So I did my research and got what I thought was going to be good tank mates: 1 male Betta and 6 neon tetras. This is for a 10 gallon tank. Water readings are 0 across the board and the tank is cycled. I haven't seen the aggression but I believe the Betta is killing the tetras. I've had 3 dead ones in less tan 24 hours. The first 2 had one missing eye and the 3rd one looked fine. What should I do? Should I take the last 3 tetras out? If so what can cohabitate with the betta?
frustrated!
- Thread starter aryle85
- Start date
If you have no nitrate your tank is not cycled and neons tend to be rather sensitive in a lot of situations. They could have had problems before you brought them home. I haven't had that problem with my bettas, but if you added them all at once it is possible I suppose that the betta, who was probably never out of a cup, felt the commotion of 6 neons all at once was threatening. I always spend a lot of time watching when I first add new fish to see if there is any aggression.
It's not uncommon to loose a few of your fleet of neons right after getting them home. It's said that the way they're mass produced and shipped out, stresses them.
On my last neon purchase (Petco). I bought 15. 5 died within days. ~5 months later, I still have the remaining 10. Once they're settled in to a healthy, consistent environment, they will live a long time. I've read that they can live 6yrs.
On my last neon purchase (Petco). I bought 15. 5 died within days. ~5 months later, I still have the remaining 10. Once they're settled in to a healthy, consistent environment, they will live a long time. I've read that they can live 6yrs.
I've also experienced this, they are much more sensitive to water quality, they do not tolerate salt, and should be treated like catfish with tank conditions. I have tried to add tetra's to my tanks twice. The first time I didn't realize my ph was so high, and the change shocked them, the second survived quite well at first, I added a bag of peat to lower the ph initially, and figured through WC's they would be introduced to my high ph water. In quarantine they showed signs of Ich, so I elevated the water temp, added an airstone, and very slowly added salt, to a SG of about 1 over the course of a week, they were not happy with that.
At any rate I probably won't go after neon's until I have a RO unit, and a tank they can be by themselves in, my 2 tanks would eat them as fast as they could be added.
At any rate I probably won't go after neon's until I have a RO unit, and a tank they can be by themselves in, my 2 tanks would eat them as fast as they could be added.
Thank you for all the help! I am going to continue to monitor them. I had a 4th die on me while I was at church, this one was actually torn open, and I have seen the aggression towards the tetras from the betta. If none of these make it, what else can I put in there? Or is there a way to integrate the new fish without the betta getting territorial? There is a large cave and plenty of fake plants.
Sounds like your beta might be somewhat aggressive. Usually you'll want to put similar sized fish together, and of similar temperaments. The tetra's are quite a bit smaller than the beta so that probably had something to do with it, Giant Danios might be large enough to keep him from bullying them, but they are reasonably docile from what I understand. Large mollies or platty's might also work as they are both around 3" or larger when grown.
I bought 30 from a really good LFS who had them for about a month before i got them. have not had a single one die yet. years ago i had a 10 gallon and got 10 from petco. within 2 weeks all but 2 had died. to me it seems like it depends on where u buy the fish and how fresh they are. if the store just got them in and then they get netted out and sent home with u, thats alot of stress for those little guys. and neons are not exactly the most hardy of fish to begin with.