Tank Tests OK But Something Not Right?

[TheGunzel]

I've just done a water change today and have seen one of the neons is unwell. It's mainly lying on the bottom and occasionally tries to swim up, it also looks to be gasping with its mouth and gills.

I've taken a picture of it.

Could this be a lack of oxygen in the water?

 

[TheGunzel]

I've got a bubbler stone in a sponge in the tank and there is water movement judging by the way the plants sway.

 

[Colin_T]

No it's not from lack of oxygen. If there is a low oxygen (O2) level or high carbon dioxide (CO2) level, then all the fish would be gasping at the surface or breathing heavily. If you have aeration in the tank, then it's not going to be suffering from a low oxygen level.

The fish in the picture appears to have a slightly faded red line, which could be a bacterial infection or something else. If the fish can't swim properly, euthanise it.

Monitor the remaining fish and maybe post pictures and video of them.

 

[TheGunzel]

No it's not from lack of oxygen. If there is a low oxygen (O2) level or high carbon dioxide (CO2) level, then all the fish would be gasping at the surface or breathing heavily. If you have aeration in the tank, then it's not going to be suffering from a low oxygen level.

The fish in the picture appears to have a slightly faded red line, which could be a bacterial infection or something else. If the fish can't swim properly, euthanise it.

Monitor the remaining fish and maybe post pictures and video of them.

Thanks for replying so quickly.

I'll try get a clip of them tonight and post it back here.

This is all a bit frustrating, I've gotten quite a bit of good advice here which I'm trying to implement but different issues keep appearing.

 

[Colin_T]

This is all a bit frustrating, I've gotten quite a bit of good advice here which I'm trying to implement but different issues keep appearing.

Unfortunately that happens. It seems like you get one problem after another and it goes on forever. Then one day things settle down and the fish become a nice hobby instead of a stress related headache

Don't add anything new to the tank at this stage (no plants, fish, shrimp, snails or anything else). Let the tank run and settle down. When everything has been good for a month, then look into adding some new stock.

Monitor the remaining fish.

 

[FranciscoB]

"and get rid of that filter
and replace it with a dual sponge filter --->

as most people will literally kill all the beneficial bacteria while cleaning a single sponge"

Although the filter shown above is very good, there is nothing wrong with the sponge filter you have, and no real need to replace it unless you want to. Just need to make sure that when you clean the sponge (I do all my media once per week), use aquarium water (i.e, no chlorine), and don't be to aggressive at squeezing them in the water. That is all.
If you really wanted to replace the filter (or to add a second one which is always a good idea), I would use a Hang-on-back (HOB) filter, which would have the advantage of adding turnover of water and surface agitation. The former is always good, the second will add gas exchange which is always good.
Good luck!

 

[TheGunzel]

No it's not from lack of oxygen. If there is a low oxygen (O2) level or high carbon dioxide (CO2) level, then all the fish would be gasping at the surface or breathing heavily. If you have aeration in the tank, then it's not going to be suffering from a low oxygen level.

The fish in the picture appears to have a slightly faded red line, which could be a bacterial infection or something else. If the fish can't swim properly, euthanise it.

Monitor the remaining fish and maybe post pictures and video of them.

I've taken a clip of my Neons but I'm wondering the best way to post video clips on the forum. I did see someone who had their video clips on their YouTube channel and then embedded them in their post. Is that the best way? The clip I have is about 33Mb so is probably too big to be putting directly into a post.

 

[TheGunzel]

"and get rid of that filter
and replace it with a dual sponge filter --->

as most people will literally kill all the beneficial bacteria while cleaning a single sponge"

Although the filter shown above is very good, there is nothing wrong with the sponge filter you have, and no real need to replace it unless you want to. Just need to make sure that when you clean the sponge (I do all my media once per week), use aquarium water (i.e, no chlorine), and don't be to aggressive at squeezing them in the water. That is all.
If you really wanted to replace the filter (or to add a second one which is always a good idea), I would use a Hang-on-back (HOB) filter, which would have the advantage of adding turnover of water and surface agitation. The former is always good, the second will add gas exchange which is always good.
Good luck!

I mainly rely on the inbuilt filter pads in the top of the tank to do the tank filtering, the sponge filter was given to me by someone who said to install it so as to have somewhere else for bio-filter bacteria to grow. The filtration that it does is just a bonus.

My intention is to buy an appropriately sized Eheim external cartridge filter and use that solely for the tank filtration. At the moment though I'm just trying to get the tank to run more reliably and also to educate myself a bit more about it all before I go making any major changes to the set up.

 

[Essjay]

I've taken a clip of my Neons but I'm wondering the best way to post video clips on the forum. I did see someone who had their video clips on their YouTube channel and then embedded them in their post. Is that the best way? The clip I have is about 33Mb so is probably too big to be putting directly into a post.

Uploading to YouTube or other video hosting site and posting the link on here is the only way to post videos.

 

[TheGunzel]

OK, it's been a few weeks now and my tank seems to be going well. I tested the water last week just before a water change and all the results are basically unchanged.

I'm feeling confident enough that I bought a couple of Corydoras to keep my original Cory company and they seem happy enough.

My water hardness is slightly lower now at 0-50ppm for the Carbonate Hardness and 50-100ppm for the General Hardness. I've never been able to get plants to grow well in the tank and I thought maybe the water hardness may have been an issue. I've had a look around the shops for some purified/distilled water but actually finding any in stock has been a problem and given that when I can find it it's about a dollar a litre I'm not sure I want to drop $40 every time I do a water change.

I might put 10 litres in next time I change the water and see if that reduces the water hardness a little more.

I've also recorded a short clip of my tank, after reading the video tips section in the forums I then went and re-recorded it in the proper landscape orientation. Such a beginner.

One thing I have noticed, and you can see it in the clip, is a neon that sinks tail down and head up when it stops swimming. Why is that? Also, a couple have lost the clear end part of their tail. What can cause that?

 

[GaryE]

First off, I like your original sponge filter. It's fine, and while the one suggested is also good, they're equal.

Carbon is a bit of a scam. I use it to remove meds, although I rarely use meds. It's a holdover from when aquarists didn't believe in changing water, and carbon was used to keep the tank from smelling bad. I've had fish for 55 years now, and I remember how bad some tanks used to smell. It's a problem we've sorted out with increased knowledge.

You have some sort of hard to define pathogen in your tank. Bacterial and viral infections are tough, because unless you're a super-villain with laboratory behind the sliding bookcase, you can't diagnose easily. You're probably going to have to keep at the maintenance and ride it out. If conditions remain good, it will burn itself out.

Look up 'neon tetra disease'.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

We have liquid rock for water in my area and my plants do fine, I doubt the water hardness has anything to do with it. Find yourself some crypts and plant them into the substrate with a root tab. The leaves may well die back but if you just leave it, it will adjust to its new water and grow new leaves

 

[Morganna]

Kind of a side note, not really that important, but I noticed that it looks like two of your "neons" look like they might actually be cardinal tetras.

 

[TheGunzel]

Hello all, thanks for your input. I can be a bit erratic with the timing of my replies, it's one of those when I get a few spare minutes sit down and write a reply sort of thing.

It's been a few weeks since my last post and the tank is still going quite well. I've added another Cory to keep the original 3 company and also another couple of Neon Tetras. And thanks Morganna, there's a couple of Cardinals in there as well.

CaptainBarnicles, I like having plants in the pots so that I can lift them out when I vacuum the substrate. Do you just vacuum around your plants? Did a search and it seems that crypts need to be planted directly into the substrate.