# Can I take it anymore...Tetras disappear...



## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

I have had a bad week. First my Miniature Pincher gets ahold of my young rooster and kills it. Then, an outside cat of ours has 4 kittens (that I know of) and ends up killing 3 so far. Yesterday we went to Petsmart and they had the Neon Tetras on sale, so I picked up 5 because I like the little guys. I had 7 already that are adults. I wake up in the morning and all the new guys are gone. I looked in all the nooks and no tetras...UGH....so, what a week. Guess the poor little guys were eaten by the Synodontis...there are absolutely no remnants. :fish::fish::fish::fish::fish:


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Sorry to hear about the problems, the Syndontis may have eaten them although its unlikely, id say it would more likely be the angel thats had them for lunch. Angels are known to eat tetras.


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

Oh, and I forgot to mention that my silvertipped shark died of worms.....geeeeeeeeeEEEEEZZZZZZZ! I just find it hard to believe it was the Angel because there are no remants of the 5 tetras. They were not tiny, but certainly not adults. The Synodontis comes out at night and for some reason the new guys were hanging out kind of low because they were new. I feel so bad. The Angel doesn't really looked stuffed, an besides it seemed to be too busy hunting new ghost shrimp we added along with the Tetras.


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

how big is ur angel? could the neons have fit in its mouth if so, your gonna have one happy angel! angels are known to eat tetras.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Oh you have a lot of problems lol its more than likely the angel.


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

pxexaxcxex said:


> Oh, and I forgot to mention that my silvertipped shark died of worms.....geeeeeeeeeEEEEEZZZZZZZ! I just find it hard to believe it was the Angel because there are no remants of the 5 tetras. They were not tiny, but certainly not adults. The Synodontis comes out at night and for some reason the new guys were hanging out kind of low because they were new. I feel so bad. The Angel doesn't really looked stuffed, an besides it seemed to be too busy hunting new ghost shrimp we added along with the Tetras.


Could have been the barbs too I guess, they were chasing the tetras around when they entered the tank...


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

I almost want to just get a new tank and put the neons in there because I like them so much. I think that will be my next move...to upgrade the puffer and put the neons in the 5 gallon.


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## jrdeitner (Feb 7, 2010)

Well sorry for your rooster and kittens  

The synodintis shouldn't have eaten them, they are usually peaceful. If you have plants mate they are hiding and they'll show up when they get comfortable. Could they have been sucked up the filter tube? You definitely need to find them because if they're dead they can create an ammonia spike. As a general rule though youre better off not buying from petsmart or petco.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Barbs wouldnt eat your neons, ive kept them together for years and had no problems. There would be no remains if your angel has eaten them, angels are always the fish to blame if you have tetras go missing.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Synodontis are Omnivores. That means they eat anything that fits in their mouth. The same profile that says feed them earth worms say they can be kept with any size tank mates, lol. If they can eat an earth worm, they can eat a tetra. 

Once I had some cichlid fry get under a divider and a synodontis ate them all and was rocking on its huge, round belly. But full-grown angels will also swallow full-grown neons, juvies are even more likely to be fish food. Once they figure out they are edible, any more you add will be lunch. And barbs would pick clean the tiny bones of any fish that died.


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

i doubt if he is gonna find them if he has a decent sized angel. i had an angel eat 12 neons overnight. 12. and this dude was not even fully grown.


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## jrdeitner (Feb 7, 2010)

Didn't see you had an angel. If the angel is more than 3 1/2" long or so, it probably ate them. Most cichlids will eat pretty much whatever will fit in it's mouth. You still want to check your filter though.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Any fish would eat fry, we're talking about neons here lol angel would be the suspect  how big is he?


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

Zakk said:


> how big is ur angel? could the neons have fit in its mouth if so, your gonna have one happy angel! angels are known to eat tetras.


Here are some pics of their current size, for perspective, this is a 55 gallon.


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

Zakk said:


> i doubt if he is gonna find them if he has a decent sized angel. i had an angel eat 12 neons overnight. 12. and this dude was not even fully grown.


That is shocking! I want to believe he is an angel!


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Id say your angel would be capable of eating them as he's quite a decent size compared to neons.


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

oh no! they are EVIL. PURE UNADULTRATED EVIL!


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

Atleast I got them on sale....:chair:


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

lol sell them back!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

New theory, it was the goldfish. In the pic, his mouth is bigger than the angel's. Carp, see also omnivore...

Actually, my fry eating syno shared his meal with a gold fish. I honestly cannot remember why we had a divided 10 with a goldfish and an synodontis on one side and a holding mbuna mouthbrooder on the other. It was a long time ago when I didn't have many tanks but they each probably ate 15 fry overnight.


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

which pic?!?!?!!?!?!?


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

emc7 said:


> New theory, it was the goldfish. In the pic, his mouth is bigger than the angel's. Carp, see also omnivore...


Could have been. But Wouldn't the goldfish be very unstealth-like (FYI-I know that is not a word, but suits what I want to say) and in being so would awaken all the other tetras to flee. 5 tetras were lost but none of the original 7, one being of similar size to the new guys.


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

page 1 zakk


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

the angel seems big enough to swallow a slighter smaller neon.....easiet way to find the culprit is watch for who is pooping black poop. black poop is a sign of meat being digested.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

tetra aren't very smart and they are sluggish at night and in the morning. Their response to something scary is to huddle together in a corner.  Who had the biggest poo the next day?


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

*Thanks*

Thanks for that clue Zakk, I will be watching... And thanks everyone for helping me narrow it down.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I bet the your first guess was right. They dissapearred at night and that catfish is big enough that you wouldn't even see a bulge. No wonder the US imports 1.8 million neons a year http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_tetra#cite_note-chapman1997-2


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

I just took notice you have a goldfish in there as well. He needs different conditions than everything else. Just a heads up.


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

Cacatuoides said:


> I just took notice you have a goldfish in there as well. He needs different conditions than everything else. Just a heads up.


How so? Temp. wise? I keep the temp at about 75-78. I have moved it up before for ick reasons without problem. My goldfish seems to be thriving and was from the first batch of fish I got in this aquarium. I know the goldfish is a cold water fish, but I just make sure not to keep it too warm. There seems to be a happy equilibrium. Sooner or later I plan to turn this either into a goldfish aquarium or get Goldie it's own. Only because it will be so big that it will limit the amount of bio-load I can have in this tank.


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## Candymancan (Mar 10, 2010)

My suggestion, is if you get neon tetra's.. Make sure the PH in the water is low around 6.9 or under, try to find big neon tetra's usually small ones are the ones that die.. Bigger ones are more "established" you could say and iv found dont seem to die like the small ones do.

Also keep the light on for 2-3 days after you get the neons.. They die in the night cause they are litterally sleeping.. Usually at night they drift away from eachother turn there colors off and i find mine spread all over the tank in the morning.. So if you keep the light on for a couple days they can get used to the tank easier.

You have a 55g tank with less fish then i have in my 27g id say your bio load is fine... Neons are nothing to the bio load really.


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## pxexaxcxex (Jul 28, 2009)

Candymancan: Yeah, I should have left the lights on. I have not seen any of the fish poop black, but the Synodontis stays hidden all the time. I have a feeling it was a combination though.


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