HELP!! 9 Dead Neon Tetras in 24hrs

[Saltair]

The tank is 10 gallon and it is cycled. I had Platy Fry in it with a thin layer of gravel prior. I moved the fry and added some coloered gravel and decorations to make a "Tacky Tank" in my 17mo olds room. Yesterday afternoon the tank was stocked with 5 Neon Tetras and one Clown Pleco. Water parameters this morning were 0 - .25ppm Amonia. It wasn't green enough to be .25, but was probably off of 0. I figured the addition of "full size fish" was the culprit, but still a pretty low number. 0ppm Nitrite, and 5ppm Nitrate. PH was 6.6-6.8. This a.m. all five tetras were dead.

I took them and the water sample back to the shop and they got the same results I did so I came home with five new Tetras. After a VERY slow acclimation that included multiple additions of tank water to the bag the fish were released into the tank around noon. At 5:30 four were dead, and the 5th is huffing and puffing pretty hard so it doesn't look good. What other things should I be looking for? What am I doing wrong? I am new at this, but have another tank up and running with no trouble. I am at a loss. What could be killing them so fast?

 

[Jason7894561230]

Neons are quite susepcible to ammonia even the slightest little bit will kill your fish. So do a water change before adding the fish. The clown pleco could be the reason for your ammonia. They are a heavy bio load fish. So do a 30% water change then test the water again. But I would wait before adding more fish. Buri have one question what were the tank conditions of the tank you bought the neons from? This could be a reason of your fishy deaths.

 

[Ilovemyfishies]

It could just be that batch of Neons. Did you treat the water before adding them? I had purchased 5 and the next day 3 were dead. The other two still survive. I purchased an additional 6 from the same petstore, however the ones that I received were from a new shipment. it is possible the store sold you sick fish. I seriously doubt the ammonia and the size of the tank were the culprit, 0.25 is not that high. What was your pH level? I have some neons in a tank that is in the midst of being cycled and my pH is 6.0 and my ammonia is 4.0, nitrite 0.25, nitrate 0. They are doing fine, they are happy and healthy; that's whats leading me to belive they were just sick fish.

 

[Jason7894561230]

Any ammonia in the tank is bad and able to kill fish

 

[Saltair]

The ammonia may very well be zero. I know its not .25. the only way to tell if it is climbing is to use a control from te tap. The fish were dead in less than twelve hours after stocking. The Pleco didn't foul the water that fast. The tank conditions at the shop are good, there were no dead or sickly fish in the tank. They keep records on their tanks and had not lost fish in quite some time. Their PH is higher than mine at 7.0 - 7.2. The speed of their demise leads me away from sickness. I have nine dead tetras all dead within hours of landing in the tank. Acclimation was done slow to try and compensate for the PH difference, but maybe its just to big a swing. Maybe something else?

 

[Saltair]

Make it 10 Dead Neons

 

[fort384]

Is there a heater in the tank? Neons don't like cold water...

It sounds as if you are doing more than enough to acclimate them... the pH is pretty dang close between your tank and theirs.

Also, how old is the test kit? They do go bad over time (although if the pet store checked and also got <.25 then this is probably not the issue).

I keep neons... I find that they are pretty susceptible to loss at first, but the ones who make it tend to make it a long time. It is too bad though that you have lost all of them. Something is off.

 

[Saltair]

I agree something is not right. I just dont know what it would be. They are bright pretty little fish and I would love a small school in my son's tank, but picking dead fish out of the tank gets old quick. FWIW tank temp 80F

 

[mudraker]

If you are not showing a serious 0 on your amonia reading, don't put any more fish in the tank until you do. A responsible LFS would have been alarmed at sending you home with fish when your water showed traces of ammonia, even a small one.

I'd find a different LFS after your water tests 0 for both ammonia and nitrite for at least a week. You might want to do a few PWC in between to bring down the nitrates a litte too. You are at the high end of what is considered healthy.

How's the pleco doing?

 

[Saltair]

Its my first Pleco, but he appears fine, comes out in the dark hides in his cave all day. As stated before my ammonia may very well be zero. I often have to use a control from the tap to tell for sure, Those color charts leave room for interpretation. One of my tubes got broken and they were all doing tests this a.m. so I didn't do the control today... of all days I know :\

I have a feeder guppy thats been living in my QT for about two months. I have three new Guppies in that tank that the feeder was fin nipping so I dropped her the 10 gallon with the Pleco tonight. I'll consider her my "canary in the coal mine" and see how she does. She is tough as nails though, she came in with a group of Guppies that all died of something horrible I was never able to figure out. She was the sole survivor.

 

[Saltair]

Update: This a.m. ammonia = 0ppm as compared to the chart and a control sample from the tap. The "canary" guppy is alive and well.

Is there some water parameter that neons just cant handle that I am not checking?

I am not running aeration, just letting the filter do it, should I have a bubble stone in the tank for them?

 

[fort384]

Shouldn't be required. I run high concentrations of co2 and no air in my tank and I have plenty of healthy happy neons. I am at a loss here. Maybe try a different source for neons and drip acclimate?

 

[adeebm]

When I first added 6 neons to my tank, they all died overnight, though there was no problem with the tank. They are pretty sensitive fish when being added to tanks. You probably just got a bad batch. Ask your LFS if they just got the neons and wait a week so that only the hardy ones are left before you buy more. Assuming your ammonia is 0, your tank params are fine.

Btw, how long did you acclimate for? I would suggest 1 - 2 hours if you did less, it might help. Float the bag in your tank and add a dash of prime, then slowly add water from your tank every 15min or so.

--Adeeb