Just wondering if anyone had any good neon tetra stories. My LFS has about twenty of them together, they have been in the store about a month. They all look fantastic, and healthy, such a pretty little fish. I am wary of them from all I have read though. The internet seems to think that they are hardy fish, and I suppose they once were. Anyone had long term success with them?? My LFS says they have had no problems with them, and say they are hardy, but isn't that what they always say??
Any good neon tetra stories??
- Thread starter denali1234
- Start date
I think they tend to be overly inbred these days, so you have to be careful of what you get for stock. It would help to know where they were bred if that is something you can find out. I had neons as a kid and they thrived for years, but I haven't had any for a long time. It seems like there are more fish with weak genetics available now than there were in the past, due at least in part to the mass production of them.
The major complaints that I've heard about neon tetras have to do with the way they are raised (these are the ones from SE Asia).
The water in which they are raised is medicated (in a prophylactic way), and they may or may not be artificially exposed to testosterone in order to make them show colors at a younger age.
Both of which lead to weak stock, and that leads to many stories of newly aquired neons dying.
The water in which they are raised is medicated (in a prophylactic way), and they may or may not be artificially exposed to testosterone in order to make them show colors at a younger age.
Both of which lead to weak stock, and that leads to many stories of newly aquired neons dying.
Anything to sell you something.....IMO they are the opposite of hardy and a loottt of people have problems acclimating them and find that they won't last long for them. and NTD is always a good concern as well.
is it just me or are these robots..hardy some can be,,2 neon tetras cycled my tank and went through .50 ppm amonia and .25ppm nitrites,,,very hardy mine were :thm:
i donated them to my lfs and they are in a q tank right now
it is true that the mass production of these is weakening their genetics but you can still find good suppliers
i donated them to my lfs and they are in a q tank right now
it is true that the mass production of these is weakening their genetics but you can still find good suppliers
some of my current neons I've had for over a year. But I got a bad batch from meijers, learned my lesson and won't buy their fish anymore. 3 of the 4 I got died! But if you keep good water conditions, and make sure they look good when you buy them to begin with, qt them you should be fine. You might want to QT for longer than normal, like a month or more, that is about when mine died, plus they should show any illness by then for sure! I think they get a bad rap, but I also don't think they should be labeled as beginner fish, they can be kind of delicate!
Neons are great i actually had mine breed and 2 of the babys survived and became 2 of my 4 neons now!
i think if you keep good water conditions and do proper maintenance etc. they do fine, given that you got healthy fish when you bought them. I think people often misunderstand that because a fish is popular and "hardy" means that you don't have to give it the same basic care as the expensive fancy looking fish in the next tank.
I have had great luck with Neons. Wal-Mart purchased Neon's at that. I have about 20 in a 55G most of which were there from the day I started the tank. This was before I found this site and knew anything about the cycle. So they were pretty much thrown into a freshly filled tank.