# save my neon tetras!



## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

Hey all, I've had my crowntail betta for about 2 months now, living in a 1.5 gallon tank and had recently decided to upgrade his home to a 10 gallon. I bought a tetra 10 gallon starter kit ( from Walmart ugggghh) and of course it sprang a leak almost immediately after setup ( do not recommend buying anything pet related at Walmart) so I returned it and got the aqueon basic 10 ( which works great minus not having LEDs but an excellent 4 stage filtration system) set it all up and ran the filter + heater for 24 hours, a steady temp of 78 was established and my betta was successfully introduced after about an hour in the bag slowly adding water. After a week I began looking at introducing a small school of neon tetras and a few ghost shrimp. I had introduced them exactly how I had for my betta and after some funny betta type spy behaviour he had more or less lost interest in the school of 7 tetras. However approximately every 24 hours one tetra disappears or turns up dead... Or nearly completely eaten by my ghost shrimp. Help!!


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

After the first death I had added some aquarium moss to help with the cycle.


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## Rosalinds (Feb 15, 2014)

Maybe Neon Tetra disease? A friend warned me about that before I got my tetras. You should do a quick google search on that to see if your tetras display any of the signs. Also, I would advise quarantining tankmates before adding them to the community, just to keep diseases and such out of the tank. I'm keeping my tetras in a quarantine tank for two weeks before adding them. Just a thought for next time.


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

I hate to tell you but your tank is not cycled and Neon Tetra are far more sensitive to the spikes your tank is experiencing than the Betta. 

Here is a thread about cycling. 

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=111960

At this point, there's not really anything you can do, unless you rehome them to someone with a cycled tank.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

Thank you for the replies, definitially not cycled enough. I had recieved some poor advice from a friend saying that they were a hardy fish that could survive a tank through a cycle. I guess ill return the surviving three as I do not wish to doom anymore to complete a school. Shame though, my daughter and I really like them.


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

carefreesparrow said:


> Thank you for the replies, definitially not cycled enough. I had recieved some poor advice from a friend saying that they were a hardy fish that could survive a tank through a cycle. I guess ill return the surviving three as I do not wish to doom anymore to complete a school. Shame though, my daughter and I really like them.


Once you are done cycling you can add more fish. I don't tend to recommend tetra because Betta fish don't tend to like their quickness. 

Also, I would recommend rehoming your ghosites, I'm surprised they didn't drop before the tetra. They don't handle fluctuations well either.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

What would you recommend as a tankmate? Mind you my betta has not exhibited any hostility towards the tetra just curiosity as he does with any decor that I have added. So I'd be concerned about adding any corys for example as they seem to get a little defensive when approached.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

Zebra danios I hear are a little hardier but tend to fin nip as well.... Or is that accurate, I like schooling fish and my betta seems not to mind a bit of commotion, however I do want to keep him safe.. also the feedback I'm getting about the ghosties is that they have a higher tolerance then bettas as far as ph is concerned and of course given their diet a higher tolerance to ammonia but do need more oxygen in the water which I have with the aquarium moss and the HOB filter. ( in fact I thought one had died but it was just the shredded version I had seen


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

carefreesparrow said:


> Zebra danios I hear are a little hardier but tend to fin nip as well.... Or is that accurate, I like schooling fish and my betta seems not to mind a bit of commotion, however I do want to keep him safe.. also the feedback I'm getting about the ghosties is that they have a higher tolerance then bettas as far as ph is concerned and of course given their diet a higher tolerance to ammonia but do need more oxygen in the water which I have with the aquarium moss and the HOB filter.


Hmm.. well in my experience ghosties aren't hardy at all. I've never had them survive even the smallest spikes, and I work at a pet store and they are the least hardy of all the species we have in the tanks. They die more often than they live it seems. 

As for tank mates, I really like Platys personally (if your daughter is young, you could get a Mickey Mouse Platy, my cousins children love my Mickey Mouse Platys). Danios do okay with Betta fish, but I have heard that they can annoy each other (similar to the Neon tetras). Also, even though 10g is minimum for Danios, I believe they tend to do best in 15+. I've also heard of people liking ember tetras as alternatives to neons.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

NeptunesMom said:


> Hmm.. well in my experience ghosties aren't hardy at all. I've never had them survive even the smallest spikes, and I work at a pet store and they are the least hardy of all the species we have in the tanks. They die more often than they live it seems.
> 
> As for tank mates, I really like Platys personally (if your daughter is young, you could get a Mickey Mouse Platy, my cousins children love my Mickey Mouse Platys). Danios do okay with Betta fish, but I have heard that they can annoy each other (similar to the Neon tetras). Also, even though 10g is minimum for Danios, I believe they tend to do best in 15+. I've also heard of people liking ember tetras as alternatives to neons.


Ooh, I like the platy idea definitially will look into that, thanks! Maybe I just lucked out with my ghosts, but ya they seem to be doing alright.... Maybe that will change once they don't get a feast of tetra everyday.


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## Artemis (Mar 9, 2013)

Ghostie babies are the worst as far as hardiness but I had a bunch and never had problems. I also had 2 neon tetras (ya I know not good) in with my females for a long long time and they were fine. They helped cycle the tank and I never had problems with them and spikes or anything like that. Maybe it varies on where you get them?

NO DANIOS. They are very bad fin nippers and pester a lot of tankmates. Harlequin rasboras are nice little guys though.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

Artemis said:


> Ghostie babies are the worst as far as hardiness but I had a bunch and never had problems. I also had 2 neon tetras (ya I know not good) in with my females for a long long time and they were fine. They helped cycle the tank and I never had problems with them and spikes or anything like that. Maybe it varies on where you get them?
> 
> NO DANIOS. They are very bad fin nippers and pester a lot of tankmates. Harlequin rasboras are nice little guys though.


