so confused!

[kkkkyle7]

So 2 days ago I set up my 36 gallon bow front and added my friends gravel to help start with the bacteria. Then yesterday morning I woke up and I noticed the water was a little cloudy(it was clear when it first was set up). Yesterday afternoon I went to our LFS and bought Tetra SafeStart along with 5 neons and 2 guppies (the instructions on Tetra SafeStart say to add fish with it) I poured the Tetra SafeStart in the tank and let the fish float in the bag & slowly add water for about 20 minutes. The Tetra SafeStart made the water even a little more cloudy. I tested my water before putting the fish in and Ammonia/Nitrite was 0 and the PH was 7.2 and the temperature 78 degrees. The fish were all fine and seemed happy and then about 4 hours later the neons slowly started to go to the top and just sit there (but they were not gasping for air) and then they slowly started dying. 3 of them died last night and the other 2 this morning. Of course the guppies are fine and are swimming around happily. The neons had no signs of anything wrong with them. This morning I did a maybe 15% water change and checked my water and Ammonia/Nitrite was 0 and the PH was 7.2 and the temperature 78 degrees. The water is still cloudy. What is going on and what should I do next?

 

[missileman]

Neon tetras are not hardy fish and will die easily if water conditions are not good and stable. We warned you in your other thread about this.

 

[kkkkyle7]

But why are my readings saying my water in fine, did the Safestart work?

 

[missileman]

It means nothing. The amonia has not had time to build up to a readable amount.
Read your other thread about safestart. You have 2 threads going asking the same thing.
Are you treating the water with anything when you put it in are do water changes?

 

[kkkkyle7]

Sorry, but we have well water so it is not chlorinated but I still add Tetra AquaSafe.

 

[missileman]

I am wondering what caused the cloudy condition and if your well water could contain anything that may harm the fish?
Stress alone from differences in the srore water and tank water can kill neons. In any case, you will need hardy fish to survive cycling a tank.
The fish I have used are Zebra Danios and Dwarf Gouramis.

 

[kkkkyle7]

I actually tested the store water PH and it was 7.0, they water is slowly starting to clear up as we speak. Could it of been bacteria? I am going to test the water again later on tonight.

 

[missileman]

?
I would have said possibly an algae bloom but that would require nutrients like Nitrate.
Does your well water contain Nitrate? We have one member here that has 40ppm nitrate in his well water.
An algae bloom should not hurt the fish but of course it could have been something else.

 

[kkkkyle7]

No it does not contain Nitrate

 

[thominil]

The clouding of the water was probably just a bacterial bloom. I suggest that you take the fish back and do fishless cycling.

 

[missileman]

I had a thought.
Being well water there is a fairly good chance that there is bacteria in it.
Once that bacteria got in that warm water in your tank it became a perfect breeding ground. I wonder if the fish died from bacteria?
Just a thought.
Perhaps treat the tank with Melafix and pretreat any new water with chlorine before adding to your tank. ie... add chlorine to about 1-2 ppm wait 24 hours then treat with a dechlor like prime or nova aqua. I know it sounds silliy but it would eliminate any bacteria in the water.
Again, just thinking out loud.

 

[fort384]

Like I said before you bought the neons... attempting to cycle a tank with neons = bad idea.

Get your biological filter established, then add fish.

 

[kkkkyle7]

Well its been a few days and the guppies are doing fine, the last 2 days the ammonia and nitrite have been 0. 4 days ago the ammonia was .25 and nitrite was 0 and then 3 days ago the ammonia was 0 and the nitrite was 0.25. The water also has cleared up, should I get some more fish?

 

[booginish]

if i could suggest anything to you i would say, try a hardier fish like a zebra danio, they are great cycling fish, and do not produce alot of waste, but wait til your ammonia is a bit higher to start the waterchanges because the bacteria that is reproducing in your tank need food(ammonia), and if you keep doin water changes to often and removing there food, there not goin to reproduce as fast, test daily if possible so you can do a water change when your ammonia levels peak. and always treat you water with a good dechlorinator and heavy metal neutralizer, and if you can get one that also applies a stress coat to your fish. Your tank is gonna go from cloudy to clear a few times during your cycle(in my experience), its normal just make sure your not overcrowding your tank to quickly and do daily testing if possible.

 

[bs6749]

I've always found neons to be hardy and personally I'd use them to cycle a tank. Maybe it was dumb luck or nice stock, either way I haven't had any issues with neon hardiness. Not becoming a snack for discus on the other hand............