My Neons Are Dropping Like Flies!

[oneponygirl]

Here's the background. I've had for a long time 3 neons. (I started with 6 but due to one thing or another I lost 3 and since I knew I was moving I didn't get anymore.) Last week I moved, right after I simultaneously upgraded my tank and got 4 new tetras. One by one the 4 new ones died so I thought I had a bad batch. Tonight one of my originals died.

Results of water test: ph 7, Nitrites 0, Nitrates somewhere between 5 - 10, Ammonia 0

Temp is in the high 70's, food hasn't changed (mostly flake right now since I had to toss all my frozen goodies when we moved). I used the live plants and substrate from my old tank, adding some new sand (thoroughly rinsed) and live plants. They are housed now in a 29 gallon tank with 1 dwarf gourami, 3 cherry barbs, and 4 dainty corys. Their activity level has not changed, they seem active and eager to eat. No one is picking on anybody else that I have seen. My water did change from well with no additives to "city" water with additives although I did treat with Aquasafe before adding to the tank.

Is it stress? A water problem? Did the new 4 bring something nasty in? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[The-Wolf]

did the neons so any odd behaviour before dieing,
(swimming funny, gasping, flicking etc)?

were the deaths over a short period (days) or longer (week/s)?

 

[phlawed]

did the neons so any odd behaviour before dieing,
(swimming funny, gasping, flicking etc)?

were the deaths over a short period (days) or longer (week/s)?

from what i heard, neons are some of the most fragile fish there is in the tropical fish keeping. The slightest changes can set them off to destruction. I was thinking about getting some for a 10g tank until i heard how weak they were. I am sure someone else will have more advise that has kept them, but from what i read, majority says this not an easily kept fish. One even stated "buy 20 and hope 10 live."

 

[oneponygirl]

Wolf, all the fish were acting normally, active and eating. Schooling all together and all over the tank. The deaths occured from Wednesday to Friday, a matter of a three day span. The new fish were bought on Monday and placed in my existing tank, the new tank was set up on Tuesday using all the elements from the old tank and some new water, sand and plants.

I do understand that neon's can be particular about their conditions and little things can kill them but this is the first time I've lost 5 of 7 in 3 days so I thought I would ask around.

 

[WILDER]

Did they lose there colour in the red stripe, like the colour looked bleached out, any cysts on the belly.
Might want to think of getting cardinals instead alot more hardier and not prone to ntd.

 

[oneponygirl]

Nope, no color fade. Everything would look perfectly normal one time I looked at the tank and the next time I looked I'd find a neon dead on the bottom or stuck to the filter pump intake. Weird.

I actually haven't seen any cardinals sold near me and I do like the look of the neons better. At the same time, I kind of like glowlights but don't know about their hardiness. I still have two neons left. If they don't die wouldn't it be better to add to them rather than leave the last two lonely and get a new kind?

 

[WILDER]

I no longer will keep neons as i lost all the tank to ntd, i have glow light tetras had them well over a year, find them to be hardy.

 

[The-Wolf]

sudden unexplained deaths over a short period,
leads me to think internal bacterial infection.
having said that, yes neons can be very sensative to
the stress of travel etc and do have a habit of just dying.

I feel that you should try them again, but first ask the LFS
how long there stock has been in; anything less than a week don't buy them

 

[oneponygirl]

Being in a totally new community is making me have to search out new sources of good stock and info. I think I stumbled on one the other day. A local pet store I stopped at to get cat food had good looking tanks and a knowledgable staff member who stated that they put all new stock on hold for a week before they will begin to sell them. I want to get back their soon at a time when my dh and son aren't in the car waiting for me. Although I did warn them when I went in that if I wasn't back in 20 minutes they could find me in the fish section.

I also want to give my new tank some time to settle before I add more stock and watch my last couple of neons to see if they make it or not. Still wondering about the numbers thing. I don't think that my last two neons will be happy by themselves so if they make I should try to get my neon's numbers back up right? Rather than add a new type of tetra and leave those two lonesome?

Also, should I assume bacterial infection and what course of action should be taken? Or should I just watch in the event it was just stress from moving and such? (They did get moved three times in a short period of time as they had to stay with the fishsitter for a few days while we moved.)

 

[The-Wolf]

the thing with stress and fish is this;
when a fish gets stressed its immune system drops therefore
leaving it more suceptable to infections, parasites etc.

as you say they were moved three times in a short period
I'd say the got stressed and then sucumbed to a bacterial infection.

for future reference when moving neons and other sensative fish
place some stress coat or melafix in the bag water/tank, just as a preventative.

next time you get a similar problem (sudden unexplained deaths)
treat with a broad range bacterial med.
see my pinned topic in the emergancies forum for meds from the usa

 

[oneponygirl]

Good info! I hadn't considered that there might be a preventative treatment to help them through moving. I wish there had been something for me. I didn't want to move either but my hubby's company closed the site where he was working and moved him to corporate so we didn't have a choice. We had to sell our property, get rid of our goats (and my hopes to add a horse soon) and move to a much more expensive area where they don't allow anything but cats and dogs. There are blessings too, like being closer to my sis, but it's hasn't been easy on any of us.

 

[oneponygirl]

I hadn't had any deaths for a few days so I thought I'd hit the end of it but then just this afternoon found another neon stuck to the filter intake. Again, absolutely no indication that anything was wrong. Both remaining neons were fine this AM when I checked them, colorful, active, they ate last night (don't feed in AM usually), everything seemed fine. Then just suddenly dead.

I did a test and nitrites are 0 and nitrates are 5-10 the same as the other day but the ph plummeted to 6.4-6.6 from 7 and ammonia is up to .50, up from the other day when I tested (it was 0 then). I guess the tank will cycle a bit from the upgrade I just did although I did use my existing sand, water and filter media in the new tank so I understand why the ammonia might be up but I don't know what would have changed the ph.

Should I do a water change or test again tomorrow and see what it does? Any other thoughts? I have water set out to set back up my bettas tanks from after the move (their all living in big rubbermaid containers with holes punched in the top since then) but can use it for this tank if I need to.

 

[annka5]

Oh, poor you!
As well as the sympathy, I'd suggest regular small water changes - say 15% or 20% each day, as that should help. Age the water overnight before using it so the pH and dissolved gases is in it stabalise.
It sounds like your well water was harder than the water you have now, which kept the pH more stable, perhaps?
Stick with it. I really like neons and cardinals, and you're clearly well able to keep them healthy normally.