Angle Eating Neon Tetra?

[EsiEmi]

hi guys.

first of all here is my fish list

2 x silver dollar
3 x clown loaches
1 x red tail shark
2 x angle
5 x neon tetras
3 x male guppies

and here is my problem

i had 10 neon tetras to start with and they were fine untill two of them got sick and died, but in the last two weeks 3 of them have gone missing with no trace at all and the rest (5 remaining) look really scared and hide in plants or under stones.

ok. i done some reading and found out angles are aggressive towards small fishes, what do you think??

if my angles are to blame im planning to get another 10 or more neons to make them more secure against angles, is this a good idea?

thanks

 

[Matt_northants]

How large are you angels?
Is it possible that the missing tetras died of whatever illness killed the other two and the remains were eaten before you found them?
If your Angels are to blame then they have associated your neons as food, putting in more neons will only result in more eaten neons, especially as Angels quickly learn that anything placed into the tank by their owner is food.

 

[EsiEmi]

angles are about 8cm or 3 inches tall.

btw when i bought my gupies two days ago and put them in the tank, angles started chasing them for a day but after they fine.

 

[Matt_northants]

At that size I dont think that they would of eaten your neons. As 3 inches tall is pretty small for an angel.
Personally I would check my water quality to make sure its inside acceptable perameters, neons are actually quite a sensitive fish to water pollution. I definately wouldn't not add any fish for a couple of months to ensure the disease that killed the first two neons has gone. If any more fish die then go back to square one.

 

[EsiEmi]

ok thanks for advice

ill check water tomorro.

 

[celaeno]

if i were you, i'd save the remaining neon tetras and not get any more, as they are the natural prey for angelfish. that is what angelfish eat in the wild.

no matter how small the angelfish, they recognize neons as their prey and will attack it. i once read on a fish forum that four angels surrounded a poor neon and mauled it to death.

i suppose they ate the corpse before it had time to rot, hence no trace of the neon.

 

[Tommy Gun]

angles are about 8cm or 3 inches tall

How big are your silver dollars? Any fish that can fit into a tank mate's mouth is at risk of being eaten. I agree that your angels sound like they are too small to eat all but the smallest neons.

two of them got sick and died,

What kind of symptoms did you notice in your sick fish? I completely agree that neons can be sensitive and are often hard to acclimate to a new tank.

How long did you have the neons before they died?

Did you add them all at the same time?

Did you do anything special besides releasing them into your tank when you brought them home?

Did anything change in the tank just before the deaths?

Have you already checked you equipment for the missing fish? Check the floor around your tank in case they jumped out somehow?

the rest (5 remaining) look really scared and hide in plants or under stones.

No offense but most fish don't really show their emotions on their sleeves per say (...they don't have any sleeves, or facial expressions) and neon tetras are often found hiding amongst plants (real or fake) --- sort of like a less-active schooling behavior.

no matter how small the angelfish, they recognize neons as their prey and will attack it.

I agree, but I don't think angelfish are like sharks chasing neons around per say. Obviously many people keep angels and neons together all of the time (I had four angels and a couple dozen neon/cardinal tetras in the past) because the smallest neon is still too large to swallow whole.

One fish you might want to look into is the rummy nose tetra. They get quite a bit bigger and I don't think they are the "natural prey" of an angelfish....as long as they are big enough, of course.

 

[coldmachineUK]

they are the natural prey for angelfish. that is what angelfish eat in the wild.

What s/he said. Small tetra are the natural diet for angelfish in the wild. Really bad idea keeping them together...

 

[Matty P]

What size is your tank? Also that RTBS could give your male guppies a good nipping if it isn't already.

EDIT: spelling

 

[Tommy Gun]

What s/he said. Small tetra are the natural diet for angelfish in the wild. Really bad idea keeping them together...

Just curiuous....how come so many people do it then? I've seen the same thing at a public aquarium as well. Don't a lot of planted tank hobbyists keep them together? Could that be ok due to the fact that the neons can hide more easily? I would think that their predator would be well aware of their tricks though. Interesting subject, huh?

Not trying to disagree or anything, I just think that might be slightly exaggerated. I have kept both fish and in the same tank and my only real trouble was trying to get neons acclimated to my tank, not having them get eaten. I guess a RTBS could be a problem too but most of them seem to be the definition of a bottom dweller.

 

[Matty P]

Angelfish usually leave Neons alone when they are younger/smaller. I bought Jumbo Neons to so that my angel was less likely to eat them. It can sometimes come down to personality as well some angel fish are very tame and some can be aggressive, they usually become more aggressive as they mature and as their mouths get bigger!

HTH