Hello everyone. I know I don't go on here much, but I need help. I have a 10 gallon tank with 4 neons, 2 corys, 3 zebra danios, 2 mystery snails, a little trumpet snail and a ghost shrimp. I have had the tank running for a couple months now and everything has been perfect. Levels have been wonderful and everything seemed to be going good. I went to look in my tank the other day and one of my zebras looked like some of its stripes were missing or kinda looked like they were smudged. This same zebra likes to swim into the filter current (Seems like just for fun). Now today I looked in there and my neons all look pale and discolored and so do my zebras. Whats the deal here? Is it Neon Tetra Disease? Should I just keep doing big water changes or treat the tank with Marceyn or something? Please don't tell me that there is too many fish in my tank because they have been very happy. They were all acting fine until a couple days ago. I need help. Thank you.
Help please. please please
- Thread starter PaulieB
- Start date
My tiger barb and angel drop colors all the time, but it has always been consistent and normal. At feeding time the colors perk up, at night while they sleep they drop down but this is new correct? Any changes in behavior?
And the tank seems to be filled out just fine, most importantly if they're all happy and readings are normal then you're just fine
Anything you changed recently in the tank? Have you been keeping an eye on the temperature (possible temp drop? heater malfunction?)
And the tank seems to be filled out just fine, most importantly if they're all happy and readings are normal then you're just fine
Anything you changed recently in the tank? Have you been keeping an eye on the temperature (possible temp drop? heater malfunction?)
Have you serviced your filter lately? On some of the cheaper power filters there is no biological side to the filter so when you change the cartridge, you discard most of the beneficial bacteria in your tank.
Do you have a water test kit or do you take your water to be tested? Because this is one of those situations where a 5 in 1 test kit is really helpful. The water may look clear and everything may seem fine, but you might have the pH be dropping, or nitrites registering, or high nitrates and these things are invisible to your eyes. Walmart sells these strip kits for about $11 and they come with 25 strips. See if you can get one! Don't rely on the pet store/LFS to test for you.
As was said, check your temperature and just do small water changes until the fish perk up. Check for dead snails or fish since these can foul a tank quite quickly. If there looks to be a lot of stuff on the gravel it might need vacuuming, but don't overdo it at once. Small changes are best.
It's doubtful that if you introduced these fish a while ago and nothing new has been introduced, that these fish have NTD. I would be much more likely to think that the pH is off in your tank - check it against your tap water. It should be the same if not very similar.
Do you have a water test kit or do you take your water to be tested? Because this is one of those situations where a 5 in 1 test kit is really helpful. The water may look clear and everything may seem fine, but you might have the pH be dropping, or nitrites registering, or high nitrates and these things are invisible to your eyes. Walmart sells these strip kits for about $11 and they come with 25 strips. See if you can get one! Don't rely on the pet store/LFS to test for you.
As was said, check your temperature and just do small water changes until the fish perk up. Check for dead snails or fish since these can foul a tank quite quickly. If there looks to be a lot of stuff on the gravel it might need vacuuming, but don't overdo it at once. Small changes are best.
It's doubtful that if you introduced these fish a while ago and nothing new has been introduced, that these fish have NTD. I would be much more likely to think that the pH is off in your tank - check it against your tap water. It should be the same if not very similar.
Well looks like everything is back to normal. I think I freaked out cause I turned the light off last night and then a couple hours later turned it on to check on them.Which I never do. I never realized that Neons become paler at nighttime? When I woke up this morning they were back to normal 
Thanks for all the help guys sorry for wasting your time. I'll still keep an eye on them. One more question though.
How do you know when its time to change the filter cartridge? When the water gets cloudy?
Thanks for all the help guys sorry for wasting your time. I'll still keep an eye on them. One more question though. How do you know when its time to change the filter cartridge? When the water gets cloudy?
about the filter change. I change mine when it gets all algae covered and the water is no longer as clear as it could be.