Glowlights Dropping Like Flies

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

I purchased six Glowlight tetras from PetSmart a few days ago, and today and yesterday, four have died. There are ZERO symptoms before death, they school and appear completely normal. I really hope it's not something infectious like Neon Tetra Disease. Are these fish known for being weak in the store?
 
Tank params are 6 pH, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and around 20 nitrate (I have to use strips for this and the lowest number is 20, so it could be less). Temp is 78.

 

[BettaBettas]

from my experience, all glowlight fish aren't natural, and in my opinion are very weak, and easy killed.. may be neon tetra disease though..

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

They are natural actually, native habitat is South America. From what I'm seeing on other sites and from my friends, it seems like they just aren't very hardy once they've gone through a store. Of course, I'd probably get better stock elsewhere..
 
I'm really hoping it's not Neon Tetra Disease, and I figure it isn't since there were no symptoms prior to death.

 

[Chad]

I'm not sure how long you have had them but I have found this is a species that does best when very slowly acclimated. 
 
What is the pH in your tank?
 

from my experience, all glowlight fish aren't natural, and in my opinion are very weak, and easy killed.. may be neon tetra disease though..

He's talking about glowlight tetras not the tetras that glow. 

 

[cowgirluntamed]

They don't have anything at all on them? Any red streaks on fins? My glowlights I got from petsmart are over 2 years old now. I wont buy there again but that was due to sickness being in their tanks I brought home. If you see any red streaks, that means septecimia. That's one thing that can make them drop so fast.

Betta Bettas - any tetra, barb, or danio that isn't it's normal color and glows is known as a glowfish. Glowlights are definitely natural and are an amazing tetra! At least for me. Lol.

 

[Essjay]

Just to make things more confusing, there is also a glowlight danio, Celestichthys choprae. This too is a natural fish and not to be confused with glofish danios.

 

[StevenF]

Naming asside we need to know the water hardness, alkalinity, PH, nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia levels and your normal tank maintenance routine ( such as a water changes, how much and how often.
 
 We also need to know what your test kit is reading for your tap water.  Differences could indicate the problem. Look on line for your  local utility  water quality report.  If possible post a link to it.  While the water may be safe to drink it might not have mineral in the correct composition fish need  such as magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium.  Or it may contain something harmful such as arsenic. A nitrate level of 20 in a planted tank could cause depletion of phosphorous, potassium and possibly other nutrients in the water.  Do you have any algae issues?
 
What products do you usually us in your aquarium such as fertilizer or water conditioner and any medications.  What plants and animals are in the aquarium.  Have you rules out predication as the cause of death?  Do you have any old snail shells, crushed coral , drift wood or other natural decoration in the tank?
 
GH:  Water hardness, if it is too soft or too hard it can kill fish.  Tetras are soft water fish.  75ppm is about ideal for them
KH: Alkalinity makes the water resistant to PH changes.   So some Alkalinity is good but too much can kill and alkalinity doesn't always show up in ph reading.  50 to 100 ppm is about ideal.  A PH of 6 could indicate very low alkalinity.
PH: is a measure of acidity or basic water.  For Tetras you want about 6 to 7.  Note rapid changes in ph can occur during a water change and if that is happening it can kill.

 

[BettaBettas]

sorry zephyr, I thought you had typed Glow tetras, like the ones that are green, pink, yellow, etc. my apologize lol they're confusing!
lol

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

Nope, nothing at all on them, and no change in activity. None of the other fish are acting different either.
 
I've only had the fish for 5 days; two deaths happened two days after purchase, two died the next day.
 
Tank is moderately planted with a pearl gourami, one Harlequin Rasbora (will be getting more), and five albino corydoras. There's some old driftwood that was used in a tank years ago.
 
Already posted PH, nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia guys. It's well water, so no site to check, and still has 0, 0, ~20, 6pH readings from the tap. Sorry I forgot gH ank kH, they're 60 and 80 ppm respectively. I do 30% weekly changes with water conditioner. There's a small amount of algae on the glass, not very much.
 
EDIT: The two that remain are looking good, and it's been a few days since the others died.

 

[Chad]

If pH is good (it's within their happy zone) and they aren't new to the tank then you got me. If they are new to the tank then my thoughts are towards too quick of an acclimation. This is a fish that is particularly sensitive to changes in water. 

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

They are new, so I imagine you're right Chad. It just seems odd to me, since I always imagined deaths due to acclimation happening immediately rather than couple days later.

 

[Chad]

I can see why you might think that but in actuality they aren't immediate but usually take days or longer. This is even true with very sensitive marine creatures like sea stars. They may not begin to show signs of "acclimation sickness" for 5 days. By the time they do it's usually too late. Tetra in general (I've found) require more care in introduction. Not quite as much as marine fish, but certainly more than one would normally expect from freshwater fish. Normally it's common to just float a bag and introduce it and for most that works. But I find tetra require water exchange acclimation. Slowly introducing tank water over the course of about an hour. In marine fish, shrimp, corals etc. I use a drip system to accomplish this. 

 

[nic1]

I have glowlights, and my water parameters are similar to yours, They have been moved twice to different locations, I have accidentally electrocuted them, and left them under the care of my daughter for a month while I was away and the nitrites and nitrates where at an all time high yet they are still here today 5 years on. These fish have also bred for me in the tank. 
The only time I nearly properly killed them was when I did a massive water change and forgot to turn on the hot tap when adding back in the water (I do it through a hose) and the temp quickly dropped by 4 degrees and the tetras where spinning out of control and then sinking to the bottom, I had catch them and do some quick moves to save them. Maybe the water temps differed and this gave them a shock which would of had a major effect on them after the trauma of being netted and moved to a new place again.
 
When I add new fish I do the very long process of using an air line tube and do one drip per second for about 40 minutes then gently submerge the bowl in the water and let them swim out. 
 
They are generally hardy fish once they have settled in.

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

Thanks for the anecdote, nic1. I think I'll try getting some more, as the two survivors are looking great, but I'll go to a better store and be more careful with acclimating.