why do neon tetras die so easily

A question arose while chatting a few weeks back. That I thought needed addressing so here it is in this very article. What is it I hear you cry? (.) As the title of the article suggests why do neon tetras die so easily? (.) What are the reasons behind neon tetras dying and do neon tetra die easily? (.)

We hear frequently of tetras being hard to keep and stories of neon tetras died within 24 hours. Or that neon tetras died overnight. Do these colorful (how did neon tetras get so colorful click to find out) fish die easily. Or is something else at play? (.) Come with me as I take a look and I think we will find it’s something else at play.

Do Neon Tetra Die Easily

No neon tetra are hardy fish and don’t die easily if they are dying it’s probably caused by stress poor water conditions overcrowding of living space or trying to keep on their own. These fish must be kept in groups of 6 or more.

Awesome that answers the basic question but let’s look a little deeper and look at some courses of concern. What happens when water conditions are not right or we overstock or underserve our neon tetras. As we should be keeping them in a reasonable size tank and have at least 6 of these fish kept together.

Do neon tetras chase each other  Yes and this can indeed cause some stress they usually only chase each other to determine pack/ group order courting mating practices and when the group feels threatened usually when the group is too small in number ie under 6.

If you want to know more on this please feel free to click the above link for an article on why neon tetra sometimes fight.

How Long Do Neon Tetras Live

So far we’ve assessed that water conditions and overcrowding as well as not having enough neon to effectively school together can be problematic. How about we slow down and go back to the beginning how long do neon tetras live? (.)

These fish can live for up to ten (10) years which is pretty good for aquarium fish in general so why on earth do some hobbyists think they die so quickly it’s definitely not the norm. 

Neon Tetra Keep Dying

In order to fully answer this valid question, we need to know more about the situation. So let’s take a few hypotheticals and piece them together.

Neon Tetra Died Suddenly

Assuming we can rule out disease as we know neon tetra are susceptible to what’s known as neon tetra disease and other infections. like dropsy but these would take some time to manifest within your tank.

Some symptoms you should look out for when buying these awesome little fish are cysts and lumps and bumps across the fish’s body. Difficulty swimming never purchases a fish you think has difficulty swimming always take some time to observe them first. A curved spine loss of color I realize these two are hard to gauge while observing in a pet shop environment. Nonetheless, these are all signs of neon tetra disease so be careful.

That being said this would take time its not a sudden death what would make neon tetras die suddenly? So what would kill neon tetras suddenly introducing them too fast without acclimatizing them first.

These fish are used to water conditions from where you purchased them now you have put them straight in with your water conditions with a bunch of strange fish. Stress from your water being too hard or soft too hot etc can kill a fish.

Maybe everything seemed fine but there was some bullying from other tankmates or a bigger fish tried to eat the poor little neon and you never realized. So it seemed sudden but it may have taken longer.

Neon Tetras Died Overnight

Ah this happens to be a more realistic occurrence we may see things as sudden but it could and probably does take longer. your fish dying overnight or within 24 hours will generally and unfortunately the same reasons as them dying on the same day as you added them to the tank.

They could have picked up a bacterial infection so check your water parameters and make sure all the other tankmates are ok. But this is a bit too fast for them to have died so chances are they have not acclimatized to your tank’s conditions or they have been attacked by another fish.

One of if not the main reasons for neon tetras or any fish to be honest to die within the first 3 days of you introducing them is acclimatization.

Basically, they were not able to tolerate the water conditions, or more commonly you have not cycled the tank for long enough or even cycled the tank at all. All tetra including our neon tetras are sensitive fish and shouldn’t be added first to a new tank.

Start by adding some mollies guppies and then tetra before adding neon tetras. As they don’t do so well in new tanks. 

Neon Tetras Dying Off One By One

Why are my tetras dying? We have looked into the sudden changes and acclimatizing of our fish this can play a big part in fish health. Fish can die within hours and up to 3 days after adding new fish to our tanks.

