2 dead fish in one day!

[bccromer]

I have had 2 neon tetras die today. They didn't seem to have any disease or anything. I have only had them since Friday, so I have had them 4 days. I only have 3 dwarf gouramis with them in this 30 gallon tank. Are neons that fragile or do you think there was something wrong with them when I got them? Or do you think the gouramis are messing with them? All of my readings are normal as I checked them today. Any help is appreciated.

 

[The-Wolf]

Neons are notorious for dieing for no reason.
they need a mature tank and slighly soft water.

out of the 12 I purchased I have only one left, the others died within 2 weeks of purchase.

 

[bccromer]

Do cardinals seem to be more hardy than neons or are they both pretty much the same?

 

[George Farmer]

I'd say Cardinals are more fragile than Neons, they both prefer soft acid water but if you match them to the water parameters of the shop and they thrived in that then they should be ok. My Cardinals were fine in pH 7.8 until I added CO2 and softened with RO, now they really thrive. My friend has kept his Neons in pH 8 succesfully for years.

 

[bccromer]

My pH is actually about 6.6 right now. Think that could be the problem?

 

[George Farmer]

That's on the low side unless your using co2 or your water is very soft. Do you know your Nitrate level? High nitrates can cause low pH and kill fish!

 

[Apache]

For what it's worth, we had 8 cardinal tetras that all died within a week. I heard (after we bought them) that they are sensitive and prone to getting sick. One of the last ones got ich, gave it to the whole tank, then when cured, promptly died.

 

[bccromer]

My nitrates are 5 ppm and that comes from my tap. I have had several people tell me neons are suppose to be fairly hardy. Why are there such different views about these fish?