Neon die off.

[martiniduck]

My daughter wanted to change the color of her gravel in her 10 gallon tank. I removed the old gravel. I washed the new gravel thoroughly with lots of running water. The tank has been operational for over a year, so it has been cycled. I run a penguin biowheel 150. I did a 40% pwc at the time. This is the day after I changed the gravel. I tested the water with an API Master kit all the numbers are fine. Ammonia=0, Nitrate=10, Nitrite=0. They are the size of the neons, about a 1/4 inch in length. The water has a very fishy smell now, it is a little cloudy, and my last 2 neons died off. I am assuming the cloudiness from from the gravel. The rest of the fish seem fine. I have 3 guppies, and 3 mollies in the tank. Two if the Mollies are very young and small. The neons have been in this tank for about 6 months and I have had no problems with them. I had 5 of them at the start. Should i be worried, or is this normal.

 

[FLFishFanatic]

I don't have a ton of experience with Neons, but sometimes just a lot of change can overwhelm a fish so greatly it can even pass.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i would aim more towards a mini cycle. I would double check your kit and make sure it is reading right (add some pure ammonia to some tap water in a bucket to make sure it reads). The fish smell along with cloudiness sounds like a bacteria bloom imo.

 

[martiniduck]

I was thinking the same thing that is why I did the water test. I guess I can give it another testing. I did not change the media in the filters and I did a 40% PWC, so I didn't think there would be that much of a disturbance in the cycle. Do you recommend another PWC?

 

[dkpate]

Just stirring up the substrate can cause a mini cycle I believe. If it was my tank, I would do another 20-50% pwc, just to be safe.

 

[jessibell]

Didn't I hear someone say that tetras were really sensitive to changes in ammonia? Every time I start a new tank or clean a tank out "too well" I get cloudy water, which I have been told is a bacteria bloom. I am on day 8 of cycling a 5 gal and the cloudy water came when the nitrites went up.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Yes, i would do lots of water changes, maybe 50% every day or two for the next week or so just to be certain you have excellent water quality