School Of Neons Dies Off Slowly Over Many Months

[banderbe]

My tank is 29 gallons. It houses three corys, one ancistrus temincki, two microgeophagus altispinosas, one apistogramma cacatuoides, five diamond tetra, and now only 5 neon tetra.

The school of neon tetra started at around 15 fish about 5 months ago. Then about every thee weeks or so, one of them just vanishes. Only twice have I actually found a body.

I have more than enough bio filtration (Filstar XP2 with an entire tray full of Efhisubstrat sintered glass), mechanical filtration, the works. My water is pristine, never getting more than 10ppm nitrates.

I feed once daily using the classic "european shrimp mix" and the fish are just crazy about it.

What's going on? I want to keep a larger school of small tetras like neons but not if they're going to keep dying.

 

[bogwood]

...10 Neons lost in 3 weeks?... but all other fish ok... must be a Neon-specific disease/ailment... or something's eating them (if you cannot find dead bodies)... what are the 'common' names for your tanks other fish?... any 'predators' in there?... if yes, maybe they need more 'meat' (Tetras!) than just 'shrimp mix'...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Are any of the neons pale looking or have less than bright blue coloring? Is the red faded at all and are their bodys perfectly streamlined and not kinked/lumpy at all? Are they shoaling/schooling together in the tank or spaced out- do they hang around the top, middle or bottom of the tank mostly? Can you see any nipped/torn/eroded fins at all etc etc?

 

[banderbe]

...10 Neons lost in 3 weeks?... but all other fish ok... must be a Neon-specific disease/ailment... or something's eating them (if you cannot find dead bodies)... what are the 'common' names for your tanks other fish?... any 'predators' in there?... if yes, maybe they need more 'meat' (Tetras!) than just 'shrimp mix'...

No, I said one goes missing every three weeks or so.. It's taken about 5 months to lose the 10.

Are any of the neons pale looking or have less than bright blue coloring? Is the red faded at all and are their bodys perfectly streamlined and not kinked/lumpy at all? Are they shoaling/schooling together in the tank or spaced out- do they hang around the top, middle or bottom of the tank mostly? Can you see any nipped/torn/eroded fins at all etc etc?

Well, when my tank was fully planted they shoaled tightly but then the plants all died because I didn't know what I was doing with plants back then.. so after the plants were taken out they sort of spread out all over the tank. They usually hang out in the middle, sometimes in the top and once in a great while one will be near the bottom.

As for coloration they look colorful and healthy to me.

 

[Lateral Line]

Neons are not very tolerant of Nitrogen pollution. It strikes me that even with just the 5 Neons left, you are heavily stocked for a tank that size. I'm wondering what your Nitrogen readings are like now, and when you had the 15?