Why Do The Colors Of My Neon Tetra Fish Fade?

Do you have only one neon tetra fish?

Did you cycle water in your aquarium before adding neon tetras?

Do you have a brightly lit tank with very few plantings?

Is your aquarium placed in darkness?

Neon tetras like to be part of a group of 6 or more individuals. These fish stick to schools rather than swimming solo — being alone will stress them out. When the solo neon tetra gets stressed, his colors will start to fade, so bring home enough neon tetras to form a school.

Cycling your aquarium serves to remove harmful chemicals. Although fish excrete ammonia, ammonia is toxic to fish. So cycling an aquarium will help convert toxic ammonia and nitrites to non-toxic nitrates. Your nitrites and ammonia should both test at 0ppm before you add any tetras to the tank. Otherwise, you’ll quickly see your neons’ colors dulling — and they could even die.

Neon tetras may also exhibit a slight color fade when they spend a lot of time in darkness or at night. This color fade is normal and not usually cause for alarm.

Unfortunately, neon tetras do get sick, and there is even a “neon tetra disease” that has no remedy. It is perhaps the best-known sporozoan disease in tropical fish, most notably in neon tetras. Your fish have more of a fighting chance against disease if you keep their tank clean and well-tended.