neon tetras dying... any ideas

"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