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Hello all. I have had my 10 gallon tank set up since July, it has been stocked with 5 neon tetras and 2 guppies since August. Last week a neon died unexpectedly. It was acting fine the night before, eating and everything.

No other fish had died since and they are acting normal. Water seems to be fine. Maybe old age? I don't know what could have caused this. Any ideas?

Could be old age, how long have you had them for?

Even though the water params are fine I'd still suggest doing an extra water change.


Sorry you lost the little guy


^_^

Neon's are not what I would call a strong fish in comparison to the Cardinals.

The Neon's can drop dead for what seems to be no apparent reason at all.
I have Cardinals and do a big water change on the week end and a smaller one mid week. They seem to prefer plenty of fresh water.

Keith

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Thanks all. I do 2 water changes a week of about 10% each time, I also give the gravel a very good sweeping every 6 weeks. This seems to work well in my 10 gallon tank.

scottg173

I personally would do a 30% and a 10% water change.
With the gravel vac I would do a 50% every week.
Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Every six weeks is way too long between gravel vacs.

Unless your tank is very very heavily planted you should be doing half the tank with each water change like keith said. Visually divide the tank in half, do one half each week with your water change, usually doing the gravel vac takes out enough water that it's a 2 in 1 process. If your tank is solid plants just push the gravel vac lightly into the very top of the tank.

If you have a lightly planted tank or only plants tied to driftwood make sure you push and twist the gravel vac all the way to the bottom glass of the tank and hold it there till the water coming up the tube free of debris.

When you do your gravel vacs if you're seeing a lot of debris coming up you may need a stronger filter on the tank. You don't want a lot of debris in the gravel if you don't have plants using it as a food source. It can just lead to trouble, and 10 gallon tanks are notorious for causing trouble even in the hands of experienced fishkeepers.

Since you've been going every 6 weeks on the gravel vac do one right away, but only do a quarter of the tank to start if the gravel is really dirty you can end up taking too much water out at once. Then wait three days and do the next quarter. Then in a week do the same thing on the other side. You don't want to end up overcleaning the tank and throwing your biofilter out of cycle.

^_^