New Neon Tetras won't eat?

Question

Hi all, my (15 gal) aquarium just finished cycling so I decided it was time for the next set of inhabitants to go in, it cycled with two corys (peppered), and so last saturday I added six Neon Tetras, The pet store said they had already eat and I didn't feed them the rest of saturday nor sunday, I fed them this morning but they didn't go to the top and eat as I was expecting, they stayed low and one or two of them took a bite of the first sinking flakes, after a while all flakes had sunk and most were taken care of by the corys. Should I wait more to feed them? Am I doing something wrong or is this behavior normal? Should the tetras go to the top to eat from the surface? or eat flakes when they are sinking?

On another topic, they seem to school very nicely while the lamp is on, as soon as it goes off, each goes it's own way and they don't tolerate each other to much, it almos seems as if they were fighting each other when it is dark but they move to fast to see if they are actually touching!

Any help you can provide is greatly appreaciated, cheers,

saurjusa

Answer 1

My neon tetras dont really feed with teh rest of my fish. They usally wait till the food falls to the bottom and then they eat it. I think this might be because they are smaller then my other fish and are afraid.  

Answer 2

maybe they're still getting use to the tank. they like soft water also and are kind of fragile.

Answer 3

They are new to your tank, so they may just still be adjusting to their new home. Give them a few more days to settle in. As for the light thing. Sudden changes in the lighting (turning it on or off) can be startling for fish, (imagine if you were going about your business and suddenly you were in the dark!) which could be what's causing them to dash around when you turn off the light.  In their natural habitat, they have hours while the sun is setting and rising to get used to the lighting changing. So try turning off their aquarium light, but leaving the room light on for a few more minutes to give them a more gradual descent into darkness.

Answer 4

It seems like they're still getting used to the tank. Give them some time. They may not eat for the rest of the day but you should still check on them and see if they're hungry. Otherwise i'm more than sure they'll be starved by tomorrow morning! =] Have fun with your neon tetras!! =D

Answer 5

You're tetras are just getting used to it. They won't really recognize you feeding them until you do consistently for a couple weeks. They're just adapting to their new environment.

As far as the chasing is concerned, leave the light on.

Hahaha no they might all be males or they just play. But if it looks like aggressiveness, remove the mean one