Unexplained deaths

momar

momar

Born too late
Jan 6, 2006
410
0
0
37
UK
Since I added 12 neons to my 96l one year ago, I have lost 6. This has happened very gradually, with them dying off one by one. One of them, which died about 3 weeks ago, was very thin and had been for a while. Otherwise, i don't know what could have caused the deaths. They are well fed, the tank is well filtered with 30-40% weekly water changes, 0 ammonia and nitrite (<12 nitrate), and no fish are aggressive to them. On two occassions I couldn't find the bodies (was it my marbled syno?). Otherwise I have always found corpses (today being chewed on by an amano shrimp, which i doubt killed it). Any ideas?

Thanks,
momar
 
I have always had a hard time keeping neons ..I would add 12 then over time I would loose 1 at a time till I had only a couple.

I recently switched to black neons...I have only lost 1 of 8 in over 2 months.
 
small schooling fish in general are just something you have to assume will die off quickly and easily. They're low on the evolutionary scale - hence the schooling activity, which means they're only defense from predators is safety in numbers. They're not the smartest or most developed fish in the tank.

Neons are especially sensitive nowadays because they are so overbred. They lack a lot of their wild hardiness and are instead nothing much more than ornamental dainties. It's really sad. But the truth. basically you just treat them as disposable and replaceable. Really, truly sad.
 
Maybe it's not categorically the truth - I'm hoping to avoid all of that by spending more money for them up front, to ensure they come healthy, and are bred by the best establishments.
 
Thanks everyone. I always assumed neons were pretty hardy because they're so common...oh well
 
NeonJulie said:
Maybe it's not categorically the truth - I'm hoping to avoid all of that by spending more money for them up front, to ensure they come healthy, and are bred by the best establishments.
Click to expand...

this should increase the probability of getting a good source for neons.
I think part of the problem is in the hurry to meet demand..some breeders cut corners..resulting in 'issues' down the road.
 
I've had the same problem. The LFS I buy neons at sells 2 kinds of neons, littler ones are 2 for a buck, bigger ones are 1.99 each. I bought 6 of the .50 cent ones, and I'm down to 3. All that died looked perfectly when I looked at the little corpse for any sign of fungus or mutilation. No clue why. (Maybe those were feeder fish?)

The last one that died looked 'boney', like shriveled or something. Maybe he wasn't getting enough food?

People say that they've been inbred so much that they aren't as hardy as they used to be.

Poor little guys.
 
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