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.