bli Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 Hi everyone Im pretty new to this hobby so any help would be greatly appreciated. I came home last night and noticed that one out 10 of my neons had blown up to almost twice its size and was hanging out in the corner of the tank breathing very rapidly. They are in with some discus so I immediately did a water change which seemed to perk the little thing up again and he was back swimming with the schoal (not eating however) This morning I found the poor sucker belly up and white as a ghost. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimTam22 Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 Whats your temp at?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU1 Posted December 8, 2006 Report Share Posted December 8, 2006 Firstly as timtam has asked what is your water temperature? Discus and neons are different in their temperature requirements, discus requiring high temperatures of about 28-29 degrees celcius while neons prefer temperatures of about 22 degrees celcius. Although this might not be the reason, people often put these two together and the neons don't prosper in these temperatures. This might be different in your case. Are you overfeeding your fish? Maybe the neon has excited itself and gulps down all the food at each feeding, causing it to bloat and die. This has happend before to me. Maybe he is one of those 'greedy' fish that are quick to snap up any available food. Your feeding amounts should be enough to be eaten within a couple of minutes. Otherwise the food might cloud the water and affect the fishs' health. Due to the others being alive it is probably the fact that the neon was overeating. Watch your fish at feeding and make sure none are overfeeding (or underfeeding!), there isn't much you can do for this. Fish all have different personalitles. Good thing it was a neon and not a discus Poor thing, I don't know if this has helped at all :oops: but someone might like to comment further on possible causes :-? Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bli Posted December 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Hi Temp is at 29 degrees. I did not realise that the two did not share the same temp as the neons have been doing fine for the past 2 months. I will keep a closer eye on them at feeding. What small tetras relish the higher water temps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bli Posted December 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 Ive just been reading up about the similarities and differences of Neons and Cardinals and will definately have to splash out on a schoal of Cardinals for my Discus Show tank I am setting up. Bit more expensive than the wee Neon in the stores however!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU1 Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 I know they are more expensive but are beautiful fish, with the red line down the whole body instead of half like the neon. It is debatable about neons with discus, some books say they can go together with similar temperatures, others say the complete opposite. If your are still alive see how they go, they might have adjusted well. Other tetras....rummy noses (about $8 each), cardinals (about $8 each), harlequins (about $5 each), there are probably more and these fish like shoals of a minimum of about at least 6-8 fish. This is sometimes the reason people go for neons instead, due to the expense, but large shoals can look amazing in planted tanks. For effect I recommend to stick to your discus, cardinals and maybe rummy noses, but I haven't had any of these fish yet so I wouldn't really know, but other setups like this look awesome with a well planted tank Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelj Posted December 9, 2006 Report Share Posted December 9, 2006 I think neons are way more attractive than cardinals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 were its scales sticking out like a pinecone? what type of foods do you feed? it may be possible he got blocked up and just kept on eating? as IOU said neons of die off very quickly with the high heats, its pretty uncommon to hear of them living together for a long time. cardinals come from much hotter places than the neons do which is why they adapt better, they also grow larger than neons (an adult discus can eat a neon easily). i have rummies (not with my discus) and they are great fish and they can definatly handle the higher temps- quite a few tetra species can so do some research and you may find some others that take ya fancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bli Posted December 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Thanks everyone, I did not notice any scales sticking out or any eratic movements. The poor lil fish just seemed to double in size (apart from its head). I will try find a new home for the 9 remaining Neons and will get started on a Cardinal school. I have seen them at Hollywood and Jansens for around $70 for 10. Does any one know of a breeder/importer who I can get around 20-30 for a little cheaper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Get in touch with Brent at the Pupuke Aquarium. He is a very obliging guy, and if you were to order them in and pick them up with out him having to debag them, I'm sure he'll see you right. But ask first and say that you are from the forum, you'd score more "brownie" points too if you belonged to an FNZAS club. Alan 104 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted December 11, 2006 Report Share Posted December 11, 2006 Cardinals are not as prolific as neons and are harder to breed that is why they cost more (but on the good side they usually live longer) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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