So we fell into the same trap as many others and listened to the pet shop!
We now have a 70lt (20gallon) Aqua One tank with LED lights. We Originally put in StressCoat and Stresszyme then left it for a week. We then added 6 neon tetra's. Very happy campers! No Ammonia but of course no Nitrite or Nitrate either! We also had a PH of 7.8 so we were using phdown.
One week later we added two Bristlenose catfish. Then the chaos started!
Firstly a couple of days later one of our previously healthy neon's started floating vertical - head up.
We used a test kit and our readings showed .25ppm ammonia. The petshop suggested using Tonic Salt. 4 days later I had a very sick looking neon and 2ppm ammonia. At this point the pet store became pretty useless and I turned to google.
So I am now using Prime and Stability, my neon is still looking very sick but is still alive and I have started doing 30% PWC every other day. I also stopped using phdown and stuck a piece of driftwood in the tank
My levels are now
Ammonia - 1ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
PH - 7.6
I am adding 5mls of Stability daily and 5 mls of prime every water change.
My questions are:-
Am I now doing the right thing?
Can I do anything better?
How long before I see the Nitrite levels go up?
Finally, My little neon is still unhappy I dont have a quarantine tank (next on the list, but right now I need to sort this one out) the other fish were chasing it so I have it in a floating breading trap.
He is swimming in a twitching kind of way unable to swim straight or the right way up. He floats quite a bit at the top, on his side and head up. I have no idea what is wrong with him or how to help him. His colour has been fine but I now notice his colour is fading. He first got sick 2 weeks ago.
All the other fish seem very happy.
Thanks for the help
We now have a 70lt (20gallon) Aqua One tank with LED lights. We Originally put in StressCoat and Stresszyme then left it for a week. We then added 6 neon tetra's. Very happy campers! No Ammonia but of course no Nitrite or Nitrate either! We also had a PH of 7.8 so we were using phdown.
One week later we added two Bristlenose catfish. Then the chaos started!
Firstly a couple of days later one of our previously healthy neon's started floating vertical - head up.
We used a test kit and our readings showed .25ppm ammonia. The petshop suggested using Tonic Salt. 4 days later I had a very sick looking neon and 2ppm ammonia. At this point the pet store became pretty useless and I turned to google.
So I am now using Prime and Stability, my neon is still looking very sick but is still alive and I have started doing 30% PWC every other day. I also stopped using phdown and stuck a piece of driftwood in the tank
My levels are now
Ammonia - 1ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
PH - 7.6
I am adding 5mls of Stability daily and 5 mls of prime every water change.
My questions are:-
Am I now doing the right thing?
Can I do anything better?
How long before I see the Nitrite levels go up?
Finally, My little neon is still unhappy I dont have a quarantine tank (next on the list, but right now I need to sort this one out) the other fish were chasing it so I have it in a floating breading trap.
He is swimming in a twitching kind of way unable to swim straight or the right way up. He floats quite a bit at the top, on his side and head up. I have no idea what is wrong with him or how to help him. His colour has been fine but I now notice his colour is fading. He first got sick 2 weeks ago.
All the other fish seem very happy.
Thanks for the help