SOB !@#@% Neon Tetra

[vega]

Argggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dumb Crappy Neon again.

Bought 6, 2 die within 10 hours despict all the precaution.....

Crappy, crappy neon,
Stucking in my pump inlet,
S.I.N.K.IN.G....

Arggggggggggggggggggggggg....

FYI: those scientist who reading this, you will be nex bill gate if you create the chemical which make neon stay alive in our tank.

 

[William]

I don't like Neons, their far to fragile..

 

[Megalofyia]

That sucks. Sorry to hear about your neons.

 

[millym]

sorry about your neons, dont know if we've been lucky - but the only neon losses we've had was when we first started & stupidly put neons in a tank with 2 kribs.( bad advice from pet shop) the kribs ate a neon a day for 5 days until we realized what was happening!!! & took the kribs back 8O we've got 11 neons at the moment, 6 are new & the other 5 have been there for 3 months.

 

[TankGirl]

That is frustrating, as they are very colorful and lovely in a school. High nitrates could be the cause, as they tolerate lower levels than many other community fish. In a cycled otherwise healthy tank, nitrates are the thing that can get a bit out of hand in short time.

 

[madasafish]

Urg. I've always lost 25%-50% of the neons I buy--actually I started a thread on this last week...

Sorry to hear it! Just lost 2 of the new 6 I bought last week... but they seem to stabilize after a few days, and the others are doing just fine! Despite all precautions. It seems like they're just sensitive fish. Think about the in nature--they're R reproductive strategy fish, so lots of babies, and high casualty rate...

 

[Allivymar]

I hear ya. I lost 3 of the 5 cardinals I bought a couple of weeks ago within 3 days of purchase. The other 2 survived whatever killed the 3 as well as a case of ich. Tough lil buggers, but can't figure out why they are doing so well and the others couldn't survive.

 

[vega]

This morning i found 3rd at the filter inlet

Crossing both finger very hard now or i ll lost >50% of new neon.

Btw all my value are great ( ammonia, NO2,No3 = 0,ph =~7,dKh =~3). i already have 15 in my tank which lased for 7 months already.

In fact prior of buying i done water partial change and make sure all the chemical is almost ideal condition cause i know how crappy neon is, i guess it just sad such beautiful fish just way too crappy to be move from tank to tank (dont get me started with cardinal......). :x

 

[madasafish]

This pH is slightly too high for tetras (though I know they often survive at this pH). They prefer a pH in the 5 and 6 range, so you may be stressing them. Also, they prefer a dH in the 1-2 range, but that's not much lower than what you've got...

I'm guessing it's just the introduction blues that my tetras went through, too. they really really don't do well under stress. I added a stress-coat like slime to acclimatize them, too (though AlliV says that's actually an irritant), and still I lost 2 of my last 6, and 10 of the 15 before that. Just horrible losses... And I'm really careful about my tank, too!

Also, did you buy these guys from the same store as the previous ones? Did you quarantine them? Neon Tetra disease is always a possibility.

 

[tkos]

PH should n't be too much of an issue except if the pH in the LFS tank is way different than yours. Find out their pH cause if it is really different then the stress of the change is probably killing them. I like to float the bag of fish in the tank and then slowly take some water out of the bag and then add tank water to it. I do this every 10 minutes or so for about 2 hours then let them in the tank. Less of a shock.

 

[William]

PH should n't be too much of an issue except if the pH in the LFS tank is way different than yours. Find out their pH cause if it is really different then the stress of the change is probably killing them. I like to float the bag of fish in the tank and then slowly take some water out of the bag and then add tank water to it. I do this every 10 minutes or so for about 2 hours then let them in the tank. Less of a shock.

Dosn't that get to be a bit annoying? With how tightly they tie the bags and all..

 

[lmw80]

LOL, William, I agree! But it has to be done.

