Fish Suggestions Please

[minimanam]

Hi everyone I would love some advise please

I have a 65 litre tank which has been up and running for 9 months now

I do regular 10% water changes and tested water with the following results:

pH:7.6
ammonia:0 - 0.25
nitrite:0
nitrate:0
kH: unable to test
gH: unable to test
tank temp: 25 - 26

I currently have 2 zebra danios and 4 cherry shrimp in the tank

I was hoping to stock the tank with just neon tetra's but have had no luck with these in the past with everyone dead within a few hours

Any suggestions on fish stock would be appreciated - I would prefer a large shoal of a single variety than lots of different fish

Many thanks

 

[Carlovel1]

A shoal of about 6 Harlequin Rasboras?

 

[Convoypa]

Danios are always a safe bet if you are unsure about water quality being an issue. These home test kits are not always that reliable. If you can find the long fin variety of the zebra danio those are really nice in a small tank. There are also Leopard and pearl varieties that are also stunning in groups.
If it is a true shoal you are after however a tetra species is the way to go and there are many many varieties. A friend has Penguin Tetras and they are never separated.

 

[PRW1988]

Hi everyone I would love some advise please

I have a 65 litre tank which has been up and running for 9 months now

I do regular 10% water changes and tested water with the following results:

pH:7.6
ammonia:0 - 0.25
nitrite:0
nitrate:0
kH: unable to test
gH: unable to test
tank temp: 25 - 26

I currently have 2 zebra danios and 4 cherry shrimp in the tank

I was hoping to stock the tank with just neon tetra's but have had no luck with these in the past with everyone dead within a few hours

Any suggestions on fish stock would be appreciated - I would prefer a large shoal of a single variety than lots of different fish

Many thanks

Danios prefer to be in a large shoal, so I'd recommend getting atleast another 4 of them. In regards to the neon tetras, what acclimation method have you been using? I recommend using the drip method for about an hour. Any time I kept neon tetras I found this to be the best way to keep them alive for the most part.

I think you're tank stock should look like this:

6 x Zebra Danio
6 x Neon Tetra
6 x Harlequin Rasbora
4 x cherry shrimp.

and mabye a centre piece fish if you wanted, but it'd have to be small enough not to bother the shirmp.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I know fish can adapt to higher pH ranges, but don't Neons prefer 5.0-7.0 pH? That might explain why they did not do well. Or, it could have been the acclimation method.

If you don't have a setup for a drip acclimation, I introduced two sets of three Neons using the following, and all survived well:

1. Float bag for 30 minutes
2. Cut open bag, attach it to rim of tank with chip clip
3. +1/4 cup tank water into bag; wait 15 minutes
4. +1/4 cup tank water into bag; wait 15 minutes
5. +1/3 cup tank water; wait 10 minutes
6. +1/3 cup tank water; wait 10 minutes

 

[tanksalot]

I've been keeping fish for only two months so I don't exactly have masses of experience to draw on here, but I would guess that you've simply been unlucky with your Neons and have bought from a bad batch (batches).

If you have an established tank with healthy inhabitants, the water stats are perfect and you acclimatised your fish correctly, yet they died within hours of arrival, I don't see how it can be anything to do with your tank itself. That's too quick. Seems more likely that those particular fish just weren't capable of surviving the stress of the move.

I had a similar nightmare with some Harlequin rasboras that I bought recently. I introduced 9 into two separate tanks, both with perfect water stats, and 8 out of 9 died suddenly and mysteriously within hours. The man at my lfs tried to tell me my tanks were at fault, but when I went to a different lfs much further away and bought 3 more to keep the survivor company, ALL 3 survived and are living happily with no signs of illness or imminent demise. Just one of those things, it would seem.

So, if you really want Neons, I wouldn't give up. I know from my own experience that there are some stronger ones about because, in my newbie ignorance, I cycled my first tank with 5 Neons, and thus far they've lived to tell the tale!

Good luck!

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with the others, I would longer and more gentle introduction periods, mixing small amounts of your tank water slowly in to the shop bag water, as has been described. I would not hesitate to try different sources for the fish if they can be found. Not really necessary if you have stable pH and water conditions, but out of curiosity I might try a liquid-based GH/KH test kit just to see if these mineral content indicators find that the hardness is even higher than expected. Neons are quite well known for thriving in very soft and acid water, being quite happy in pH low 6's with visible tannins yellowing the water. They are, however, like most other common trops, often found to do ok in other conditions as long as the conditions are stable.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[jameshughes1989]

I totally agree with Waterdrop. Neons should eb fine in most household tap PH, as long as they are acclimatised slowly. Im guessing that you either had a bad batch or it was water quality. Was the tank fishless cycled prior to introducing the neons.

My advice would be to stick with one type of shaoling fish, ie the neons or the harlequins. I personally would go for a group of harlequins, like suggested, They are beautiful fish, whichc omes more apparent when in a group. You could always finish of the the tank with a centrepiece fish or pair.

Regards, James

 

[waterdrop]

The tank is 9 months old, so by our usual rules of thumb it should have been a pretty decent environment for introducing neons for the last 3 months or so (I usually recommend that a tank be at least 6 months old for neons.)

I agree that harlequins are generally a good deal hardier than neons, in fact I now consider harlequins to be a better first introduction than zebra danios and feel they are hardier than any of the danios, but I'm also sensitive to the idea that minimanam may just really want neons and its not clear that this couldn't work out. It could easily have just been too much hardness shock between the LFS water and the home tank water with not enough acclimation time to handle the difference.

~~waterdrop~~