Neon Tetras are known to be fragile and sensitive to
water changes

I've gotten this question a lot, and back when I used to keep neon tetras I would see this happen from time to time. You walk by your fish one day, all seems well, next day you walk by the aquarium and your shinny new tetra is stuck to the side of the intake. Normally the fish will continue to get stuck or just die within a few days. What gives? Are Neons suicidal?

The first thing to know about fish is that it is very rare for a fish to accidentally get caught in an intake unless it is in an already weakened state. Remember, tetras are river fish from south America, so swimming in a current is not something they can't do. The other thing to remember about Neon tetras is they are extremely fragile fish.

They are sensitive to water quality and will often become traumatized and go belly up if the water quality changes rapidly. There for if your aquarium isn't an established one, don't even think about getting them. If you notice the color of your tetras fading, this means the fish are becoming stressed and with stress disease and death usually follow.

If you are experiencing this problem, placing a breeding net over the intake to keep the fish from it may help, but really your only addressing a symptom of the problem and not the problem itself. First, check the water quality. Check ammonia, nitrate, and PH. Ammonia should be low, so should nitrates, PH should be between 5.0-7.0.

If the parameters seem OK, then the next step would be to examine the fish in the tank. Do they seem healthy? Do the look diseased. Any white spots on the fish? Any chunks missing from fins can indicate fin rot. White spots are ich. Should to spy something that your not sure of, pull up the old Google and do a search for the symptoms you may fine.

OK, so you did a search and everything seems fine. What now? Well, there is every chance that your fish was weak and just died.

In closing, I do not recommend Neon tetras. Yes, they look cool and are cheap, but they are also weak and likely to die in the hands of inexperienced fish keepers. Really, they've been known to die in the hands of experienced. Pick a different tetra. I recommend Pristella tetras.