I agree with tkos as far as what may be causing the problem. You listed your water parameters, and everything seems to be copasetic. It may be the lfs whose tanks parameters are off. In this case, being that neons are so sensitive, take extra time to acclimate them to your water. I don’t use the drip method personally, but instead, I do something similar to what tkos does with floating the bag and adding little bits of tank water at a time.

You also mentioned that you already have neons in your tank. Did they come from the same store as these ones?

 

[vega]

Well i actually do acclimate by puting the bag in the tank then drip the tank water into the fish bag sloooooowly (normally i dont do dripping too, but well THIS is neon tetra so everything have to be IDEAL).

It took 2 1/2 hour to fill the bag to four times of the original bag water volume, then stop the drip wait for another 15 min before release to tank(no Qtank cause i dont think they will survie those and yes, i ask the lfs for extra big bag). Yet they still die for no reason... Well neon is crappy(Grrrrr..).

My lfs should be ok cause the one i when is those which very professional one(eg. they label scienctific name at their tank,prior of selling any fish they will sort of do a short Q/A on buyer tank for compability and tank checking etc (sort of like buying fish from FBI... ). They sell stuff a bit more expensive then other shops but they are those emphasis on quality. The only reason why i bought from them is because i m buying neon....duh!!!

btw i just found 1 at my tank bottom. i m REALLY hopeless with neon.... sigh....

 

[Allivymar]

I acclimate all my fish fully to my tank parameters; they spend about an hour floating, during which time I slowly add tank water. Generally, I try to replace all, but sometimes only wind up replacing more then half.

And I had the same problem vega. Did all that and STILL 3 of my cardinals keeled over in the first 3 days. The other 2 are healthy pigs (and thats after a bout of ich as well). There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. If I wasn't so set on having them for my 10g, I'd give up. I've never lost fish like that. I can't even explain how nervous I am about moving them from the QT into the 10g where they're going to live. I think I'm going to acclimate them to THAT tank as well, even tho they are next to each other and recieve water from the same tap.

 

[vega]

THAT its!!! i break the neon code!!!...

N-ever
e-ncourage
o-wning
n-eon


LOL

 

[vega]

When to lfs where i bought the neon during lunch to enquiry on their water values. To my surprise, they actually show me a Report on their tank values!!!

According to them, they tested their water every 3-4 days and they recorded the value. Base on the report, a test was carried out a day before i brought neon from them and the value was approx same as my tank (ph 6.5, dKH ~5, Extreme low nitrogen element (all >.03 ppm) )

Woah!!! tat moment i felt i was buying fish from my local zoo
So i think the tat particular lfs sould be ok. and yes the neon is confirm crappy.

LOL

Btw so far my new neon stop sinking. i lost 4 out of 6 i brought

 

[iamaj]

I have never had a problem with neons. Except for the recent ich slaughter i had that wiped out all living fish.

I got 2 neons one time as a feeder fish for my firebelly toads. I put them in the water area to see if the toads could catch them. For two weeks they never did so i put em in a little bowl and the toads ate em. but for you folks that have problems with them, get this.

i was doing 100% water changes (1 gallon of water total) in the frogs tank every 3 days. Only treatment i did was chlorine. Never tested PH or any thing. and if you dont know, Firebelly toads are very toxic. So inturn the water had to be atleast a slight toxic level.

They stayed alive, not one died for two weeks until i put em in a little bowl and they got to eat em.

If a neon can survive that i dont see why they die so easy in a well maintained aquarium.

aj

 

[Allivymar]

I think the issue is where they are coming from. It seems some stock of neons is really sickly, and everything seems to be deadly to em. Other stock appears to be really hardy (like your guys) and it takes a hammer (or frogs LOL) to kill em. Where are you at? It seems the stock which is in the stores on the east coast are the tetchy ones.

 

[iamaj]

Well im outside Charleston, WV. I got the neon from two different stores. A LFS and petsmart. Like you mentioned it could just be the fish are ill or not well cared for when you buy them. Like i said the only time i had a neon die is from the ich attack (sucks) and when my frogs ate em

aj