neon tetras dying... any ideas

Hi,

I have had to resort to desparation to try and work out why my neons are
dying...

In the past before moving them to a new tank, I have successfully had a
school of around 12 neon tetras for about 9 months. I had moved them to the
new tank around 4 weeks ago and they seemed fine. I then have added another
12 to the school, to find that most of them have died off, and adding
another 18 didn't help as I am now down to around 10.

Have I introduced a disease to the tank??? The fish seem to be fine, and
then the following morning they are found at the bottom of the tank.

The two Ottos and SAE seem to be fine.

PH is at 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0.5; well planted tank. I am at
a loss as to why and what I am doing wrong, someone suggested the tank size
is too big for them (20g) and they are dying of shock ?!?

Any comments, web references or anything else would be appreciated, as I am
losing them quite rapidly (over the last week or so) and at one stage 8 at a
time...

Des.

Search for Neon Tetra disease.

"Desmond Wong" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have had to resort to desparation to try and work out why my neons are
dying...

In the past before moving them to a new tank, I have successfully had a
school of around 12 neon tetras for about 9 months. I had moved them to
the
new tank around 4 weeks ago and they seemed fine. I then have added
another
12 to the school, to find that most of them have died off, and adding
another 18 didn't help as I am now down to around 10.

Have I introduced a disease to the tank??? The fish seem to be fine, and
then the following morning they are found at the bottom of the tank.

The two Ottos and SAE seem to be fine.

PH is at 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0.5; well planted tank. I am
at
a loss as to why and what I am doing wrong, someone suggested the tank
size
is too big for them (20g) and they are dying of shock ?!?

Any comments, web references or anything else would be appreciated, as I
am
losing them quite rapidly (over the last week or so) and at one stage 8 at
a
time...

Des.

I agree with the Neon Tetra Disease.


"luminos" wrote in message
...
Search for Neon Tetra disease.

"Desmond Wong" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have had to resort to desparation to try and work out why my neons are
dying...

In the past before moving them to a new tank, I have successfully had a
school of around 12 neon tetras for about 9 months. I had moved them to
the
new tank around 4 weeks ago and they seemed fine. I then have added
another
12 to the school, to find that most of them have died off, and adding
another 18 didn't help as I am now down to around 10.

Have I introduced a disease to the tank??? The fish seem to be fine, and
then the following morning they are found at the bottom of the tank.

The two Ottos and SAE seem to be fine.

PH is at 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0.5; well planted tank. I am
at
a loss as to why and what I am doing wrong, someone suggested the tank
size
is too big for them (20g) and they are dying of shock ?!?

Any comments, web references or anything else would be appreciated, as I
am
losing them quite rapidly (over the last week or so) and at one stage 8
at a
time...

Des.

"Desmond Wong" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have had to resort to desparation to try and work out why my neons
are
dying...

In the past before moving them to a new tank, I have successfully had a
school of around 12 neon tetras for about 9 months. I had moved them to
the
new tank around 4 weeks ago and they seemed fine. I then have added
another
12 to the school, to find that most of them have died off, and adding
another 18 didn't help as I am now down to around 10.

Have I introduced a disease to the tank??? The fish seem to be fine,
and
then the following morning they are found at the bottom of the tank.

The two Ottos and SAE seem to be fine.

PH is at 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0.5; well planted tank. I
am at
a loss as to why and what I am doing wrong, someone suggested the tank
size
is too big for them (20g) and they are dying of shock ?!?

Any comments, web references or anything else would be appreciated, as
I am
losing them quite rapidly (over the last week or so) and at one stage 8
at a
time...

Des.


It does sound like you have introduced a disease. Water shock is always
a strong possibility with Neons until you notice that it's your
established Neons which are also dying. Someone mentioned Neon tetra
disease, which is a possibility if the die-off is somewhat gradual. Look
for discoloration on the sides. I suspect that a rapid die-off would be
something else. There is a chance it will level off as they build
immunity to it. You can try following a half dose of Ich medication,
some Mela-fix in the water and some anti-biotic medicated food (crushed
EM tablet slurry into freeze-dried tubifex worms). This is a 3 punch
anti-parasitic, internal and external anti-bacterial concoction. It
might not rescue all the Neons, but it might rid the tank of your problem
so that you can add more later.
--
www.NetMax.tk

Thanks to all the responses...

No, I didn't put them all in the tank at one time, although very heavily
planted (hence the reason why it took so long to find some of the fish...) I
didn't throw them all in together,

It seems that the food for a change of diet - Bloodworms, seems to have been
the issue. Since stopping feeding them these (mind you, the pack was cheap,
something like $3AUD for a very big frozen pack) the fish have since
recovered, and now am at a nice school of about 7 (I have a mirrored surface
at the back and so it always looks like I have more!)

On a different topic, what do people do when they have too much plant? Mine
have now started to overgrow the tank to the point where not much light gets
past the first 2 inches of the tank surface. I will try to give some of it
away over the next week...

Des.

"NetMax" wrote in message
news
"Desmond Wong" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I have had to resort to desparation to try and work out why my neons
are
dying...

