Help! Neon Tetra Issues.

[Weiro792]

So I have a established 55 gallon tank that I've had set up now for around 8 months. So two weeks ago, I had a neon tetra die. I had 12. So I go and get a replacement from my lfs. Put him in and the next day I wake up to find him dead as well. So I return him and decided to get a new one.
 
While at the store I also saw some rummy nose tetras so I got 3. I put those in yesterday. Woke up this morning with 3 of my older neon tetras dead and one of the rummy nose dead as well, I suspect it is the one that was acting funny when I first put him in the tank after acclimation to my water conditions. He was swimming upside down but righted himself and seemed to be doing fine after 15 minutes or so.
 
Water conditions are good.
 
pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 80ppm
 
Recent changes:
 
On Tuesday I sold my 12 Julli Cory Catfish and some plants. Stock includes:
 
3 Yoyo Loaches, 2 peacock gudgeons, bristlenose pleco, now 9 neon tetras, 2 rummy nose tetras, and 5 ghost shrimp.
 
Any help would be great!
 
 

 

[AshleyNZ]

The nitrate is very high, it should be at 0. I would recommend doing a large water change(s) until you get to 0.

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

Ashley, they dont have to be at zero. 80ppm is okay short term, just try to keep it around or below 40ppm

 

[Weiro792]

Yeah I know the Nitrates are a little high, I suspect its due to thinning out my rather large stock of plants. So less plants to use it up.
 
I got rid of the Cory Cats and some plants the nitrate was around 40 ppm. Could that change cause an issue with the tetras? From my understanding Nitrate doesn't really have much of an effect on fish. As long as Ammonia and Nitrite are at 0.

Oh and I do about a 20-30% weekly water change.

 

[coolie]

What's your method of acclimatising the fish?

 

[Weiro792]

They stay in the bag for about 15 minutes. Then I add water from the tank slowly over about 30 minutes. So more or less the drip method. 

 

[Weiro792]

Just an update. My stock has been seriously thinned out. I've lost a total of 10 Neon Tetras, 3 Rummy Nose, and I returned the 3 Yoyo loaches as i suspected it was them, but I lost 2 of the neons and the last 2 rummy nose after getting rid of them.
 
So my stock is now, 2 adult guppies, 20+ guppy fry, bristle nose pleco, 2 Neon Tetras, and 1 Peacock Gudgeon.
 
Also have 20+ Peacock Gudgeon Fry in my Breeder/Quarantine tank. 
 
What I don't understand is there is no precursor or alert that they are going to die, I just wake up and they're dead. Any ideas?

 

[coolie]

So correct me if I'm wrong, you carried on getting losses despite good water parameters. You haven't been medicating fish in your main tank and affecting the ammonia levels or anything like that? None of the fish have been introduced without being acclimatised. None of the fish show signs of any disease what-so-ever?

 

[frapadoodle]

Neon tetra disease? It affects many fish, especially tetras.
Usually the affected fish will go off alone, lose color, then die. It can happen rather suddenly.

 

[Weiro792]

None, my latest deaths were 2 Rummy nose today, one of them had white film covering one eye. That has been the only signs/symptoms. Its been quite the traumatic week and a half for my tank. No medication simply because I'm not going to willy-nilly medicate my tank if I can't see any symptoms and my quarantine tank is taken by my peacock gudgeon fry. Water parameters continue to be good.

I thought that could be it. But I still have yet to see them go off on their own or loose their color. Even when I pull out the dead ones, they are still colorful. I'm seriously at a loss.

Oh, and I do acclimate any new fish for a minimum of 45 minutes using the drip method.

 

[coolie]

There is one option if you have no spare hospital tank and you start seeing white furry eyes etc, 10 to 30 second "dips" in a jug of tank water treated with methylene blue - strong solution. Warning if -it's too strong, your fish will keel over until it's put back in the main tank. You need to monitor closely. We are talking seconds in a strong dip to cure fungus problems. I am not saying this is definitely the answer, but you have seen "something" and it's not being treated.

 

[Weiro792]

hmmm. That could work, but now there are no affected fish. The single rummy nose was the only one that showed any sign. But I do have a spare tank that I could set that up quickly if need be. 

 

[coolie]

That's the thing. I picked up that you've seen an infected eye on a fish. There are other bacterial infections you can get into a tank. Moving from brewing beer to fish keeping was a good thing for me, I can't put my hands in the tank without cleaning them thoroughly, any slight contamination of your hands when feeding can lead to a tank infection.

 

[Weiro792]

So how do I deal with it in my tank? Large water change? When can I add more fish?

 

[coolie]

This is going to take a long time and lots of patience. Do not keep buying new fish as each few fish die. Stop. And get to the bottom of this problem. I don't have all the answers, but I do know you need to slow right down.