Thanks for the tip, yeah after some further research and advice ive decided against danios, seem pretty vicious especially in anything under 15g. You've had good experiences with rasboras? Don't know anything about them.


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

Rasboras are beautiful, but I wouldn't put them in a 10g with a Betta, they are just as speedy as neons, but are bigger. My rasboras are in a 20g, and they zip around that tank non-stop. They also are a schooling fish, so you'd need at least 5+. In my experience, it seems about 8 are the right number.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

There are other rasbora species that are suitable for a 10 gallon, but the problem is that such fish could be eaten. I don't think it's likely to happen, but the chances are good enough to warrant a warning. It's really up to the betta though. Some don't care, some care a lot, and most fall somewhere in the middle. It's really a trial and error thing - the best thing you can do is make good decisions (like not putting danios in a 10 with a betta) and hope for the best. You certainly have some control over the success of the setup, though.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

I still like the mickey mouse platy. Id be happy to have my ten gallon stocked with ghosties platies and my betta if everybody would be happy.


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## Artemis (Mar 9, 2013)

They like to school, are live bearers and breed very easily, and can get fairly large. I wouldn't put them into a 10 gal. Have you thought of getting some sort of bottom feeder to get up any leftover food before adding others? You don't want to decide you need something on the bottom when your bio-load is at it's max.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

Artemis said:


> They like to school, are live bearers and breed very easily, and can get fairly large. I wouldn't put them into a 10 gal. Have you thought of getting some sort of bottom feeder to get up any leftover food before adding others? You don't want to decide you need something on the bottom when your bio-load is at it's max.


Have 3 ghost shrimp in there.. their keeping the place relatively tidy. Was hoping for something more mid tank.... Er possibly even top tank as my betta loves to hog any food I put in there.... ( in order to get anything below midtank I have to utilize the current of my hob filter)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Artemis (Mar 9, 2013)

I forgot about the ghosties. Hmm. All out of ideas. Maybe take a look around your LFS, see what you like, go home and research them so you can pick some out?


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## NeptunesMom (May 4, 2012)

Artemis said:


> They like to school, are live bearers and breed very easily, and can get fairly large. I wouldn't put them into a 10 gal. Have you thought of getting some sort of bottom feeder to get up any leftover food before adding others? You don't want to decide you need something on the bottom when your bio-load is at it's max.


If you get all females you will be fine. Even our dumbest employee can sex a platy. If the OP brings home a pregnant platy, (which is always possible), the OP should be able to tell the fish is pregnant during the two week QT period. They don't school in the sense that a neon tetra will. They will be content in groups of 3-5.


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## scootshoot (Oct 11, 2010)

carefreesparrow said:


> After the first death I had added some aquarium moss to help with the cycle.


Cycle? So it's still cycling?

Neon Tetra's are very sensitive to water parameters (learned the hard way myself). I wouldn't add any Neon's less the tank is completely cycled.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

NeptunesMom said:


> If you get all females you will be fine. Even our dumbest employee can sex a platy. If the OP brings home a pregnant platy, (which is always possible), the OP should be able to tell the fish is pregnant during the two week QT period. They don't school in the sense that a neon tetra will. They will be content in groups of 3-5.


Hmm, if I were to decide on male and two females and ended up with Platy fry, it wouldn't survive with my betta and ghosties around. Would it?


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## Artemis (Mar 9, 2013)

The fry would have an okay chance if there are plants. Some ghosties might try for them some might not. Depends on how many hiding spots they have. They get big though, around 2 inches. And they have a lot of fry at once. And often.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

Eeks, your right definitially don't want that.. looks like a sorority of 3 it is. I'm off to lfs for a test kit, hopefully my cycle is complete in the next week er so. I have a 1.5g qt tank set up for their arrival.... Seems maybe too small even as a qt for 3 fish though, I should get another one and then split the three ?


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Female Live bearers can store sperm from several males for a long time. It is entirely possible to get a few pregnancies, not just one. Of course it WILL stop sooner or later, once she runs out of sperm.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

I picked up my 3 females in the quarintine tank now, pretty excited to see how well they will get along with my male betta, I really hope theirs no fin nipping. I'm hearing a lot of mixed things. Ammonia levels were still pretty high in the tank last I checked. Looks like 50% water changes everyday to keep levels around .25 ( will check again when I'm home from work. The females I have are less than 4 months old so shouldnt have reached mating age yet.... I hope they are anyways. That's what the los had told me.


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## carefreesparrow (Mar 24, 2014)

Okay here's the lowdown. My ammonia levels have dropped and nitrates spiked removed my betta did a 50 water change, nitrates went down, put in another Marino moss ball for good measure. After 24 hrs lvls are still all goo, rearranged my decor to introduce my platies.... Who have been doing poorly in my hospital tank ( lucid, mostly hanging out at the bottom minus feeding time) and they seemed great in my ten gallon... Reintroducing my betta though,aggression almost immediately! Left him in overnight and through the next workday to find the platies living in terror lol. Had a feeling that might happen so I'm rehoming him into a 3 gallon tank tomorrow where he can stay by himself.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## fishyface323 (Jan 25, 2014)

Tetras do much better in an established tank than a new one. If it is cycled and has been running smoothly for six months or so, you're good to go. If it's a brand new tank, they don't do so well.


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