Neon Tetras

[jaywings19]

I recently added a small shoal of (7) Neon Tetras to my community tank. They all seem to follow each other around... being led around by one or two "leaders." However, those same leaders seem to chase a few of the other neons around. Is this activity just normal playing around? Or are these actually Neon bullies?

They don't seem to be bothering my Corys at all... although, I have seen the Neons run into the Corys seemingly by accident when being chased by another Neon.

 

[kmurph]

Schooling fish have a tendency to establish a pecking order. It sounds to me like your two most dominant neons are doing just that. This will very very rarely lead to any damage, it's just a normal behavior. I wouldn't worry about it unless you see any ill effects. HTH

 

[jaywings19]

I figured as much... and thanks for the response.

This is my first time with Neons. I brought home a bunch of Cardinals a few weeks ago, but none of them survived... too stressed from the transit, then Ich outbreak (probably due to the stress as well). I couldn't find Cardinals anywhere near my house, so I had to travel one hour away to a store that had them... live and learn, I guess. This time, I bought the Neons at my LFS and they seem in much better health.

 

[Lateral Line]

If you are buying fish a long way from home, it is a good idea to either ask in the shop what their local water is like, or test it yourself before adding fish to your tanks. Their water may be quite different from yours resulting in shock when introducing them.

I'm not saying that is what has happened with your Cardinals, but it's worth thinking about.

 

[jaywings19]

If you are buying fish a long way from home, it is a good idea to either ask in the shop what their local water is like, or test it yourself before adding fish to your tanks. Their water may be quite different from yours resulting in shock when introducing them.

I'm not saying that is what has happened with your Cardinals, but it's worth thinking about.

Thanks very much for that insight. That didn't occur to me at the time of purchase. The store had a 50% off all fish sale... so I naturally reacted when I saw the Cardinals that I had so much trouble finding locally. From now on, I'm sticking to my LFS.

 

[kevin007]

yea..when i brought my neons..ICH then i treated it now they are REALLY healthy