Sick Neon Tetras

[Jenniferhowe]

I'm not sure what is wrong with my school on Neons. Two of my Gouramis had drospy in this same tank, but the Neons are showing some different symptoms. Some , but not all of them have big bellies. They seem to get allot bigger after I feed them. And I don't feed them very much I am very careful not to over feed all my fish. And they swim with their tails in the air at about a 45 degree angle. Can anyone tell me what is going on. Could the big bellies be babies in there or are they just sick and I need to go buy more meds. They also seem very territorial. They are nipping at my Gouramis fins. Usually it's the other way around.

 

[Guardian]

There are a couple possibilities that I can think of...

1: The Neons with big bellies are females carrying eggs. You would need to create a place for them to spawn, preferable a place with live plants that they can scatter their eggs in.

2: They have bloat or Neon Disease (Plistophora). In this case, there isn't much you can do as they are going to die.

I would plan on them spawning and get some live plants for them to scatter their eggs in.

 

[beaver8888]

i dunno

 

[Wormo3188]

Your fish dont sound so good. Check your water peramiters, this could be caused by bad water quality, the Gouramis got dropsy and the neons could be getting something else. Your tank doesnt sound like it is in the best of conditions.

 

[beaver8888]

i would check water that always messes uyp all my fish that could be it?

 

[tramca]

Will neons only drop their eggs in real plants?
Why not plastic ones?
Stupid ? I know but I'm not too bright.

Ta

 

[tetra girl]

Yes neons like to have live plants to spawn. the best thing to get for neons to drop is java moss. yes it can look messy and strangle other plants but my neons just love the stuff and its cheap. it is normal for them to be on a 45 degree angle. this is also a sign of breeding as neons usually go completly vertical over a spawning substrate when they are spawning. also check your water conditions pH Gh Kh nitrites ammonia and all that stuff. Good luck!

 

[theeyrietrainer]

If this is so, my fish once did this but they never laid their eggs on our plant!

 

[tetra girl]

re: theeyrietrainer
maybe your neons just werent ready. they are quite difficult to breed as they are really fussy about their water (eg filtered rainwater). and maybe they did lay eggs but eat them all. they are very hard to see as they are so tiny

 

[fishface]

i dont mean to burst ur buble but i dout they are pregant the female neon tetras are lager than males and they become ball shaped when they are sexually mature. i thought the same same with mine but they wasnt pregant or sick just older and more mature.congatulations if they r but i dont think they are there v. hard to breed.

 

[SAMTHETORCH]

I HAVE NEON TETRAS! THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL FISH AND I LOVE THEM!
THE PROBLEM IS THAT ONE OF THEM IS LOSING ITS COLOR AND I AM WORRIED! THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY PRETTIEST FISH! IT IS RED AND I WANT TO SAY TEAL BUT NOW IT IS ALMOST LIKE IT IS VANISHING! PLEASE CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM? I HAVE GONE TO THE PET STORE AND THEY H AVE NO CLUE!
IF YOU CAN HELP I WILL BE GREATFUL!
THANKS LORA

 

[spikekillifish]

Hello Lora,

How many neons do you have?
What size tank are they in?
How long have you had the fish?
How active is the fish in question?
Do you test your water chemistry and perform routine water changes?
How old is the tank?

The above info will help us better in determining your situation. Unfortunately many of the Neon tetra strains available in the industry today have been quite suspect. Many in the hobby share your same experience. You might want to isolate the fish if its condition continues to deteriorate.

On a different note welcome to the "Tank"!!!

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Color

In my experience with neons whatever symptoms they had.......they always lost their color a good bit right before they died. Just watch for it.

 

[fishface]

they loose there colurs at night if thats when it is and they get them back in the morning.

 

[revfred]

I agree with those who say you got some sick fish there. What else you got in the tank with them? Also, agree with those who say to check your water parameters. They are a pretty fragile fish and easily stressed. They do prefer a low-light tank, and do well if there is some floating plants . . . water lettuce is a good one for them. Are you doing water changes?

Have had difficulties with them myself. I switched to Cardinal Tetras and have had better success.