We lost all of our Neon Tetras

[Fishinhoney]

Hello,
My daughter and I started a new tank that has been running for 2 weeks. We tested the pH before adding our new fish yesterday and it was 7.2. We brought home 2 beautiful Dalmatian Mollies, one white with black spots and one black with white spots for the Yin and Yang duo, she named them Tui and La. They have been very happy. We also added two Black Velvet Mollies named Ran and Boo and then we added 4 Neon Tetras all named Kevin Sadly one of the Tetra died about 5 hours after being in the tank and the slow introduction we gave them seemed successful. They all were swimming happily together in their school. Just before bed she looked and said one of the Kevins was missing. I found him under the Gazebo and removed him from the tank. The other three remained together. About an hour later my other daughter said that one had separated itself from the school of three and was swimming around like it was looking for the 4th. We turned off the light and hoped that they might settle down for the night. When I checked on them this morning the two that had been left were dead in the plastic jade plant. At first I thought maybe they had gone there to sleep but they were barely alive and ultimately died. The other one that had left the school and was frantic has paled and is still swimming around frantically. I am not sure what to do next. Is the pH too high at 7.2 for them? Is it because we didn't buy enough for them to be happy and safe? Should I buy her more in a larger group or give up on tetras for now? Thank you for any assistance you can offer. RIP Kevins <3

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF.

The ph is fine for those fish...the problem is most likely that the tank is not cycled, and the fish are dying from ammonia poisoning.

Read about cycling here, and post any questions you may have: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

Hello,
My daughter and I started a new tank that has been running for 2 weeks. We tested the pH before adding our new fish yesterday and it was 7.2. We brought home 2 beautiful Dalmatian Mollies, one white with black spots and one black with white spots for the Yin and Yang duo, she named them Tui and La. They have been very happy. We also added two Black Velvet Mollies named Ran and Boo and then we added 4 Neon Tetras all named Kevin Sadly one of the Tetra died about 5 hours after being in the tank and the slow introduction we gave them seemed successful. They all were swimming happily together in their school. Just before bed she looked and said one of the Kevins was missing. I found him under the Gazebo and removed him from the tank. The other three remained together. About an hour later my other daughter said that one had separated itself from the school of three and was swimming around like it was looking for the 4th. We turned off the light and hoped that they might settle down for the night. When I checked on them this morning the two that had been left were dead in the plastic jade plant. At first I thought maybe they had gone there to sleep but they were barely alive and ultimately died. The other one that had left the school and was frantic has paled and is still swimming around frantically. I am not sure what to do next. Is the pH too high at 7.2 for them? Is it because we didn't buy enough for them to be happy and safe? Should I buy her more in a larger group or give up on tetras for now? Thank you for any assistance you can offer. RIP Kevins <3

When I first got my 6 cardinals, 2 died on the first few days. They separated from each other. Water parameters?
It might be stress or they came with the disease.

 

[Fishinhoney]

Welcome to TFF.

The ph is fine for those fish...the problem is most likely that the tank is not cycled, and the fish are dying from ammonia poisoning.

Read about cycling here, and post any questions you may have: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

Thank you! I need to buy more than pH test kit then. Hopefully our Mollies will live through this until we get it cycled correctly. I won't add any more fish until I know what is going on.

 

[Rocky998]

Thank you! I need to buy more than pH test kit then. Hopefully our Mollies will live through this until we get it cycled correctly. I won't add any more fish until I know what is going on.

Make sure to also get the GH and KH test kits... Mollies and platies are hard water but neon tetras are soft water. When either are kept in a different water hardness it will lead to death. Im going to make an educated guess and say that your water is soft because your PH is low. Your GH is probably going to be around 2-3 with a KH of around the same. I would recommend finding a new home for the mollies due to the fact they are hardwater fish.

And for future reference:
Hardwater= High PH

Softwater= Low PH

Unless you have a super high KH which can also lead to a high PH

 

[Fishinhoney]

Make sure to also get the GH and KH test kits... Mollies and platies are hard water but neon tetras are soft water. When either are kept in a different water hardness it will lead to death. Im going to make an educated guess and say that your water is soft because your PH is low. Your GH is probably going to be around 2-3 with a KH of around the same. I would recommend finding a new home for the mollies due to the fact they are hardwater fish.

And for future reference:
Hardwater= High PH

Softwater= Low PH

Unless you have a super high KH which can also lead to a high PH

I am sorry, I am more of a noob than I thought. So how can you have a community tank with Mollies and Tetras if they need different water hardness/softness?

 

[connorlindeman]

So how can you have a community tank with Mollies and Tetras if they need different water hardness/softness?

To my knowledge I'm afraid that neons and mollies simply cannot be kept together

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

To my knowledge I'm afraid that neons and mollies simply cannot be kept together

In Water hardness means

 

[Fishinhoney]

To my knowledge I'm afraid that neons and mollies simply cannot be kept together

That is frustrating that we bought them all together. Thanks for you help!

 

[connorlindeman]

In Water hardness means

yes

 

[connorlindeman]

That is frustrating that we bought them all together. Thanks for you help!

This happens a lot. The fish stores tend to put making a sale over making sure that the fish are compatible. That's why I would always recommend researching the fish before purchasing.

 

[Rocky998]

I am sorry, I am more of a noob than I thought. So how can you have a community tank with Mollies and Tetras if they need different water hardness/softness?

Sorry to say, but you just dont... You find other fish that can live with them.

 

[Fishinhoney]

Sorry to say, but you just dont... You find other fish that can live with them.

Thank you

 

[Rocky998]

Thank you

you could look at different corydora species! What is your tank size again?

 

[Naughts]

I concur with @Slaphppy7, the fish are most likely to be suffering ammonia poisoning.
Do a 75% water change every day to reduce the ammonia in the tank. Match the temperature and dechlorinate the new water, Prime is better here.. Reduce feeding to once every other day. If you can get some floating plants this will help reduce ammonia a bit too.
Once you have the test kits for ammonia and nitrite, post the results on here.