Neons dying, and a cory cat too... because of high pH?
- Thread starter macphoto
- Start date
This thread is the same issue I'm having!
Two Saturday's ago bought 3 Neons, by Monday...all dead.
Last Saturday bought 4 neons, 1 dead Sunday, the rest gone last night.
Odd becuase the same time I got the neons I also bought other fish. 2 platy's one day and last weekend a blue ram. All still doing well.
Water check shows zero nitrite and amonia, 20 nitrate. pH is high, 8.2; that's just what I get from the tap.
Two Saturday's ago bought 3 Neons, by Monday...all dead.
Last Saturday bought 4 neons, 1 dead Sunday, the rest gone last night.
Odd becuase the same time I got the neons I also bought other fish. 2 platy's one day and last weekend a blue ram. All still doing well.
Water check shows zero nitrite and amonia, 20 nitrate. pH is high, 8.2; that's just what I get from the tap.
I don't believe that this is an issue of pH. Most likely a combination of bad lfs stock/care and a biofilter marginalized by time spent without power (i.e. food).
I've not had any problem with neons bought from one lfs around here that quaranteens all new arrivals for at least 2 weeks and no fish are sold unless the whole quaranteen tank is healthy and alive for a good week. However, from other shops I've had them drop like flies.
The other thing is that I've never had a problem with them when introducing them to a tank (even new) with an adequate biofilter. In the case of the newest tank it was a 10 g with a filter/sponge from an established 20 g. Of course, they've all been eaten one by one by a hungry krib (it's an office tank, so no food over the weekend). At first I suspected that it might be neons dieing off one by one, but it seemed strange that they'd only die on the weekend and never show any signs of malaise or illness during the week when I feed fairly heavily (relative to my other tanks). But that's plenty of digression.
I suspect that now that you've got a handle on the tank that you'll have more success with them. Oh yeah, test strips, ugh. Keep their container well sealed and in a dark place when not in use and they'll last a little longer and be more reliable. When you get a chance, replace them with a liquid test kit.
I've not had any problem with neons bought from one lfs around here that quaranteens all new arrivals for at least 2 weeks and no fish are sold unless the whole quaranteen tank is healthy and alive for a good week. However, from other shops I've had them drop like flies.
The other thing is that I've never had a problem with them when introducing them to a tank (even new) with an adequate biofilter. In the case of the newest tank it was a 10 g with a filter/sponge from an established 20 g. Of course, they've all been eaten one by one by a hungry krib (it's an office tank, so no food over the weekend). At first I suspected that it might be neons dieing off one by one, but it seemed strange that they'd only die on the weekend and never show any signs of malaise or illness during the week when I feed fairly heavily (relative to my other tanks). But that's plenty of digression.
I suspect that now that you've got a handle on the tank that you'll have more success with them. Oh yeah, test strips, ugh. Keep their container well sealed and in a dark place when not in use and they'll last a little longer and be more reliable. When you get a chance, replace them with a liquid test kit.
Holly9937 said:
I float them in the tank for about 30 minutes then dip them out with net and dump in tank.
I guess I need to start adding 1/2 cup (1/4 cup?) or so of tank water to fish bag every 30 minutes? every hour? What's your opinion? I would prefer not to have to use the drip method referred to earlier.
It never hurts to acclimate the fish slowly, but like HC said there could certainly be more going on. I usually float the bag for 20 minutes or so, then pour the bag into a bucket, and add half a cup of tank water every 5-10 minutes for 1/2 hour-45 minutes, then net the fish into the tank...
It takes days for a fish to adjust to changed water chemistry, so I think that your biggest issue isn't acclimation, it's something else.
LOL, from 2005 all the way back. Quite a resurrection.
"Cardinals are even more sensitive to pH than neons. My LFS will not even sell them to you without a water sample that they can test to make sure your pH is 6.4 or less."
WOW
