How not to stress fish

[mikemou]

New 55gal with scattered plants. One week after adding 10 neons 6 of them died. One is in critical condition and soon will die, I think. The dead fish had had ICH, some had rot fins/tails and losing scales. I'm afraid very soon I'll be looking at an empty tank again.

THE QUESTION: What are the DOs and DON'Ts in general to avoid stressing fish, and in specific tetras?

Thanks!

 

[malkore]

Mike,

You're biggest problem is actually something we call Neon Tetra Disease...at least it sounds that way. It seems like a very un-hardy strain of neon tetra are being sold in certain areas right now. Fish that act healthy one day will be dead the next. What's worse is that it seems it's some kind of true infection, and when the other neons eat the dead carcass, they become infected.

Most tetra are hard, and won't keel over that easily. I have a black neon that's got some kind of tumor for 3 months now, and is fine (i'd euthanize him if I could catch him, though he doesn't seem to be suffering...so...)

However, these deaths could be attributed to an un-cycled tank...you say it's a new 55 gallon. it's possible that 10 neons were enough of a bio load to spike ammonia to the point of fatal toxicity. Please elaborate more on just how new this tank was, whether you fishless cycled or used bio-spira...all that necessary information.

 

[Menagerie]

I would agree, I don't think neons are the best fish to add first. You should give the tanks months to establish before adding neons.

 

[mikemou]

It's brand new - not cycled. But I checked water everyday and there has been no ammonia or nitrite reading at all. Maybe the plants ate them all? I did a 30% water change.

Well, what I would like to find out is what are the best practice to provide a fish-friendly environment that will reduce the chance of them getting sick.

 

[Allivymar]

Chances are your neons were ill to begin with. I actually don't think it was neon tetra disease, as the symptoms don't match, but neons are really delicate overall. I also doubt the issue was a cycling issue at this point, especially with your water readings. 10 neons in a 55g is barely scratching the surface of nitrogenous waste.

A fish friendly environment is a cycled tank which is similar to the parameters the fish came from. Obviously thats not always possible; hence fishless cycling, Biospira, using media from other tanks, and slow acclimation of new fish.

I do suggest you leave the tank fallow for a few weeks; it would suck to introduce new fish and have them come down with whatever the neons had. You might want to get new fish and QT for 2-3 weeks before adding them. This way you keep the main tank from any more disease and its easier to watch new fish in a bare QT tank then a large planted tank.

 

[mikemou]

Thanks Allivymar.

I'm down to 2 neons as of this moring. One is visibility illed with ICH and rot fins/tail so I suspect I'll loose it soon. The other one is looking extremely healthy, not even a slightest difficulty visible.

I agree I shouldn't introduce any fish for a few weeks, but if this last one survives at last, is keeping it alone the best thing to do? I mean aren't they schooling fish? Is kept alone for a couple weeks OK?

 

[CiRXSi]

If you did get ICH in your tank, I would definately treat your tank for ICH (check the articles section). A fish can still die from ICH even if there are no visible signs on the surface of your fish. All that has to happen is enough ICH inside the gills of your fish (not very noticable, especially on a neon) and the poor guy can't breathe. You should definately consider getting a QT tank to prevent your healthy fish from becoming infected from bad ones. My friend just lost 20 healthy fish from one bad batch of 6 neons. By the way, stress has nothing to do with ICH.

 

[malkore]

Yep, and if one fish has ich, the rest should always be assumed to have ich.

 

[mikemou]

i am treating the tank, just don't think the medication is working fast enough to save lives. if that one neon makes it through it's probably not because of the treatment but it's exceptionally good immune system that fended off ich.

btw, from what i gathered elsewhere, ich attacks stressed fish.

as to QT, i checked out some of the marineland eclipse and allglass aquarium 5 gal tanks at petco last weekend, but to my surprise none of them come with heaters. is heater not needed for small tanks?

 

[Allivymar]

*nods and agrees*

Stress decreases the immune response and a compromised immune system opens the door to all sorts of infections and infestations, including ich.

As for small tanks and heaters, depends on the fish. If the fish needs a certain temp range, it will need a heater. As most fish do best within a certain temp range, its necessary. They prob don't include it cause it keeps the price down. Most setups don't include one.

 

[Menagerie]

There are 25 watt heaters out there. I bought one on ebay and use it on my 5 gal QT tank.

 

[malkore]

Yep, otherwise get a 50 watt that's a good brand, like Visi-therm. It'll last many years, so you can use it the next time you upgrade your tank.

And yes, ich is pretty much always present in a tank, but until the fish become stressed it really can't take hold.
Good luck

 

[mikemou]

I'm setting up a 5 gal QT and moving the two struggling neons in there to continue their ICH treatment.

As to the big 55 gal tank, I don't want to tear it down and clean it inside out...AGAIN! It's got several plants and a couple baby snails came with them and gravel so it would be too much hassle to do a complete cleaning job. I'm planning to syphon/gravel vac most of the water out and leave just enough for the plants and let it sit there for over 48 hours, and restart the tank. From what I gathered ICH won't last 48 hrs w/out fish. Any other concerns I should wait longer than that? Or there're better options/solutions?

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[deli_conker]

I would keep treating for ich even if the fish aren't in there. It always pays to be safe.

You might also want to do a fishless cycle on your 55 and get it done the easy way...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15

 

[Menagerie]

Keep up with the heat treatment on the main tank and there will be no need to drain and start over. Plus bacteria will not be lost.

 

[Mayonnaise]

IIRC Neons are a bad idea for first fish. I remember that from my first tank. I made the same mistake, starting with Neon Tetras... and they all died on me, simply because as was explained to me later, they are not good fish to start with.

8^(