Murder Mystery

colematthewmala

colematthewmala

AC Members
Jun 5, 2009
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Three Hills, Alberta, Canada
Okay, so just the other day bought 7 neon tetras to go in my 10 gallon with a plecos some platy's and a GBR it's been two days and i'm down to only 3 neons. I haven't found any dead fish or any sign of them being killed. So the question is who killed the neons? My best bet is the pleco who is 4.5'' long but i also think they could of taken a trip into the filter but it's not a big filter, only a aquaclear 30. Please help me I really want to know whats killing them so i can fix the problem.
 
What species is your pleco? What are your water parameters and tank temperature?

You cannot find the dead neons as they are easily decomposed into nothingness due to their diminutive size. The pleco would quickly polished off the corpses. I'd suspect your water quality first before pointing the blame on any of your fish.
 
My PH is around 7.5 and the water is really soft I keep the tank at 78 degrees F. The tank is also heavily oxygenated as well.
 
Okay i just did the test and my ammonia is 0 and my nitrite is 0.1, i don't have a nitrate tester. Also i just have a common pleco.
 
What test kit do you use? At 0.1, your nitrite is the likeliest culprit. Considering your tank is 10g only, your tank becomes exceedingly overstocked eventually as the pleco gradually outgrows it.
 
I have a common pleco as well, I have never seen him attacking any fish. (besides a catfish, they fight over the same house)
The pleco will eat any dead fish. My guess would be that the neons have died from nitrite poisoning, and the pleco is eating the remains.
 
Is the tank cycled? How long has it been running? I suggest picking up a nitrate test also. I agree that it was probably water quality that killed the neons because they are relatively sensitive. You're going to have to rehome the common pleco as it can easily reach 24".
 
okay so the tank has been running for 3 years so it's certainly cycled but the neons are new. I just found out also that the tank is actually 16 gallons because i've always thought it was a little big to be 10 gallons so I just finished measuring the dimensions and doing the conversion and discovered that it's 16 gallons. Also I'm going to keep the pleco in the tank till it gets to big and I've decided to get rid of 3 of the 5 platy's too. Then all i'll have is the pleco, neons, 2 platy's and a GBR
 
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