Neon tetras dying ...2 each day

[athens.asad]

I had a great group of 10 neon tetras in my freshwater tank but they were little shy and hiding .I added 10 more from a store to increase their group . Now is often see there are fishes fighting ,mating (not sure) or chasing each other .. Since yesterday 4 of them have died suddenly , 2 each day . It's not a overcrowding or water problem . I also have 2 inch clown loach and a small cory sharing the tank but they are peaceful .Can someone figure out why !

 

[Brookster123]

What's the tank size? How long has it been running?

 

[absolutangel04]

Well, at first glance, it sounds like you may have just gotten a bad batch of neons. They are known for being rather sensitive.
Assuming your tank is big enough, your parameters are good, and you acclimated them properly, I would guess it is the fish. Have you tried doing a pwc just in case?
I am not a big fan of neons. You mostly find wild caught ones, and they are often rather temperamental. I have had some in tanks in my house, and moved a batch to a different tank and had them all drop dead within a few weeks for no apparent reason. Neons do not always acclimate to new tanks well. They can be rather sensitive.
Are there places for them to hide? How big is your tank? I assume from your post that you do regular pwc?

 

[bgmann12]

If you added ten at once you may have caused a spike in ammonia nitrites and nitrates which will kill off the less hardy fish like some neon tetras.

 

[athens.asad]

Thanks All,

 

[Laser]

I agree with AbsoluteAngel. I bought 26 neons to add to my 55 and they started slowly dying off over the course of a year. I'm never going to buy them again. Finding a good batch of neons seems to be quite difficult.

 

[athens.asad]

Yes I agree . All my 20 neons are dead now

 

[Coryluv]

I've heard that the neons have been over bred. On a past set up I went though 15 to get 5 that lived. In that same tank I switched to cardinals and all of them lived.

The current situation with neons is very distressing to those of us who don't consider fish disposable even when they only cost between $1 to $2 each.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

I had a great group of 10 neon tetras in my freshwater tank but they were little shy and hiding .I added 10 more from a store to increase their group . Now is often see there are fishes fighting ,mating (not sure) or chasing each other .. Since yesterday 4 of them have died suddenly , 2 each day . It's not a overcrowding or water problem . I also have 2 inch clown loach and a small cory sharing the tank but they are peaceful .Can someone figure out why !

Hello athens...

Hard to tell if you have a cycled tank. The fish may have been sick before you get them. If possible, go to another store for your fish. In the mean time, there are a number of things you can do to prepare your tank for fish. The tank should be a bit larger, 30 gallons is just about right for a starter. There's more water to dilute water chemistry problems. Plant the tank with easy plants, like Anubias, Java fern, any of the mosses. Include floating plants like Hornwort and Brazilian water weed (Anacharis). Plants filter the water and make it more stable for the fish. Maintain pure water conditions by changing half the water every week.

B