Poor water conditions temperature ph levels can all play a role but what if our little neon is dying off one by one over time? (.) There could be a bacteria or parasite which can lead to symptoms called dropsy so again id check the fish regularly.

Check that the other fish in the tank are ok. Neon tetra does seem susceptible as we’ve discussed so check that they have no lumps and bumps appearing. Check the fish’s color too as this is a great indicator of health in these little neon fish.

If the waters are fine and the other tetras look good then id say you have a predator eating your little fish. I know it’s out of order as you’ve spent the monies getting these beautiful fish but they are small and only grow about 1 and a half inches.

Avoid larger fish with neon tetras Id avoid cichlids Angelfish and even silver sharks. Even some of the bigger tetra have tried in our house. There’s a saying a kind of rule of thumb and it goes something like anything over four inches with a mouth may eat a neon tetra.

Not sure how true but it lets us as hobbyists remember to be vigilant we have to watch out for every possibility.

How Old Is My Neon Tetra

We’ve spoken a fair bit about neon tetras dying and tried to ascertain why are my tetras dying. While looking into this I think you would agree most problems that lead to the death of a neon tetra are stress related.

Poor water conditions not enough room via a small tank or overcrowding, The tank size for how big the fish is and how much room that fish need is important. And not enough hiding places or feeding areas. Of course, keeping them in too small a group or even trying to keep them on their own.

All can be problematic but what about age? We never know how old our fish are unless we bred them ourselves. When we purchase a neon tetra or any fish for that matter they could be a few years old.

Maybe even older as sometimes probably more often than we think. People give shops and aquarists their fish back because they don’t want them. Or can no longer look after them for whatever reason. 

So the retailer has no idea how old they are. You could be the third or fourth person to keep them lets face it they could be old when you bought them. 

Do Neon Tetra Play Dead

Carrying on with the theme why did my tetra die? (.) A fascinating trait about our little mate the neon tetra is they do indeed play dead. 

These crazy fish act dead and play dead when startled. It’s a defense mechanism that seems to work as neon tetras are some of the most populated fish on earth. As well as being one of the most popular amongst hobbyists. 

Neon tetras are able to stay still even slightly balanced as if sleeping on their heads. They usually come round when feeding or if you net them. Although I have heard of someone netting them to take them out and they still didn’t move. Luckily the person put them in a hospital tank to double check and they swam off.

The moral to that story is always double-triple-check before you flush a fish down the toilet. Chances are their still alive If there’s a fish or two doing this just take precautions as there’s a chance this can be related to neon tetra disease.

Not sure of any real link personally I think it’s just a quirky defense mechanism to put off predators.

After all this talk of tetra dying how about we end with how to keep them alive? (.)

Keeping Neon Tetra Alive

Let’s be real it’s not that hard these fish are not that hard to keep. They a tropical freshwater fish that love temperatures of between 72 and 76 degrees F.

This means soft, slightly acidic water is best for them.

• Temperature: 72°-76°F (22.2°-24.4°C)
• Ammonia: 0 ppm
• Nitrite: 0 ppm
• Nitrate: <20 ppm
• pH: 6-7
• GH: <10 dGH (<166.7 ppm)
• KH: 1-2 dKH (17.8- 35.8ppm)

As you can see nothing is out of the ordinary if you are making changes make them slowly. Make small changes a little and often and they will be fine. Make sure they have loads of room to swim and school together in big groups.

Plenty of hiding places feeding places plants to play amongst. Dark substrate lower wattage lighting not too bright neon tetra are sensitive to light. Try a few hours a day under red blue or even black light and watch them thrive.

Why Neon Tetra Die So Easily Conclusion

I don’t believe they do. It’s all down to how we keep them and understanding how to introduce them to our tanks. And what tank do we have for them? (.)

As long as the water is good and the tanks are big enough. And you have a large enough group of neon fish with the right mix of tank mates. As well as a good mix of hiding places feeding spots plants dark substrate and the correct lighting these fish are easy to keep.

I hope as always you enjoyed the read. As much as I enjoyed writing and please feel free to click all the links for related neon tetra articles. And feel free to look around the blog thanks again.