In the past before moving them to a new tank, I have successfully had a
school of around 12 neon tetras for about 9 months. I had moved them to
the
new tank around 4 weeks ago and they seemed fine. I then have added
another
12 to the school, to find that most of them have died off, and adding
another 18 didn't help as I am now down to around 10.

Have I introduced a disease to the tank??? The fish seem to be fine,
and
then the following morning they are found at the bottom of the tank.

The two Ottos and SAE seem to be fine.

PH is at 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0.5; well planted tank. I
am at
a loss as to why and what I am doing wrong, someone suggested the tank
size
is too big for them (20g) and they are dying of shock ?!?

Any comments, web references or anything else would be appreciated, as
I am
losing them quite rapidly (over the last week or so) and at one stage 8
at a
time...

Des.


It does sound like you have introduced a disease. Water shock is always
a strong possibility with Neons until you notice that it's your
established Neons which are also dying. Someone mentioned Neon tetra
disease, which is a possibility if the die-off is somewhat gradual. Look
for discoloration on the sides. I suspect that a rapid die-off would be
something else. There is a chance it will level off as they build
immunity to it. You can try following a half dose of Ich medication,
some Mela-fix in the water and some anti-biotic medicated food (crushed
EM tablet slurry into freeze-dried tubifex worms). This is a 3 punch
anti-parasitic, internal and external anti-bacterial concoction. It
might not rescue all the Neons, but it might rid the tank of your problem
so that you can add more later.
--
www.NetMax.tk

Hi Des,
I see you are in Australia, are you perhaps in the Sydney region?
If you are there seems to be a suspision on some AU fish forums that
there is something up with Sydney water quality (esp. from Prospect)
at the moment, causing fish losses:
http://www.australianbettaforums.com...pic.php?t=2317
Extra chemicals added, heavy metal toxicity and large pH shifts
mentioned.
As I understand it, neons can be a little more sensitive, and so may
react more quickly than your other fish if water quality drops.
As others have noted it may be due to disease, Neon Tetra Disease
worth researching. Waterlife's Protozin claims to be a remedy, but be
quick as it's no longer being imported and only stock left here in Aus
is what's on the pet store shelves.
Regards,
Chris



On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 06:57:13 +1000, "Desmond Wong"`
wrote:

Hi,

I have had to resort to desparation to try and work out why my neons are
dying...

In the past before moving them to a new tank, I have successfully had a
school of around 12 neon tetras for about 9 months. I had moved them to the
new tank around 4 weeks ago and they seemed fine. I then have added another
12 to the school, to find that most of them have died off, and adding
another 18 didn't help as I am now down to around 10.

Have I introduced a disease to the tank??? The fish seem to be fine, and
then the following morning they are found at the bottom of the tank.

The two Ottos and SAE seem to be fine.

PH is at 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0.5; well planted tank. I am at
a loss as to why and what I am doing wrong, someone suggested the tank size
is too big for them (20g) and they are dying of shock ?!?

Any comments, web references or anything else would be appreciated, as I am
losing them quite rapidly (over the last week or so) and at one stage 8 at a
time...

Des.

FYI
neon & cardinal tetras are bred in large heavely medicated ponds in some asian
countrys. when they are shipped to distributers and the med's wear of, they
start dieing and take your established neons/cards with them . Therefore the
use of an isolation tank is a virtual must
getting a nice school of them has proven very difficult in some areas of the
globe, depending on where your supplier buy their stock Regards ART

Desmond Wong wrote:

Hi,

I have had to resort to desparation to try and work out why my neons are
dying...

In the past before moving them to a new tank, I have successfully had a
school of around 12 neon tetras for about 9 months. I had moved them to the
new tank around 4 weeks ago and they seemed fine. I then have added another
12 to the school, to find that most of them have died off, and adding
another 18 didn't help as I am now down to around 10.

Have I introduced a disease to the tank??? The fish seem to be fine, and
then the following morning they are found at the bottom of the tank.

The two Ottos and SAE seem to be fine.

PH is at 7, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0.5; well planted tank. I am at
a loss as to why and what I am doing wrong, someone suggested the tank size
is too big for them (20g) and they are dying of shock ?!?

Any comments, web references or anything else would be appreciated, as I am
losing them quite rapidly (over the last week or so) and at one stage 8 at a
time...

24 neons, plus other fishes, in a 20 gal tank? Even for a well planted
tank that is a very high load. You shoud have at most 1 inch total
fishlength per gallon of water (or 1 cm per 2 l).

Although this probably is not the direct cause for the plaque, it will
certainly have affected the immune system of the fishes and made them
more susceptible to disease.

Characteristically the disease broke out when new fishes were added to
the tank, they probably brought some opportunistic bacteria with them,
that now cause havoc. I once had a similar experience, and made thin
sections of one of the dead fishes for microscopic examination. The
dammage seen was truly staggering: blood infiltration in all major
organs, gills were covered, and the mucosa of the small intestine was
completely wiped, only the connective tissue left like an empty bag.

The use of quarantaine tanks can make these events less likely, also I
have made it a rule to feed medicated food during the first two weeks
after adding fishes to my tank, to protect both the new arrivals and the
once that were there to begin with.

Neons like soft, slightly acid water with humic acid, so peat filtering
can create a more favourable environment for them.