feeding neons

[realdeal38]

Bought a total of 11 neons one died so I have a total of ten in a 15 gallon tank.Put a plec in it but it died within a few days put another plec in and seems to be fine so far anyway.My big problem is uneaten food build up at the bottom of the tank we feed them TetraMin twice a day I mean just the smallest amount [not even a pinch].Not sure if we should cut back on feeding them or get another kind of bottom feeder,any suggestions?We have had them for about two weeks.

[RobbieG]

What kind of Pleco?

Depending on which kind it is you may be better off taking it back and getting some cories.

(Some Plecos get huge)

[Lady Hobbs]

Fish stomachs are about the size of their eye. I would feed them no more than once a day and a very wee amount. (I save the crumbs left at the bottom of my fish food flake containers for mine.)

I believe the Tetra mini's are a hard granule? Perhaps they just don't care for it. You may have better results with flake.

A 15 gallon is too small for a pleco. I would not get another if this one should die. A few corys would work better in this tank.

[Lady Hobbs]

LOLOLOL Posted that at the same time.

[Algenco]

My neons will not pick up anything from the bottom. They will only take food while it is in the bottom half of the water column. Try feeding very small amounts, when they eat that or it reachs the bottom, give them a little more.

[zackish]

My neons will not pick up anything from the bottom. They will only take food while it is in the bottom half of the water column. Try feeding very small amounts, when they eat that or it reachs the bottom, give them a little more.

Just be careful too much doesn't build up because then you will have problems with your water parameters. Also, you need to realize if they fish are hungry they will eat. Especially if you are feeding them twice a day when you cut back they may start to scavenge more. Like Lady said also try flake foods.

As far as corys I would like to recommend: Panda Cats, Albino Cats, or Green cats.
These are real small schooling cats good for smaller aquariums. I plan on getting about 6 pandas for my 29. However at my LFS the dam pandas are like $5.99 a pop and the greens and albino are like 3 or 4.99 each.

[TowBoater]

I used to have neons. I had other fish in there as well but if any food got to the bottom, my cory cats took care of it and it ain't like they are just a fish you have for that, they are quite comical and I love watching mine. I have a small herd of the them and they stay in a school, pretty cool to see them swim across the aquarium. I like the albinos better because I think mine are more active but it is your choice. Khuli loaches are another good cleaner. Otto's are good as well.

[Lady Hobbs]

I have near 70 fish and darned if any of them with eat anything but flakes. I've tried granules and also cichlid pellets for my angels. They look at it as it floats past their face to the bottom of the tank and disappears in the gravel. I have a cupboard full of food that nothing will eat. Bugs me!

[troy]

My cory never stops looking for food.

[TowBoater]

My cory never stops looking for food.

Amen to that. They are little pigs!!! Lady Hobbs, Just mail it to me and i will give you some space in your cabinets. :28:

[Nick_Pavlovski]

I've been feeding my Neons with micro-flakes intended for raising second-stage fry.
They prefer it to small-sized normal flakes.

[realdeal38]

The tetra food I mentioned is flake food they still are not eating it all.Will try a cory to see if that helps.Any suggestions on a different food?
Thanks for all of the responses.

[dev]

The tetra food I mentioned is flake food they still are not eating it all.Will try a cory to see if that helps.Any suggestions on a different food?
Thanks for all of the responses.

Do you mean that they are not eating everything, or that they are not eating anything at all?

If they just don't eat everything, you should simply feed them less. They don't require much. Evene one flake of normal size TetraMin per day would be enough to sustain 5 neons.

If they are not interested in the food at all, you need to look for a problem with your tank. Neons should always be very interested in any food.

Oh, and please don't get just one cory, they are not happy on their own.

[realdeal38]

They only eat a little I only give them a few crumbs at most but they don't eat it all.

[dev]

They only eat a little I only give them a few crumbs at most but they don't eat it all.

Just give them a little less. They usually don't like to eat from the bottom. You could even try feeding them one flake at a time.

There is no need to change food. Your neon tetras should simply love tetramin (it IS tetramin you are giving them, right?)

If you get a few corydoras, they will happily eat anything that falls down.

Ah yes, since you have been overfeeding a little, you might want to check your ammonia and nitrite levels. Just to be on the safe side.

[MeganL3985]

My neons are always hungry it seems. I would check the water or feed less food as well.