Sick Neon - new to tank

Monday night we added 6 neons to a relatively new tank (after about 90
minutes of dripping water from the tank into a small bucket we'd put
them in (with the water from the bag they came in from the LFS)). 3
Rasboras had been there for 5 full days (with no problems). Tests
show water conditions are good (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). All of
the fish except one neon seem healthy and active. The one neon
doesn't seem interested in eating, hides under some floating plants
(fake) and generally seems depressed - he's also a bit pale /
colorless compared to the other neons.

Advice on how to treat him (or whether we should euthanize him) is
appreciated. We could take him and a little water from the tank to
the bucket we used to acclimate him (this bucket has never been used
for anything else and was rinsed thoroughly before and after we used
it).

10 gallon tank; 76 degrees F; 7.4 PH (local water is hard)

Thanks,

Liz

Liz McGuire wrote:
Monday night we added 6 neons to a relatively new tank (after about 90
minutes of dripping water from the tank into a small bucket we'd put
them in (with the water from the bag they came in from the LFS)). 3
Rasboras had been there for 5 full days (with no problems). Tests
show water conditions are good (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). All of
the fish except one neon seem healthy and active. The one neon
doesn't seem interested in eating, hides under some floating plants
(fake) and generally seems depressed - he's also a bit pale /
colorless compared to the other neons.

Advice on how to treat him (or whether we should euthanize him) is
appreciated. We could take him and a little water from the tank to
the bucket we used to acclimate him (this bucket has never been used
for anything else and was rinsed thoroughly before and after we used
it).

10 gallon tank; 76 degrees F; 7.4 PH (local water is hard)

Thanks,

Liz


Sorry but sometimes you find newly purchased fish are either very
stressed or already ill when you buy them. I find that small fish like
tetras go very fast from healthy to sick to dead.....any losses within
the first few days when you are sure that your water is good are not
your fault....it might be worth taking up with your LFS....

I'm very sorry that your fish is not well and if the above seems a
little blunt - I'm sure that this is just bad luck....

I've recently lost a large number of recently purchased fish in multiple
tanks - some I have had a confession from LFS's that the stock wasn't
good in the first place and got store credit...my existing fish are
doing just fine so I put it down to bad stock (and got a bit more credit
on some of the others). I just hate to see fish die after my initial
excitement in researching and buying them in the first place. Neons are
notorious for this....

In fact I was thinking on this tonight, as I am yet again fighting an
outbreak of ich/white spot.....something really needs to be done on the
quality and health of the fish that we are sold wherever we are in the
world - along with the advice we are given.....

I truly hope it makes a good recovery...if your water quality is good -
and by this I mean 0 nitrite/ammonia I can't really see there is much
you can do...

Gill

Gill,

Thanks for your reply - sorry for the delay in responding - my usual
news server stopped responding...

The poor little neon was dead by the time I got home with a 2-gallon
tank to use as a hospital tank for him. Hopefully, as you say, it was
just stress and not something that will impact the others.

The other 5 seem to be doing well - one is very outgoing and seems to
spend as much time with the rasboras as the other four neons (but there
doesn't appear to be fighting or agression or anything, so I'm not
worried about him). The other four are almost always together (hiding
behind the tank decorations frequently) and will come out and follow
the one if he happens to come over near them and lead them out. All of
them are eating, so I'm hopeful they'll all survive the adjustment
period.

Thanks again for your reply. Best of luck to you and your fishies in
the fight against ich.

Liz


Gill Passman wrote:

Sorry but sometimes you find newly purchased fish are either very
stressed or already ill when you buy them. I find that small fish like
tetras go very fast from healthy to sick to dead.....any losses within
the first few days when you are sure that your water is good are not
your fault....it might be worth taking up with your LFS....

I'm very sorry that your fish is not well and if the above seems a
little blunt - I'm sure that this is just bad luck....

I've recently lost a large number of recently purchased fish in multiple
tanks - some I have had a confession from LFS's that the stock wasn't
good in the first place and got store credit...my existing fish are
doing just fine so I put it down to bad stock (and got a bit more credit
on some of the others). I just hate to see fish die after my initial
excitement in researching and buying them in the first place. Neons are
notorious for this....

In fact I was thinking on this tonight, as I am yet again fighting an
outbreak of ich/white spot.....something really needs to be done on the
quality and health of the fish that we are sold wherever we are in the
world - along with the advice we are given.....

I truly hope it makes a good recovery...if your water quality is good -
and by this I mean 0 nitrite/ammonia I can't really see there is much
you can do...

Gill