longer, and smaller younger fish cure much faster.

Do you think he'll be able to swim in 3 months? It looks like a young
fish, but since neons are naturally small, it's tough to tell. Right
now, it's pretty tough to get food to him, and like I said, I don't
have a separate tank to keep him isolated.

They can swim without the tailfin. They just have to work their pectoral
fins much harder. Try to feed directly over the affected Neon for a
while. If the Neon is not getting harassed, then the best place is
probably with everyone else, but the key is that it's not getting
harassed. Fish have a way of knowing when one of them is not 100%, often
before we know about it. Some fish will take advantage of that, so you
will neet to keep a watchful eye. If a problem develops, you could float
a breeding net in the tank for that Neon for a while.
--
http://www.netmax.tk/

Thanks again for the advice,

Mike