2 neon tetras found dead this morning

[resa]

i'm a new VT male betta owner and I had 8 neon tetras and I have 2 algae eater fish. This morning I wake up to find 2 of my neon tetras dead. One looks like its been eaten..... my betta never goes around them when I'm observing.......I've had my betta almost 2 weeks and I've only had the tetras 2 or 3 days. I have pics of them I'm going to post so you can look at the deceased tetras and tell me your option...i found them dead between a plant leaf and the filter intake tube (however I know the filter didnt kill them bc of the marks they have and it doesnt have a strong pull) as you will see one of the tetras head is almost completely off of him....


http://s1308.beta.photobucket.com/us...library/Tetras


please check it out thank you ...i posted a pic of the filter tube and the plant leaf that are close together and i wanted to add text to it so i can show you exactly where i found the tetras but i cant figure out how to do that on photobucket or my mac :(

what i also want to know is this going to contaminate my tank at all??

[Phaydra]

Considering the fact Neons tend to die off in the first week of introduction it's hard to determent. The missing chuck could just be a result of Neon dies Betta sees easy food source. I generally discourage the housing of Neons and Bettas. If you really want to house them together though you need to take a slower approach. First off they should be quarantined for a month before they hit the main tank. Your Neons will be at their weakest when being introduce to a new tank but if you give them time to adjust to your water parameters they will respond better to tank switches. Plus the fact these guys tend to bring home more diseases then any other species of fish I have worked with. There is going to be die off when stocking Neons. It doesn't matter how perfect the water is. It's just a fact of Neon keeping. You can minimize the die off though by taking steps to insure the move from pet store to QT to main tank are as stress free as possible. After QT time I would divide the tank for a week before I let everyone roam free. Gives the Betta a chance to become secure in the fact the Neons aren't a threat to his territory. Healthy Neons are fast enough to avoid the aggressions of a Betta but Neons are so touchy and fragile in the first week of a tank intro an aggressive Betta could easily kill the weaker ones.

[Bounce]

If I understand correctly from your other thread, this was a newly set up tank and you added eight neon tetras and two "algae eaters" just yesterday. Neons are sensitive little fish and I feel they really shouldn't be put into an aquarium until after it has cycled. I'm sorry to say, but this is probably what led to their demise -- adding too much too soon to an uncycled tank.

[Olympia]

Agree with the above.
The betta probably didn't kill them. Once a fish dies though, they are irresistible to other fish and tend to get eaten pretty fast. (If a fish dies overnight in my tank I wake up to a skeleton).

If these fish have not been QT'd, there is a risk they will pass on disease to the betta fish.

[Myates]

A new tank with that many fish added into it at once will put the tank into shock with ammonia and such. Highly suggest keeping a very close eye on the chemistry with a tester for the next 6 weeks or so.. as mentioned, neons are small and can be delicate due to that. Most likely it passed due to numerous reasons such as not being placed in an established tank and there was an ammonia spike, or improper acclimation process, stress, was sick prior, etc. It's not uncommon to see half eaten fish in a community tank - it's free food for them all.

[resa]

i cant QT them....it is what it is now tho..... and i didnt know i couldnt add other fish to my tank so soon...how long should i have waited? and should i just flush the tetras? i know that sounds bad but there's nothing else i can do with them

[resa]

how long does it take a tank to cycle? what disease can they give my betta? and if its highly possible they can give him a disease then i need to rid them asap right

[resa]

i do not have the money for a complete testing kit unfortunately i live off of a tight once a month budget that i've already used paying bills and buying fish stuff :(

[Phaydra]

Give the Neons back to the store you got them from before flushing them. If you have Chinese Algae Eaters return them as well. They grow into fish killers. I would ask for store credit though first though for the fish you are returning.

[resa]

ok i'm on a tetra forum too and im in their chat room and they agree with you on returning them :( i feel so guilty and ignorant tho