Hi,

One of my neons has lost his red stripe on his body but still has some red in his tail. I noticed when I bought them home (about 2 weeks ago) one of them was a lot duller than the others. Not sure if it was this one or another (as one of them has since vanished). Is this fish sick? he is the biggest of the lot, (and this may be a really dumb question) but can they lose colour with age? He looks otherwise very healthy and is schooling with the other neons.

Thanks : )

Yes they do lose colour with age but generally speaking if you buy a group from the same tank chances are they are siblings so all the same age. You can get 5 years out of a neon.

A fish will also lose colour when it is unwell. It may have been damaged when being caught, or been unwell when you got it. This means it is less likely to survive the stress of being caught, transported and re-homed in a new environment than its healthier mates.