# Black Skirt and Neons



## Dulcie (Jul 10, 2011)

I may have made a mixing mistake in the tank. I added 6 neon tetras yesterday. Today one of the neons was found floating without a tail. :biggerfish:

Other fish in the tank include:
Five Black Skirt Tetras
Three mollies, 2 female, 1 male
Three guppies, 2 female, 1 male
Two platys, both female (need a new male - he was one of the frog victims a couple of weeks back)
1 Bala Shark
1 Dwarf African Frog (not the clawed killer variety who were moved to another tank after losing three fish to them)
1 Plecos

This is a 75 gallon tank so I don't think it's overcrowded yet. My prime suspect is the black skirt tetras. I've seen the two larger ones chase the smaller ones before but no damage/death has occurred and I did see one of them go after one of the neons yesterday when the neons were released in the tank but then they swam off and no one got hurt. The neons are quite small and I suspect young right now, maybe only 1/2" long. I know they will get bigger, if given the chance and should not be a target anymore. Any thoughts?

Dulcie


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I've had black skirts and neons in my tank before, with no casualties. Sorry for the loss, but the neon might have been sick from the getgo, or you might be right that even a little harassment would do it in.

Can't really offer any smoking gun accusations, sorry. Tropical community tanks are kinda that way.


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## Dulcie (Jul 10, 2011)

Thanks Gizmo - it's good to know that my black skirts aren't stone cold killers - lol.


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## Dulcie (Jul 10, 2011)

Well definitely not good news. Out of the original 6 Neons, just two remain. I found another half of one on the bottom of the tank yesterday evening. Someone in there definitely decided they were a treat to eat! :-( I observed for sometime but only saw the Bala chasing them at one point but it was a short chase and he diverted to another direction. My Black Skirts do behave somewhat territorially. I guess I'll have to be careful not to buy small fish that will look like snacks in the future.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Dulcie said:


> I guess I'll have to be careful not to buy small fish that will look like snacks in the future.


That's what I was thanking you for.

Research your next purchase. See if they can stand up to a little bullying.

Neons also will literally disintegrate when they die, so they will look like they have been half-eaten after only a few hours, and will outright disappear in a matter of a day or two.


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## Yardjass (Jan 5, 2012)

Well, I'm about to find out too. I had a Blue Jack in a tank with some large black skirts but the jack just died so I'm going community. When I would put feeder guppies in the tank, the black skirts would sometimes chase them. I even saw one chase, catch and eat a large baby once. I would imagine this could have happened if you have small neons too but my black skirts are huge and like you, it is a 75g. Fingers crossed...


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

I think it might be the bala shark. I've had black skirts and neons live together for years without problems


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