[gcooke]

Hello.

Briefly- new tank, few months old. All going well, besides 6 neon tetras dying (two found dead inside filter). Water chemistry good (though I have no ammonia test kit). The remaining population:

7 Neon Tetra
3 Black Widow Tetra
3 White Tail Tetra
2 small catfish

So... came home tonight and found only 2 black widow tetra. Took out and examined all plants, removed bog wood, removed opened and re-installed filter. Can't find fish. The black tetras are the largest fish in the aquarium, (all small fish) so it couldn't have been eaten. No idea what happened. Any ideas? I'd like to remove the dead fish but there doesn't seem to be one. What consequences are there if it's not found?

Also, my neons have a tendency to hang vertical by the filter intake. Why might they do this?

Thanks again,
G.

 

[jabbott]

What size tank is it? I'd guess the fish died and was subsequently eaten. If the other fish seem healthy, the death could have been a fluke. The neons hanging vertically sounds like they're stressed and trying to stay out of the way of a more aggressive fish. Do the black widows (I know them as black skirt tetras) harass the neons?

 

[gcooke]

Hello. Thanks for reply.

Tank is 23G.

The black tetras do not hassle the neon tetras, all seem to get on quite well. Neons have plenty of places to hide (8 plants) so I don't know why they like to hang beside the filter.

Saw the missing black tetra last night, gone tonight, don't know if he'd be eaten that fast. When the neons died, they were left untouched.

G.

 

[jabbott]

Interesting that the dead neons were left alone. My understanding is that neons don't like to hide. Back in the plants is where leaf fish and other predators sneak up on neons in the wild. So I still think something is stressing them. Sorry I can't be more specific.