Noob w/ Neons dying =(

Hi welcome to AC,

Just wondering if you added a quality dechlorinator like Prime to your tap water, before adding your fish. I agree that 5 neons and a glofish Is pretty overstocked for a 2.5 Gal. I know It does'nt appear that way but it is what it is. I think you're ok with the 3 neons and the glofish. You'll want to do a water change anytime the ammonia level reaches .25 or higher, and or when the nitrIte level reaches .25 or higher. Make sure you add a declorinator (Prime recommended) to the tap water and match the temperature of the tank water when adding the water. Smaller tanks are harder to manage than larger tanks, so your pH may fluctuate a little bit when doing water changes. If your tank does not have a heater you'll need to get one, neons are tropical. Good Luck and again welcome to AC!
 
Thank you all for the replies...

Yes, it is a Glofish (ie, tinkered with zebra danio) and not a goldfish... even I know better than that! hehe.

I am still hoping the 3 remaining neons will live... I remember them from being a kid - seems like everyone loves a neon - but I had no idea that they quite so delicate.

I will be checking the water parameters daily until the tank comes to some sort of equilibrium... it has a regular but small filter and not that undergravel junk so it should be able to grow bacteria okay, right?

When I said my neons weren't adult sized, I just meant, no where near 1.5 inches in length... honestly, I've never seen any neons that size but unfortunately now I am thinking that isn't my lack of opportunity but rather that they die fairly easily. =(

Yes, I did use a dechlorinator... although, I don't know the difference from brand to brand so you tell me, is this quality enough? Tetra Aquasafe is what I have....

I generally am very careful about adding in my water temps... but perhaps there was a difference w/ the water change this morning.. I will be extra cautious with that... is the finger test okay or should I actually use a thermometer or is that unneccesary?

I can't think of anything else at the moment... I'll come back and post an update when I get to the office in the morning... here is to hoping the 3 lil neons survive the nite...

Thank you!
 
Good morning!

My neons made it thorugh the nite well and seem to be doing just fine. In fact, they seem to be acclimating and are more active and exhibiting some schooling behavior. I just love these little guys.

I haven't tested the water parameters yet, but I am going to here in a bit. Waiting for the office to settle down a bit w/ the phone lol.

One thing I am seeing and wondering about now however... is a possible personality discord between the glofish and the neons.... based mostly on their different swim styles. My Glofish is your typical danio - fast, darty, loves to be active, wants swim mates.. my neons are what I figure is fairly typical for neons... way more laid back, school and swim around but not fast and darty. I think perhaps my Glofish is a bit frustrated they won't swim with it they way it wants them to... they have been nipped at a few times very lightly since I have been watching them this morning (nothing serious).

Do you think, for their combined happiness, should I take the Glofish out? I have danios in the 20g long tank I have at home and it most likely would fit right in... then I could add another neon back into this tank? Three is a bit few to school at all... what do you think? I certainly won't want to keep the glofish in there if the nipping ever became more than what it is now...

Thank you!
 
I think I am definitely going to do that.. it may have to wait until tomorrow though because I don't have a net here yet lol. I think that would be the best... the neons came out just a min ago and were schooling with the glofish and then as I watched the glofish gently herded them around, like it was trying to get them to speed up or something lol. They ended up just moving over to the corner and hanging out by themselves.
 
the 2.5 is still cycling..correct?

I would let it finish cycling before adding any more stock to it.
once it is cycled..then you can [lay with the stock..the existing bacteria can )fairly quickly) compensate for minor shifts in waste.
 
I know from water tests today that I definitely have both types of bacteria in there and growing so that makes me happy. I will of course, be waiting until the parameters straighten out and the cycle appears complete. The glofish I'm going to go ahead and remove tomorrow so it doesn't stress the neons any.

Thank you so much for your help everyone.

I am just loving these little guys. With the way the desk lamp and the light on their tank is, and with dark gravel, their color really stands out, and their eyes glow like 2 little neon lights when they turn and face straight outward at you.


Not that I don't love the glofish... I'm actually quite excited about seeing it swimming with my danios in the home tank. =)
 
I enjoy the black neons(technically not a neon-Hyphessobrycon Herbertaxelrodi)) they are similar to neons in size tho there is some discrepency on how large they get..they are more suited to warmer tanks than the neon and I keep them with my discus(they were cheaper than the cardinals...LOL)
 
SAD UPDATE

Yesterday my 3 remaining neons and glofish were doing really well. The neons were seeming more relaxed and swimming around. The only thing that concerned me in the slightest was the slightly nippy behavior of the glofish... but it wasn't all that often and there was never any damage done to them. I had forgotten yesterday to bring the little net with me to work (I plan on leaving it here for this tank) but I forgot it.. so the glofish only had to spend one more night in there =/

The water chemistry tested at this yesterday afternoon:
pH about 7.6
Ammonia 0.5 ppm
Nitrite 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 5.0 ppm

After that, I did a pwc of about 15%. I added the new water back slowly and it was treated. They seemed absolutely fine at that time... but I was only in the office another 15 min or so after the change because it was at the end of my day.

This morning I come in, and I can only find one neon and the glofish. The neon is on the side of the tank, sort of in a nook created by the filter and a plant and the little bubbler. ... the other 2 neons are missing. I thought, oh no =/ and I looked around for them.. they weren't hiding. I look under the filter and the suction of it pulling up the water has them floating right underneath the intake. As soon as I turned it off, they floated away from it.

This is the tank:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3635102

This is the filter that came with the minibow:
http://www.aquahobby.com/products/e_whispermicro.php

Now, I am reasonably certain that water chemistry did not kill these little guys. I immediately retested and this is what my results are:
pH about 7.6
Ammonia 1.0 ppm
Nitrite <0.25 ppm
Nitrate 5.0 ppm

The ammonia is up.. but then again, there have been 2 little dead neons in there... since whenever they passed sometime after 5:30pm last nite. They have had it as high as this before without detriment. I have looked at the little bodies.. I can't see any fin damage if it was the glofish or some kind of a fight.

So - did my filter kill my neons? Is it likely that the filter is two strong for a 2.5g tank despite it being sold that way... and that the neons got tired out from the current and just died? What signs would have warned me if the filter is too strong?

I have left the filter turned off (have airstone bubbling for aeration) for the moment to give the remaining neon a rest if that is the case... the glofish is a strong swimmer and seems unaffected by any of it. Amazingly enough... it is the smallest of the 3 neons who survived the night. One of the dead ones was nearly the size of the glofish. Since turning the filter off, the neon has been swimming around.. but not really differently... it is around the filter, along the back wall, was out front before... but maybe it is out in other areas a bit more.. its hard to say. There was nothing in the tank before (and they have been in this tank a week as of tomorrow night) that suggested there was an overfiltration issue.. but maybe I'm just too new to recognize it?

So... given the facts... what do you guess killed my neons?

I'm doing another pwc on my shift today and I will be taking the glofish out at 5pm when I leave work. That will leave just the neon in the tank. Once I am sure that conditions are safe I will consider adding in more neons... but only after the tank finishes cycling and this filter is replaced if that is the issue...

Anyone have experience with this filter being too big?
 
With neons being sensitive to stress issues, they could have been weaker than normal, especially with being in a fishy cycle. The filter may have been to much for them to get away from.

IME, that is too much filter for a 2.5 gal tank.

I think it is best to finish your cycle and obtain a smaller filter, but make sure you move the media from one filter over to the new one so you do not have a mini cycle.
 
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