neon and cardinal tetras keep dying

[dustinfeint]

I bought a small school of neon tetras the other day at Petco. They seem to be doing fine for the first couple days and now they have started dropping like flies. I also got 2 female bettas and a red fancy tail guppy from there and they have died as well. I am super angry. What keeps happening is, I keep seeing these white lumps all over my fish. The neon tetras will sit and shake at the bottom of the tank and act like they're being shocked and just shaking. The female bettas just seem completely lethargic & eventually just died. I took my water in and had it tested it and everything checked out okay. He said it was perfect for the most part. I really don't know what's going on. I have enclosed some photos of the Tetras so you can see the white mass of what is growing on their bodies. I was thinking that this was neon tetra disease but why would my other fish be dying from it as well? Does Petco just sell terrible junk fish? Or do I have some type of parasite living in my tank?

 

[dustinfeint]

Here's another

 

[spiketooth]

How many fish did you put in the tank at the same time?

Edit: how long has your tank been set up

 

[dustinfeint]

It has been set up a little over a month. I did a fish in cycle and my tank is completely cycle now. According to my readings on nitrates and nitrites. All of the fish that I added at the very beginning are still alive and very healthy. It is only the new ones that seem to not be able to survive. And I added a guppy two female bettas and the school of Tetris at the same time.

 

[caprig]

Need More Info- A Penny For Your Thoughts....

Hi there,
As a person who is a neon fanatic, I thought perhaps if we got some more info, it might help.

First of all could you possibly list some information?

Tank Size
Type of water you use (high chlorine or well water for example)
Type of substrate (gravel or sand for example)
Type of Heater and temp you keep it at
How long your tank is set up
How many new fish you are putting in at once
What other fish are in your tank
How many fish total are in your tank
What conditioner you are using in your water

It is very difficult to figure your problem out without this information, but I will say this about neons. They need copper. I have had multiple tanks set up which are balanced, but then when I put in neons, they die- sometimes as late as a month after purchase.

I had some problems from Petco with white spots on my orange striped neons and I used melafix and pimafix in my tank and that took care of it. Unfortunately when I tried using it before the regular neons were stabilized, that was enough to knock them off too.

Here are some basics about neons that I have learned from trial and error.

Neons are VERY sensitive. If your tank has any spikes or difficult qualities about it at all due to water or not being entirely cycled, the neons will die.

Neons need copper. We have a few pet stores within a half hour of my house, and only one of them has no problems with neons. That particular store has copper in the water and they lose very few neons. The other stores often lose a ton of them on a regular basis.

I have used copper pennies from old US change (dating from before 1971) in tanks where I was losing neons like crazy, and when I put in the pennies (Washed carefully and rinsed with no strong chemicals first) one at a time and waited, when I got the right ratio, the neons instantly stopped dying and are STILL alive a year later.

This has happened in THREE tanks now. I find that just a few pennies is all you need laying on the gravel or tucked in. Be aware though that cory catfish and plecos can not have too high of a copper ratio at all in water, so the very least you have the better to nudge the neons but not hurt any others.

Having said all of that, if your water quality is not stable, neons won't do well at all. They will die. So you have to be sure your tank is balanced first.

Prime from Seachem is a good way to condition the water, and using Seachem Stability to help ease the addition of new fish to the tank, but it won't take the place of balanced decent water.

If you find that you have gone through all of that and you still have some problems with fish dying, please know that they breed these fish in huge lots and it is not uncommon to lose fish from pet stores. They are sensitive and go through a lot to get to the store, and then to you, and the additional shock of putting them in your tank can push them over the edge too.

Sorry to ramble on like that, but neons is something I have worked a lot with the last few years and the discoveries I have made have been breakthrough for me, and I get excited to share about it.

 

[spiketooth]

Adding alot of new fish at once puts a lot of stress on them. How are you acclimating them

 

[jcolon]

Sounds like bad stock from Petco .. if it's just the most recent purchased and first batch you got are doing fine.

In terms of the Neons and Cardinals, it's not surprising ... many are wild caught and some are already in bad shape by the time they are caught, shipped then delivered to the LFS. Those that survive the first two weeks end up being very hardy ... it's just surviving the first couple of weeks. A year ago I bought a batch of Cardinals and day by day I'd see one less than the day before (those ghost shrimp had a field day with the carcasses!).

I'd see one or two develop white blotches then swim like they are imitating a drill. Same things with Neons I got before the Cardinals. Very sad and now I have 5 out of the 20 or so in total I purchased. But those 5 I've had for months now thriving in my 75gal.

 

[spiketooth]

I dont know about the hole copper thing. I have had 9 neon tetras for over 5 months now with no problems. Biggest thing ime with tetras is getting them in groups of 5. To allow them time to get used to the new environment and the water

 

[caprig]

I dont know about the hole copper thing. I have had 9 neon tetras for over 5 months now with no problems. Biggest thing ime with tetras is getting them in groups of 5. To allow them time to get used to the new environment and the water

There are times of rough batches of neons for sure. I do know that when neons are sick, the copper helps them a lot- but you might already have copper in your water anyway if they are doing fine from before.

What size is your tank though? Adding five fish at once can be a stress in itself depending in the size of the tank and the water difference.

In other words, the water they were raised in vs the water they are living in at the store and your water are all going to be different. That is a lot of stress on a fish esp if they are widely different.

Also this time of year, you often have weather and temperature to contend with and the shipping of the neons to the stores. Sometimes they are allowed to get cold, etc.

I hope you figure it out though- I just love neons. They are great little fish.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

I have neons and cardinals in 135 gallon Discus tank. I can tell you that neons as a whole are fragile and go into shock easily. Cardinals are a bit more hearty, but also cost more. I bought 20 neons about 3 months ago. 12 of them are still alive. Neons and cardinals are sensitive to water quality. cardinals like warm water. Neons can tolerate warm water, but must be slowly acclimated. Frequent water changes with cardinals or neons are a MUST. I change out 80 gallons of my 135 gallon tank EVERY WEEK. When I have added new fish, especially neons, I expect to see a loss of 40 to 50%. Sometimes neons can go into shock by just bringing them home. Neons are bread a lot, and by this, a lot of genetic weakness has been passed on. They do not handle stress well. The bottom line to remember with the neon...don't get attached to them, they are sensitive, weakness is common, they die easily, they have been overbread, they are sensitive to water quality, they are prone to disease. After they are acclimated, they are a hearty fish. They demand high water quality, so if you dont like doing water changes, the neon is not for you. Good Luck......Dwayne

 

[dustinfeint]

I got home today and another 1 of my neons was dead. One of my Cobra guppies started to act like it was sitting there shaking back and forth and its yellow color has dissipated to a faint white. I decided to euthanasia the guppie to save the rest of the fish in my tank and I treated my tank for ich. I am fairly certain that this is what it is because it has been destroying everything it touches. I will keep you guys posted. By the way, this is a 15 gallon tank with 5 neons, 3 black mollys, one fancytail guppy and a dwarf ghourami. I have 2 dwarf frogs in there and 1 hasn't left the surface in like 3 days. I fear the worst for him as I feel like he must have gotten the disease as well. I will try putting a couple pennies in there and see if that helps the health of the neon school.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

Raise the temp to 80-84 degrees. Remove charcoal and increase your water changes. What you are seeing is called flashing. It is usually a sign on an ammonia or nitrite problem. With a 15 gallon tank, 8 gallons per day is about right for water changes. Remember DAILY until the problem is solved. Don't overuse chemicals...keep it simple and let nature help you.