Hello all,
I've had a 25 gallon cube set up for about 2 years now. Mostly just neon tetras in it. Well planted, decently scaped, plenty of places for the neons to hide or keep shaded from the light. Things have been pretty stable for quite a while and I had about 15 neons in there. Over the last month, I have had 3 fish jump out of the tank and die. I have not changed anything in the tank recently. Their overall behavior seems to be the same in general (as best as I can tell). They do seem to be "spooked" when I do partial water changes in the mornings when the light is not on. (I do 5 gallon changes about every 2-3 days). There is no lid on the tank. I just do morning changes as it is the most convenient for me.
Recently I did move the tank about 5 feet from one wall to another, but the general lighting should be exactly the same.
I can think of two or three different things going on, but maybe someone else can have some insight?
I have tended to keep the water level about an inch or so from the top of the glass to avoid the noise of the lily pipes splashing water.
They seem kind of jumpy when I do the water changes. They react to the gravel cleaning tube and kind of dart about. I caught one stuck to the glass during a recent water change.
I do use RO/DI water that is re-mineralized because my local water is not good. The PH and other chemistry really can vary quite a lot with my local water. If I leave the tap water in a bucket, a milky white film builds up on it. Someone thought it might be anti-corrosion chemicals. Despite my constant contact with my water authority, I gave up complaining, and just have taken this path with RO/DI. I have been doing the RO/DI remineralization for about a year now.
It is probably a tough question, but does this new behavior mean I have a water problem? Are there vented lids that people can recommend? Any thoughts or ideas?
Thanks for reading,
I've had a 25 gallon cube set up for about 2 years now. Mostly just neon tetras in it. Well planted, decently scaped, plenty of places for the neons to hide or keep shaded from the light. Things have been pretty stable for quite a while and I had about 15 neons in there. Over the last month, I have had 3 fish jump out of the tank and die. I have not changed anything in the tank recently. Their overall behavior seems to be the same in general (as best as I can tell). They do seem to be "spooked" when I do partial water changes in the mornings when the light is not on. (I do 5 gallon changes about every 2-3 days). There is no lid on the tank. I just do morning changes as it is the most convenient for me.
Recently I did move the tank about 5 feet from one wall to another, but the general lighting should be exactly the same.
I can think of two or three different things going on, but maybe someone else can have some insight?
I have tended to keep the water level about an inch or so from the top of the glass to avoid the noise of the lily pipes splashing water.
They seem kind of jumpy when I do the water changes. They react to the gravel cleaning tube and kind of dart about. I caught one stuck to the glass during a recent water change.
I do use RO/DI water that is re-mineralized because my local water is not good. The PH and other chemistry really can vary quite a lot with my local water. If I leave the tap water in a bucket, a milky white film builds up on it. Someone thought it might be anti-corrosion chemicals. Despite my constant contact with my water authority, I gave up complaining, and just have taken this path with RO/DI. I have been doing the RO/DI remineralization for about a year now.
It is probably a tough question, but does this new behavior mean I have a water problem? Are there vented lids that people can recommend? Any thoughts or ideas?
Thanks for reading,