neon tetra advice?

ok , after the demise of my 2 guppies, 3 barbs and two neon tetras , I'm now left with 3 neons and two barbs, and although they seem happy :S (they're displaying beautiful colours and swimming around lovely, having a chasey game lol) I was wondering should I wait a month or so til my tank has cycled better before adding more cos I know how these fish love to be in larger groups, was thinking 3 more neons at least, I don't wanna over crowd the tank ( cause of other deaths was likely) thanks to bad advice lol, but I also want my fish to be happy, so any advice is appreciated, many thanks

 

I would wait until the tank is cycled before adding more.

 

I think that would be best too, will the fish in there for now be happy do you think? i'd hate to think they were miserable and thanks for your reply

 

id wait too

-j

 

They will be less stressed due to the longer time it would take for the tank to cycle, if more fish were added before the cycle was complete.

 

What are your test results atm? Cause if it is .25/0/0 like it says in your bio, then we haven't even started cycling yet.

And if that is the case, then I would recommend doing daily water changes to keep all the lvls in check while you wait for the tank to cycle.

 

ammonia 1.5
nitrite 1
nitrate 0
did 25% water change this morning and will check levels again tomorrow morning, who would have thought u have to be a scientist to keep fish eh? lol

 

Definatly wait,neons are sensitive to water conditions.I would keep doing water changes or get some tetra safe start or filter media from someone elses tank.I would not use the nutrafin cycle.

 

I woulde defnitely wait before adding more fish. What I would do right now is multiple back to back water changes to get your ammonia and nitrite levels down to as close to zero as possible and then use TSS to quicken the cycle. If your using an ammonia detoxifying water conditioner like Prime, you'll need to wait 24 hours before adding TSS.

 

All good advice! The daily water changes are going to be important right now, cause it seems like the tank wasn't cycled all the way. No worries tho! Daily water changes will give the tank time to get the good bacteria to flare up and also keep the fish from getting sick.

Lets keep these fish alive! Then we can get some more.

 

I would recommend getting some Tetra SafeStart to help get the nitrogen cycle under way. TSS is the proper bacteria in bottle that is needed in the filter media to process the ammonia and nitrites so that they are safer for your fish. As other stated you don’t want to use Prime or Amquil+ as your water conditioner if you add the TSS. If you have been don’t add the TSS for 24 hours after your last water change.

If you can’t find TSS I would then recommend using SeaChem Prime or Amquil+ and do large daily water changes until you get a zero reading for ammonia and nitrites and some kind of reading for nitrates. Prime and Amquil+ will detoxify the ammonias and nitrites in the tank for 24 hours only so you will need to do daily water changes with it. Prime is a bit more costly to purchase but it is very concentrated so you only use drops not bottle of it during water changes.

I see nothing but good advice being given to you by everyone.

 

I agree, don't get any of those fish until your tank is fully cycle, please spare the fish.

 

Good morning,

Some great advice above to wait until your tank has cycled before adding more fish. Too, daily water changes with a water conditioner such as Prime or Amquel + to detox the ammonia, nitrite and nitrates for 24 hours until it's time for the next water change will help to keep your fish safe. Keep up with the daily water changes until you have readings of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and under 20 nitrates. At this point your aquarium is cycled.

Neons:
I purchased 19 Neons a while back. I drip acclimated them for 3 hours, matching the water temperature and pH levels between bucket and the tank. Slowly over the next week the Neons started nipping each others tails off and each one with no tail died. Out of 19 I have 4 left. Each one that I removed had no tail. The tank is 2 years old and very well established. So...no more neons for me.

Ken

 

oh I'm very sorry to hear the neons didnt do well , I guess we must all have fish WE are compatible with too , the 3 I'm left with are doing fab(touch wood) lol, but wondering if my tank will cycle at all with so few fish in there and their size, time will tell, hoping they don't get too lonely in there

 

Good morning Belle,

As long as there are fish in the tank, it will cycle.

The 4 Neons I have left are doing great too and have really grown.

Ken