Neon Tetra Losing Eyes?

[JohnDyer]

I've got 6 Neon Tetras in my 55g tank. I've had about 3 die in the 6 months or so since I bought the tank. The fourth one died today. Something I've noticed, is that whenever they die, their corpse is always missing its eyes. None of my other fish, living or dead, have ever had this problem. Is it a Neon Tetra only disease that causes them to lose their eyes? Or is it because they are the smallest fish in the tank, and have their eyes eaten?

Also, how often on average do Neon Tetras die? I've read all over the internet that they are very fragile fish, and are prone to dying quite often, but 4 in 6 months is quite a lot.

 

[Fishy friend2]

There eyes are probably getting eaten, all my fish that have died have always been missing there eyes by the time I found them
And yes it is normal for that many to die if the conditions aren't right, they are fragile fish. So if the conditions are bad or fluctuating, or stressfull then they will die fast. With only 2 you might experience more deaths due to stress

 

[JohnDyer]

I've been replacing them almost as soon as they die, so I've still got 5.

So tetras losing eyes after death is normal, not some strange disease?

 

[Fishy friend2]

completely normal to me. it happens every time

 

[JohnDyer]

Not really related to losing eyes, but I've had 3 Neon Tetras die in the past week. I'm not sure what's wrong, one day they are all fine, the next day there's a dead fish on the bottom, and the rest are still fine. They eat normally, school together, are normally colored, etc.
My tank readings are mostly normal, a 50 on nitrates is a little high, but not insane, and probably because the dead fish sit in the tank for a few hours, before I get home.
I've heard Neons are fragile fish, and I have some rougher fish in the tank, but they've been fine for months, so I think 3 in a week is something else.

 

[AnimalHouse36]

Neons are terribly fragile. I've had 2 randomly die in the few months I've had them. All water stats are fine, and there was a big group of them.
I believe it's a common thing with them, one that can chalked up to bad breeding. Ive noticed the ones that were from a certain petstore, were weaker and never really bulked up as much of some of my other ones, so it could also be because of the line that the petstore is using to breed them from. If that makes sense.

 

[JohnDyer]

I was afraid of that... But now I have 4 tetras left, I don't want to leave only 4 in the group and wait for them to die off, I don't want to buy more any more, and I can't get rid of them... So what can I do?

I think the best option here is to buy more, but I'm not sure where. How do I distinguish healthy tetras from unhealthy ones? They all look so similar in the stores, and I can't tell if they are eating much or not.