I want to know if there is some kind of secret to keeping small tetras. I have tryed and tryed a few years ago to just give up. But know with all my Angles I love the look of Angles and neons or golds, most of my Angles are very young so I want to get them used to being with small fish before they want to eat them. I bought 3neons and 3golds the other week and I have lost 1 neon. In my past experience they just die off one by one over the coarse of a month. I don't want this to happen, I would like to get a small school for to different tanks with baby angles but don't want to spend the money if they are just going to die. Any thoughts?
Secret to neons???
- Thread starter BobbieBlushing
- Start date
There is no secrete to neons, more like a 50/50 chance. Sometimes the LFS gets a good batch of "neons that never die" other times the LFS gets a very crappy batch of "drop dead neons." I've worked for a LFS, and trust me, neons are just one of those fish that either "work" or "don't work" depending upon 1000 different factors.
Next time you are in the market for neons, visit several LFS and ask them what their turnover rate is on these fish (I used to sell out of 100 neons in a weekend, I probably could've sold even more if I could keep them stocked!). Ask them where they are getting their fish (wholesalers like Segrest Farms use FL based "bulk breeders" while others might import wild fish from SA or use Asian/SA breeders). Home grown fish are more likely to be stronger. Ask them what day the fish arrive, then purchase the neons at least next day. If possible and the LFS turnover is slow, show up every day for a week to monitor how their neons are doing in the store. If for any reason you don't like that store or that batch of neons, don't buy any, not even under the mistaken pretense that they'll do better in your tank once you get them home. Also, beware of the season. Mid to late spring is a bad time for neons because they are spawning, and the breeders are shipping "exhausted" fish to keep up with demand and make room for new spawns. These exhausted breeders suck.
Good luck.
~~Colesea
Next time you are in the market for neons, visit several LFS and ask them what their turnover rate is on these fish (I used to sell out of 100 neons in a weekend, I probably could've sold even more if I could keep them stocked!). Ask them where they are getting their fish (wholesalers like Segrest Farms use FL based "bulk breeders" while others might import wild fish from SA or use Asian/SA breeders). Home grown fish are more likely to be stronger. Ask them what day the fish arrive, then purchase the neons at least next day. If possible and the LFS turnover is slow, show up every day for a week to monitor how their neons are doing in the store. If for any reason you don't like that store or that batch of neons, don't buy any, not even under the mistaken pretense that they'll do better in your tank once you get them home. Also, beware of the season. Mid to late spring is a bad time for neons because they are spawning, and the breeders are shipping "exhausted" fish to keep up with demand and make room for new spawns. These exhausted breeders suck.
Good luck.
~~Colesea
I have heard of bad success rates for neons but more so with cardinals. Something that may cause that is the proper acclimation process. The most common process involves floating bag in the tank, adding tank water every 15mins. Well, for some people that does not work. What does work every time, be it with neons, cardinals, discus whatever, the continious drip method (check out my discus pics). It involves using a 5G pail and some air tubing. By siphoning the tank water thru the air tubing via an adjustable valve (air valves work), you can fill the 5G over a period of an hour or more. I have tried it and prefer this method and have had success with it. Its a start!
Thanks alot for the info, I will just have to be more careful about the neons I buy. The only problem is that I live in a small town and have to travel 30miles there are back. Perhaps this is another factor. The only place in town that sells fish is Wal-Mart and I vowed not to buy any there.
Oh one more question, is there another hardy perhaps slower moving fish that is about the size of a neon that I could try? I do know most of the common species out there but I'm kind of stumped. Thanks Again!
Oh one more question, is there another hardy perhaps slower moving fish that is about the size of a neon that I could try? I do know most of the common species out there but I'm kind of stumped. Thanks Again!
I've had no problems with glo-lite tetras, they look like orange neons<G>. Bloodfin tetras, cherry barbs, harliquine rasboras, white cloud mountain minnows, and danios. All are about neon size, are schooling fish, and seem to do much better than neons IMO.
If you are transporting your fish a long distance (approx for a half hour) your best bet is to do it in an insulated container with an airstone, instead of in their little plastic bag. Get one of those really cheap styrofome cooler type things (a small one of course), line it with a plastic bag, then hook up a battery operated air pump to give it some oxygen. Ask the LFS for enough water to fill your container enough for the fish to swim around in. You can put the lid on and your fish will probaby survive the car ride better. You can then also use this container to acclimate in<G>!
~~Colesea
If you are transporting your fish a long distance (approx for a half hour) your best bet is to do it in an insulated container with an airstone, instead of in their little plastic bag. Get one of those really cheap styrofome cooler type things (a small one of course), line it with a plastic bag, then hook up a battery operated air pump to give it some oxygen. Ask the LFS for enough water to fill your container enough for the fish to swim around in. You can put the lid on and your fish will probaby survive the car ride better. You can then also use this container to acclimate in<G>!
~~Colesea