Fish dying for no reason?

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mishyc

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Aug 12, 2017
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161
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Uk
Originally = 10 neons and 4 male guppies
Tank setup = 6 months
Testing (today) ammonia 0.25 ppm, nitrite 0 ppm, nitrate 5.0ppm

Problem = one guppie and one neon died within a month for no reason that I know, totally fine and feeding the same day.
The guppy died first I found him dead in the filter the next morning and he was totally fine at lights out the night before!
Neon terra= died yesterday, when I got him out, I did a 50% water change. I tested the water the next day(today) and the results are above ^. The neon was totally fine on the morning, it ate and was schooling with the rest, found it dead on the afternoon with no marks, bloating or signs of why it died.

Can anyone help?
 
Neons are notorious for being overly sensitive towards parameters. If you did a 50% change then got that reading with .25ppm ammonia it means the ammonia was probably around .5ppm because you changed half the water which took out half of it. However with only 1 dying it seems like either he wasn't a strong one or, he had columnaris. Columnaris is a silent killer, fish don't show symptoms then bam they either straight up die or show wild symptoms then die in 20~ hours, I would look into online, I had it in an angel fish and he was fine then one day he became paralyzed but was still breathing and died within 2 hours
 
I bought 6 Neons over a year ago to add to an existing school. I didn’t quarantine. They all died and took about half of my tank with them. Betta, kuhli’s too. All without visible symptoms the day prior. Suspect it was the dreaded big C.
 
I think it was big box. But that was where most of my fish have come from. When I took the bodies back for a refund they told me they had lost the whole tank. Definitely a bad batch. I recently purchased 20 Neons for a tank that had no other fish at that point. Same store. I’ve had them in there for a month and no fatalities yet.
 
Oh really! I did a quarter water change today after testing, will test again tomorrow. It just seems strange to have them 6 months and just lose them like that
 
One of the more frustrating aspects of the hobby. Would totally think 6 months was in the safe zone. But I guess some illnesses can be present all the time but if something stresses the fish they can take advantage of the issue and thrive.
 
They were strong from the beginning, I put the neons in 4 days after set up because the pet store said it would be fine (I didn’t know about the nitrogen cycle) one got into the filter a few months later and after a night in the net and ripped fins, it survived and the fins repaired so I couldn’t tell which one it was. So one just dies after all this time is sad ☹️
 
I agree with Ihaveaquariums, and 2. if your not doing water changes regularly alone with vacuuming,cleanings as needed the ammonia will climb and kill. The weakest go first. Over feeding plays a part too.
 
I don’t think that it is neon tetra disease because the one that died showed any symptoms of that disease!
 
Sometimes fish actually die of old age .Having it only 6 months does not mean it is not older , especially if they were not tiny when you got them..
I am not certain on neons but in the wild Cardinals are considered 'annuals' living only a year?
 
I was thinking that, i think I read on the internet 10 years but not sure! When I got the 10 neons I think 2 were at full size, I can’t tell now who is who because they are all at full size, apart from one because he has one stumpy fin that has been the same since I got them, he’s called nemo of course [emoji4]
 
Just looked 10 years normally, 5 in an aquarium
 
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