miraloma

I bought 8 neon tetra last Sunday. By Monday, 4 had already died. I bought 4 more on Monday morning, 4 more died by Monday night. I bought 4 more on Monday night, by Tuesday afternoon 3 more died! Tonight, 2 more died. That's 13 neons in 4 days!

I checked my water and it seemed fine: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and about 10 ppm nitrate. I changed my water twice during that time. I kept the water temperature around 76 but cranked it up a bit today 'cause some of them were flashing. I also started Rid-Fungus last night due to the diseased signs. No sure if there'd be much point continuing with the medication...

They must didn't stay alive very long for me. I bought them from 2 different stores. In the same tank, 10G, I have 4 danios and a handful of glass shrimps. I found 1 dead shrimp on the 2nd day but since then, no casualties. The danios seemed ok as well. They were speeding around chasing each other, sometimes they chase the neons as well. I read on petshrimps.com that shrimps are very sensitive to water parameters. I'd figure if the water was bad, they'd be the first to go.

Any idea why my neons keep dying?I want to have some neons for my shrimp only tank. But I can't seem to keep them alive.

jack11

Due to the intense popuarity of neons they are often inbred and have very poor gene pools, this might be what is causing yours to die

miraloma

My neon's seem to be dying of the Neon Disease. I see most of the symptoms. I found another dead body this morning.

I'm down to 2 now. Since neon's need to be kept in schools, should I buy more or should I just let the last 2 pass on and get some other fish instead?

ShaynaB

If I were you, I'd wait it out to see if the last two neons show symptoms...

Don't risk passing it to other fish you get! From what I've heard of the disease, it's not treatable...

It's possible that your last fish are infected, and if you get new neons, they could become infected too. (it travels through spores in the tank...) If they are infected, I'd take them out of the tank.

Do frequent water changes and watch those fish!

Good luck!!

miraloma

It's been 2 days since the last neon died. The remaining tetras seem aggressive toward each other though. I have 9 in a 10G with 5 glass shrimps. They'd be floating around and then all of a sudden one would chase another around the tank for a few seconds. Is that normal?

Also, the shrimps are hiding most of the time. Not sure if it's because the tetras are bothering them. Is it a bad idea to keep the shrimps in with the tetras?

Lucy

I don't about shrimp, but 9 neons and 5 shrimp in a 10g, it sounds like you may be over stocked. If I'm not mistaken neons will grow to 1.5" if not more.
Did you cycle your tank before adding your fish?

miraloma

The 10G has been going on for over 2 months. The readings are fine. Sometimes there's a small ammonia spike but nothing big. The neons are only about 1" each right now and I've heard that shrimps contribute to negligible bioload.

I only wanted 6 neons but they keep dying on me, so I kept buying more to anticipate the deaths. Now I have 9. A couple of them are showing signs of distress, swimming alone in a corner. I expect a couple of them to not make it in the next few days. When the count is down to 6 and steady, that'll be my ideal fish count.

Zer0sk8er

maybe your buying poor quality fish look in the tank in the place you buy them at.

Fishies-for-me

It is normal for neons to chase each other ...I have 8 in a 29 gal with a bunch of breeding guppies , 2 amano shrimp and 2 snails. They will swim as a loose school and then dart around after each other doing loops around each other so fast that you can't follow them with you eye...I think that is the males showing each other who is boss...they don't nip or hurt each other or bother any one else. I bought mine without relizing my tank was still cycling and never had any problem with them. I never had any sick and never lost any ( I did do almost daily 50% water changes when I found out my tank was still cycling tho)....good luck.

timmafee

i've never had a problem with neons, ive only been in the hobby a few months. maybe its the store your buying it from? they may have a disease already.

Vincent

Well, neon were the first ever fish I bought and yes I had some casualties, not as many as you had though. they are just not as hardy as other fish, water quality is one factor so as food quality but if you really have a disease going on in your tank, the best tactic is to be patient, keep on top of your maintenance and see how the remnants are doing. schooling fish do better in group but will still live if left down to a couple. and yes they do chase each other but without harm, just a game!!

Phinny12

I have one that is really deformed...his bottom lip juts out! he has a hard time eating.

Vincent

Hey I got that too!!! has anyone got any ideas where that comes from

Razimith

How long do you acclimate your fish? I am a neon newbie but I have not had any neon causalities yet. I read before I bought them that people were having a lot of problems so I acclimated mine extremely long due to the high Ph I have in my area. I think it took around 4 hours or so. I waited 30min. then added a little water and I kept adding a little water every half hour. By the time I was done and added them to the tank they were fine and even ate that night when it was feeding time. I am no expert but this is what has worked for me they have been doing very well for over 4 months. Hope you find out what is causing your fish to become ill!!!!

Ram_Kelly

Looking at your aquarium stats it seems to me that your pH is a little high to be keeping neons. They prefer an acidic pH, around 6, which is difficult to get if you're not trying. I bought some neons last week and added them to my German Ram tank, they perked right up once I had acclimated them for about 30 minutes. I wouldn't suggest trying to keep neons unless you want a tank set up with a low pH. If you're interested in that, try adding some (unboiled) driftwood and peat extract to your tank to naturally lower the pH. Good luck!

Kashim

I would have to disagree with you. I've only had a tank for about 2.5 months, so I'm a beginner. I bought 8 neon tetras over a month ago and not one of them has died yet. My tap water is very hard, my pH is around 7.8-7.9, and my neons are just fine. I think it's far more important to have clean water and a steady pH, rather than trying to achieve a specific pH for your neons. I do a 30% water change and thorough vacuuming of my gravel every week and I think this is what's keeping my neons healthy. In the end, if your water is dirty, your neons will die no matter what your pH level is. Just my $0.02

Ram_Kelly

Kashim, I agree that clean water is more is most important, I was just saying that the idea conditions for neons are low pH. Seeing that their tank stats say that the water conditions are good, I think that the problem is prolly a combo of poorly bred fish and unideal water conditions for the specific fish. I hope your fish aren't too stressed out by the high pH. I guess you can always keep fish outside their ideal conditions if you keep the water clean enough. IMO it is really important to keep fish in their ideal conditions, but thats just my little soap box issue.

Kashim

All I can tell you is that my neons seem very happy. They're healthy and energetic. The relatively high pH doesn't seem to bother them at all. I tried controlling my pH before, which did far more harm than good. As I mentioned, my tap water is very hard, which makes it hard to lower the pH. Even after I managed to lower my pH to around 7.2, it would slowly rise back to 7.8 over the course of several days. This effect, coupled with the weekly water changes, would create a roller coaster effect on my pH. This is why I believe it's better to focus on keeping your water clean and pH steady, even if the pH is not the most ideal for the fish. I think it's far less stressful on my neons to have them in water with a constant pH of 7.8, rather than having them in water where the pH is always changing up or down. Still, I'm only a beginner so anyone can feel free to correct me on that (although I would think most people will agree with this).