Attacking Neons?

[gazbut]

hi all
after 7 months still alot to learn!
bought my 1st tank in summer (aquastart 320 28 ltr)
month 1 - (dodgy lfs advice - tested my water for me and said go for it!) started with 3 zebra danios & 3 harlequins.
lost 3 harlequins in next 2 weeks.
month 2 - bought water test kit (water fine) & bought 2 saffron mollies.
month 3 - every one ok!
month 4 - lost another danio. then the last one started bullying one of the mollies so removed it.
down to 2 mollies! lfs suggested 6 neons.
months 5 & 6 - all happy
month 7 - 1 mollie died so got another plus 1 peppered cory (lfs again). cory lasted 2 weeks!
bought 2 very small cories.
found 1 cory half eaten!
today noticed the latest mollie has also been attacked (fins eaten)
water tested weekly and all readings ok.
current stock is 1 mollie (had 4 months) 6 neons (3 months) and 1 cory (1 month)
is it the neons??
please advise me
gary

 

[mattlee]

Hi Gary,
did you quarentine any fish before adding them to the tank?
what is the pH?
are you doing any water changes?
what are your water stats?
i doubt very much your neons are killing the other fish, they may well nibble on the dead bodies but wont kill other fish.

 

[gazbut]

hi mattlee
thanks for reply.
ph is approx 6.5.
water change approx every 2 weeks 20%
never quarantined fish.
am i overstocked? 28 ltr cube style tank? it has a interpet internal filter.
thinking of starting again, been reading around, would a betta be more suitable for this tank size but what could live with it?
cheers
gary

 

[OpalineAqua]

hi mattlee
thanks for reply.
ph is approx 6.5.
water change approx every 2 weeks 20%
never quarantined fish.
am i overstocked? 28 ltr cube style tank? it has a interpet internal filter.
thinking of starting again, been reading around, would a betta be more suitable for this tank size but what could live with it?
cheers
gary

If you did end up getting a betta usually most small fish can go with them, especially some killifish. Or you could get a male betta with a few females. And when you have a smaller tank you should probably change your water more than once every two weeks. I do one 25% every week and it keeps ammonia and nitrites down. But it could've been ammonia or nitrite that killed the fish and then the half eaten fish could've died and then the body was eaten by the others.

 

[OldMan47]

Slow down a bit OpalineAqua. You can often put several females of a species with a male but you don't want to do that with a betta. You can only put the common bettas, Betta splendens, together when they are breeding. At any other time, they will attack each other.

 

[mattlee]

hi mattlee
thanks for reply.
ph is approx 6.5.
water change approx every 2 weeks 20%
never quarantined fish.
am i overstocked? 28 ltr cube style tank? it has a interpet internal filter.
thinking of starting again, been reading around, would a betta be more suitable for this tank size but what could live with it?
cheers
gary

stocking is normally done using 1 inch of fish per gallon of water but with smaller fish i think you get away with adding a couple more. the tank is small and mollies get to about 3 inches maybe a bit bigger i think so they wont have too much room to swim about. i would also do weekly water changes of about 20% this will replace any usefull trace elements that have been used up in the old water and also dilute any nitrate. fresh water is also the best thing for fish health and growth just dont forget to add dechlor with every change.
a single betta and possibly a few shrimp would be great in a tank that size otherwise go for really small fish like galaxy rasboras, small minnows etc or even turn it into a planted shrimp tank
also corys need to be in groups of 6 plus to feel secure and to get the best out of them and unless you go for pygmy corys then i would say its too small for them.

 

[waterdrop]

I wonder if the low pH is a symptom of low mineral content? Wouldn't that be bad for the mollies?

~~waterdrop~~