Losing Fish

[ricci427]

Hi all,

So I added some fish to my tank last week, I have a 30 Gallon tank, all levels seem to be fine.

Ammonia - nitrite - 0
ph - 7.4 (basic), not sure if that is good bad or normal?

Problem is I seem to be losing a neon tetra every night, I started with nine, and after 4 days now i am down to 5.

Other fish in the tank, 3 tiger barbs, a smatt whte catfish, very small. And three fish that I cant remember the name of, they are orange, with a red stripe down their sides (thinking maybe they were some kind of molly), and these were the first fish in the tank as well, maybe they didnt like the company, but the store did tell me they were community fish.


I'm wondering, if maybe the neons are being eaten, I havent noticed any of the other fish biting or nipping them through the day, so doubtfull of this. Yet, out of the four lost neons, I onyl found one body, and they only seemd to go missing over night?

Any ideas?

Thanks

ricci427

 

[gourami_fan]

I'm assuming that your tank is fully cycled.

First, tiger barbs do better in groups of 6 or more. They will fight eachother for leadership and the more, the better to spread out the agression between the tiger barbs. If their numbers are too little, they MIGHT go after other fishes.

My second guess is that since neons are so tiny, they might have been sucked up your filter intake? Try checking your filter media.

Last guess is that if any of your other fish has a mouth big enough, they are going to eat it.

 

[pirate monkey]

One more thing about neons is they only seem to do well when they are introduced to a mature aquarium - not just a cycled aquarium, but one that has been running for a few months and is now stable.

I also had this problem with neons, I just waited a couple of months before adding some more, they did a lot better!

It is possible that some of your other fish have eaten dead or dying neons - once the fish is weak it is not unknown for other fish to start eating it before it has died (!) or as gourami fan said, sucked up your filter (dead or alive).

 

[vinylman]

Neons also need acidic water, not alkaline (or at least not as high as 7.4); they're fragile fish in a new tank and not really recommended until the tank has been running at least three months.