Neon tetra died shortly after coming home

[suicune]

is this normal? I did drift acclimation when I brought 8 neon tetra home, this morning I woke up one is already dead.

[ScorpiosWife]

I see you live in Willowbrook & I don't live far from you. I don't know where you bought them from but the most prominent pet stores out this way are PetSmart & PetCo. PetCo gets their shipments of live fish on Thursday, PetSmart on Wednesday. Shipping takes a HUGE toll on fish, stress-wise. They're in transit, in a bag, in a dark box for about 3 days. It's not uncommon for them to die shortly (imediately or within a week or so) after being transported, yet again, to their new homes. Take it back to the store with your receipt and they'll replace it for you. That's why they have the guarantees!

[barrettsline]

Neon tetra died shortly after coming home

I see you live in Willowbrook & I don't live far from you. I don't know where you bought them from but the most prominent pet stores out this way are PetSmart & PetCo. PetCo gets their shipments of live fish on Thursday, PetSmart on Wednesday. Shipping takes a HUGE toll on fish, stress-wise. They're in transit, in a bag, in a dark box for about 3 days. It's not uncommon for them to die shortly (imediately or within a week or so) after being transported, yet again, to their new homes. Take it back to the store with your receipt and they'll replace it for you. That's why they have the guarantees!

+1

[suicune]

nvm I thought I did something wrong, I already threw the receipt away. BTW, the petco near my house 249/spring cypress is ich heaven at the moment.... be careful.

[ScorpiosWife]

I actually just left there. Chad, the head aquarium guy, has been on vacation for the last week and a half. He just came back yesterday. He warned me before he left that it would be a mess while he was gone & he was right. Give it a couple weeks before you go back. That was his advice to me, lol.

[jsbaker]

You might want to stay away from the Petco at 1960 and Eldridge too. We've been in there a couple times in the past couple of weeks and 90% of the tanks have looked horrible. We've stopped buying fish from Petco all together and try to only stick to local stores.

[suicune]

yeah if I didnt have to be so busy I'd visit aquarium world... it's a bit pricey and far but so far my experience is much better there

[ScorpiosWife]

AW has their bouts with Ich, too. The stress of transport usually leaves them with it & then they spread it to the other inhabitants. This is the reason for hospital tanks!

[johnnymisty]

The last time I went to aquarium world 75% of there salty stock had ick bad bad bad

[cichlidomaha]

Neon Tetras: Are very touchy even to just net and bag them, they stress out very easily, Cardinal tetras are even worse..

It could have been stress related , or they could have been in bad shape as stated. I would never buy from chain stores, but if you do it is a good idea to set up a quarantine tank for them, keep them in it about 10 days before introducing these fish into your main tank.. A very good idea anyway , but more so when buying from chain stores.

My 2 cents worth..

Tom

[ScorpiosWife]

I try to stay away from the big chains other than dry goods. If I happen to be in a chain store, I've learned not to buy fish unless it's the day before their next delivery. At least that way I know they've survived transport, re-acclimation & 6 days in the tank at the store before I get my hands on them, lol.

[suicune]

yeah too many problem coming at once, I'm experiencing an algae bloom, I guess my light fixtures are doing a little too well even though I'm feeding once every two days.

[allysangels]

listen to wifey... she knows what she says. this chad person sounds like someone i know... lol i tell my people the same thing. its a frustrating game to play with the big stores, over half the shipments are sick. at least there are some of us who warn people not to buy if they're no good...

[Totenkampf]

neons arent the hardiest things, i always plan on losing about 10%. SWife has a good idea up there. I will often watch a batch in one of the smaller LFS for a week or two before I buy, i never thought about timing the deliveries in the chain stores.

[suicune]

Okay after 10 days the first batch of tetra is doing well no more lost.
2nd batch of green neon i just got last friday. Today i found one dead with a bloated chest. Hopefully no more dead fish