introduction & fish illness

[ghettorigged]

Greetings.

With great joy I join your schoal!

I am a newbie aquarist with a used 50 gallon aquarium set up for freshwater fish. I chose corys, neons, bloodfins, ottos, and flames together in small schools as well as a lovely pair of baby angels. I also have live plants. My tank has been set up for about 3 months and I have enjoyed it greatly. I can't imagine having home without an aquarium!

Unfortunately, I found this wonderful site in a frantic search to find a solution to my recent aquarium woes. I went on an emergency family visit for a week and had some one watch my tank while I as away. When I returned, one of my corys was missing and one died two days later. I tested the water and found nothing wrong but that the pH was high (went from 7.1 to about 7.6). I changed the peat in my filter and it has dropped back down to 7.1. Now, after another week, I have a neon that has been losing color for a few days. Tonight, after several experienced aquarists said to destroy the fish, I sadly did so.

The problem is that no one has come to look at the tank to tell me what could be wrong! Are my other fish in danger? I was told that I must not be taking care of my tank, but I assure you that I do weekly water changes and also test my water at that time. I may be new to the hobby, but I have pruchased and read at least 5 books on setting up aquariums before and after I set one up. The fish were put in the tank very slowly and the angles were the last added over one month ago. I had 32 fish in all. 4 groups of 5 and 10 neons, plus 2 tiny angels. Now I am down to 29 fish since I lost the 2 corys and 1 neon.

I have ruled out ick after treating for it when I found the dead cory. The neon I destroyed was growing pale but still acting pretty normal. He got a little thin and began to hide so I was told to get rid of him asap.

Any help for the rest of my tank would be greatly appreciated.

 

[loganj]

Depending on how quickly the pH went up, your fish could have died from osmotic shock. How do the rest of the fish look? All normal? Eating well and active? A stable pH is very important. It's better to have the pH stable at a higher or lower level than the fishes natural environment than to have it going up and down (we call it the yo-yo effect).
Corys are usually pretty hardy. Neons, IME, are sensitive and will die easier than many other fish. Are you feeding the corys something that will sink to the bottom? Contrary to what many folks will tell you, they are not scavengers and need to be target fed for best results. Feed them bloodworms and sinking wafers and you'll likely see a batch of eggs on the glass one day .
Logan J

 

[ghettorigged]

Hmm, I was indeed told not to worry about feeding the corys. I was supposed to plop the occasional shrimp pellet in to 'test' if they were getting enough food but they never bothered with it. I also was told to try tubfex worms but the stupid blocks just made a mess so i dont' bother with them anymore. I bought some frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms and all the fish go wild. I would swear I don't have fish, but tiny pigs swimming around! How do I know if the corys are eating enough?

I will keep better track of the pH. I am on well-water and do not add stuff to the water. It has been melting like crazy here so I think the pH popped up from that. Thanks for the helpful info!

 

[loganj]

To target feed the corys, get a piece of acrylic tubing from the LFS that's about 3/4" in diameter...an uplift tube for an undergravel filter is about right. Stick it in the tank and drop in part of a frozen bloodworm cube. It will eventually sink to the bottom and you can remove the tube...this gives the corys first shot at it...they'll love it.
Logan J

 

[ghettorigged]

loganj, do you know what would cause a neon to lose it's color?

 

[d9hp]

If you dont mind me answering that question, it is Neon Tetra Disease! There is no cure and it will spread to the other fish in the tank fast. I did a profile on these fish not too long ago, and there is some info on the disease

here is the profile, check it out.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=2876

 

[ghettorigged]

OK, I investigated neon tetra disease. I guess I don't understand why my fish don't exhibit the symptons described on most pages?

It seems the 'illness' started with the corys, not the neons. Now, out of the 5 corys I had 2 weeks ago (and they were the first fish in the tank) there are only 2 left. The neons and other fish seem to be ok, except for the one I mentioned losing it's color.

How am I to recognize the disease if the only sign they show before dying is a loss of color? One cory (of the 2 reaming) had it's color *yesterday* but today it is pale and is about to kick the bucket. I am very distraught since I spend so much time watching my tank and taking care of it.

 

[ghettorigged]

I just lost the rest of my corys this week. No neons mind you, just the corys.

What does some one have to do around here to get a little HELP!?!?!?!? :x