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I have a 55g w/ Mollys, clown loaches, Brochis splendens catfish, zebras and loepard danios, and neon tetras. Ive quarantined all the fish when i bought them for 2 weeks. Before i added the neons, one zebra danio just stoped swiming right and died shortly after. Nothing happed to the other fish, so i didn't worry about it. 2 weeks later i add the neon. and 2 of them have died the same way. The dead fish look compleatly normal execpt for the fact they're dead. What causes fish to die like thi? Maybe i am doing something wrong?

Okay, to start off with, do you have test kits? If so, please let us know the numbers for ammonia, nitrite, & nitrate? If not you can take a sample of your water to your LFS and they will test it for you. Also, if you could give us a few more details about your tank and its inhabitants.
How long has the tank been set up?
How many of each kind of fish do you have? And how big are they?
What are you feeding them? How much? How often?
What kind of filter are you running, etc?

Hopefully we'll be able to find out what's wrong soon.

-Beth

Just a thought, when i bought my neon tetras, the owner of the store told me that neons are probably the most easily stressed fish. He said it would be normal for 2 to die in the first couple months/weeks but then after that they other ones would live forever. Hopefully it was just a fluke that you had so many deaths. I always add a little salt at the first sign of illness just to make sure, and some stress coat. Good Luck!

Yes i do have a test kit though its just a basic one. So far before i added the neons both nitrate and ammonia read zero, though the nitrate has gone up .1 ppm, the ammonia hardly went up at all.
The tank has been set up sence July. All the fish are small, so far the claown loaches are 3", the catfish are 2", Zebras and leopards are full grown, I have 4 mollys now( 2 females and 2 males).
I fead the fish 2 times daily, enough for them to eat in 3 min. I feed the bottemfeeders sinking shimp pellets, & the others flakes and bloodworms.
I have an outside box filter, and the media is just filter floss & activated carbon.
I have some aquarium salt i add, just a little. I also use stres coat at every water change.
Thankyou for replying. the neons are just so prety, i hate having fish die.

Sorry I haven't replied back before now... I'm a little confused about your response that "the ammonia hardly went up at all" - is this tank cycled?? Also, how many neons did you add at once? (Sometimes when you add too much to your bioload at one time it can make your tank go into a mini-cycle - not normally the case with small fish like neons, tho.)
Do you notice any of the smaller fish having a struggle with eating the bloodworms? When I give those to my fish, the half-grown platy fry will attempt to eat them as well and have major problems... I now chop them up a little. Also, do you feed bloodworms every day? Bloodworms should be used as more of a treat once or twice a week, not as a staple food.
Forgot to ask this one the first time, how often do you do a water change and about how much?

I'm thinking about your fish deaths and trying to figure out the cause... let me know if anything else happens and please answer the above questions. I'll get back to you.

-Beth

Oh, yes the tank is cycled. I didn't put any fish in that tank for over a month after it was set up because i went on vacation a week after i set it up.
sory, i just read what i wrote and I'm confused. I pretty sure what i ment was that the nitrate went up slightly. The test kit i bought has a test tube were you put drops of some chemical in the water and comepare it to a card w/ colors on it. Not the most exact system. I'm planing on getting a new one.
As for the blood worms, no i don't give them to the fish that much. And when i give them to the fish the mollys get to them befor any other fish(lil' pigs)
I do change the water 30% every 2 weeks.

All I can think of is what the previous poster said, sometimes neons just don't make it. They are not the hardiest fish out there. Keep up on the water changes and do get a test kit that is easier to use so you can keep track of any water quality issues. Good luck!

-Beth

p.s. Since I forgot before, welcome to FishProfiles!

You said you left the tank sitting there with no fish for over a month. Just to let you know, it wouldn't of cycled. You either have to ADD fish or PURE AMMONIA to get it to cycle. Just letting the water sit there wouldn't have gotton you anywhere. I think you proved this by saying your nitrAte was barely anything. For your tank to be cycled, it has to atleast be readable, but between 10-20 ppm is better.
Also, mollies require LOTS of salt, so make sure you add some more!
Hope this helps.
P.S.
Yes, Neon Tetra's can be very sensitive to any changes in their enviroment. This is most likely why you had a few die. I wouldn't worry about it, but if more die I would.

:88) yes, it did cycle.
The nitrate and AMMONIA went up after betta was put in. I come back from vac. and bye lil' betta his own 5g. I bought 8 Pristella maxillaris (tetras) put them in, and wait for levels to go back down, add more fish, ect. until today. I now have no nitrate and amnonia problems, i test every week or 2.
As for mollys, mollys that are raised in captivity don't need salt in their water at all .

Last edited by Bettashimp at 22-Oct-2004 21:47