john1962

G`day everyone,
Please forgive me if I make any mistakes. This is my very first post to a forum and my very first post to you all as I only joined this site yesterday.
Now I`ll get to the point. I own a 10x2x2ft mini reef aquarium with a 4ft filtration tank. This tank has 10-15% water changes every 4 weeks and water purifier is used when doing so. All the water parameters are correct.
I use flake and pellet foods. This is set up for tropical fish and plants. The tank has been running now for just on 3 months and all the other species of fish are Tetras or at Tetra size. I used to have around 50 Neon's, but now I`d be lucky to have 15 - 20 Neon's left. Can anyone help please?

Kind regards
John.
From Australia, Sydney.

cichlidsmad

what is your pH of the tank they like slightly acidic water.

JD

aquarist48

Welcome to Fish Lore. Hate to hear that you are having problems. First, click on this link for the nitrogen cycle. Per your aquarium info you are not aware of it. It is crucial to fish keeping. Don't let it overwhelm you. We're here to try and answer questions and to help.
Too, here is another link concerning Neon Tetras: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/di...eondisease.htm
I don't know that your tank has cycled (meaning having 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5-10 nitrates. Do you have an API test kit?

Lucy

G`day John, welcome to Fish Lore
Something about thats says it's a sunshiney day. lol

I'm sorry you've lost some fish. It would be helpful to know what your readings are for ammonia nitrite and nitrate.
How many and what kind of other fish are in the tank?
Have the neons shown any symtoms before they passed?

AlyeskaGirl

Aw, I am sorry you lost some fish.

What test kit are you using...test strips or liquid?

agabr123

hi and welcome!

i'm sorry to hear about your tetras. since you say that you're only doing 10-15% water changes every four weeks, i'd start by increasing that to 20-40% weekly. depending on your water parameters you may need to do daily water changes (if your tank isnt cycled) but after three months your tank should be cycled by now.

john1962

Hi all. Thanks for your replies and sorry for the delay in getting back to everyone.
First one off the rank is JD`s reply. I use a teast kit that indicates by colour code the PH. My reading is neutral.
Hi aquarist48. Thank you for those links.
G`day Lucy. As I mentioned to JD, the kits I use are colour coded. All the readings are correct. I mainly have other Tetra`s in with the Neon`s (all fish totalling around 80). I have noticed though on the web that there is a disease called "neon tetra Disease" (common name) and this is becoming to be more relevant with the symptoms I`m observing.
Hello Alyeskagirl. I use a liquid test kit. Thanks.
Hi agabr. I`ll have a chat with my brother about these water changes. We recently did a 40% water change not so long ago. Thanks buddy.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. If anyone can come up with any further advise I would really be gratefull.

Regards
John

john1962

Lucy

You might also want to do some research on False NTD. Same symptoms, but it's bacterial, not parasitic and sometimes treatable. From what I've read the only way to distinguish the two is through treatment in a Q tank. If they respond, it was probably False NTD. Also be aware that neons aren't the only fish that can contratc NTD.
Here in the US neons are notoriously weak, not sure why.

When you say the readings are correct, do you have the exact number readings?

tropical_lizard

Ooh neon tetras are beauties. I wanted to get some, but I'm a super-newb at fish so maybe I should reconsider and take tips from this post. But if you want to know about reptiles, let me know! Good luck with your fish!