I have great news. Four days ago, after 21 days of quarantine, I returned Honegger to the main tank. It was dodgy at first. He developed a mouth fungus, which Maracyn Plus wiped out in 24 hours. He refused to eat in the first 24 hours. He breathed heavily. It just looked like he had made one of those little comebacks before you drop dead from the burden of being ill.

After 4 days, his breathing has returned to normal. He eats with great vigor. He swims with his tank mates, clearly pleased to enjoy the shoal once more.

Poor little guy has a slightly bent spine, and doesn't get in the larger Cardinal Tetras' way when they go bananas for frozen bloodworms, but he holds his own in the tank. I'm so pleased to have been able to nurse him back to health.

Lesson learned: Don't bother buying Neon Tetras, even from a respectable LFS. After weeks conversing with fellow aquarists on FishProfiles.com, I've learned that for the last year there have been widely reported problems with Neon livestock coming from Singapore. Inbreeding, artificial coloring that apparently compromises the immune system, and other problems.

I now have 6 Neons and can only hope that they live fairly fruitful lives. Four of them are from the original, questionable batch, which includes Honegger and Durey and Taileferre. The latter two died in the first day. Luckily, Honegger survived.

The Cardinals are as hefty and robust as I could have hoped for. So, with 12 fishies in my first tank, I'm a happy camper. In a few days, I can get to work on my ambitious second tank...the little Plakat habitat. More soon.