Neons all dying !!!

[Tippy]

Can anyone suggest anything or let me know what is happening to my Neons ?!

Each one seems to get a growth type thing on its stomach (like a bump on the inside) - there is nothing visible on the outside, they eat well and then they die. Only one seems to get this at a time - I have only a few left and am worried that this will pass on to my other fish - none of whom have shown any signs of anything like this ......

My tank's levels are all spot on - plants thriving, no algae - so I cannot think of anything that is causing the problem ....

 

[platypus]

Hiya Tippy,

One possibility that sprang to mind is that you might be overfeeding them - this is surprisingly easy to do when you think how tiny they are. Have you noticed it happening soon after they've eaten? Also, what have you been feeding them/how often etc?

Fish can get away with going without food for much longer than we think - I always give mine a couple of days off in the week and only feed them as much as they can eat in 1 minute. Also a varied diet is important - so vary flakes with things like blood worm/tubifex/brine shrimp (live if possible, if not frozen), and veggies like cucumber or lettuce or frozen peas. Not all fish will go for all these different things so you may have to experiment, the importance is the variety!

Does this sound like it might explain it?

Best of luck with your neons

 

[Tippy]

Thanks for your swift reply - I only fed the whole tank every other day - I feed Aquarian flakes - the tinest pinch that does not last very long at all plus a tablet for my 3 corys .... the live food I have tried using just seems to get ignored !

The bump is just smaller than their head .. so to them it is quite sizeable but no ulcers or anything ....

 

[platypus]

Hmmm in that case I'm not sure - you could try reading this description of common fish diseases - maybe there will be something in it that sounds familiar?

On a general note, how is your water quality? Are you doing regular water changes? How long has the tank been set up for? How many fish do you have in it? What is the temperature (I lost a few neons this summer during the heatwave due to high temps but they got v ill first)? Are there definitely no other signs of illness, e.g. loss of colouration in the body, rapid breathing, hanging near the surface of the water, listlessness.... ?