Neons Are Dying?

[Demm]

whats up everyone,

i had about 10 neons and 3 silver dollar tetras in my eclipse 6 tank. 4 of my neons died pretty much one night right after the other. they seem to have lost their color, or it faded a bit. they were starting to swim vertically and they were at the top of the tank with their nose up in the air like they were trying to breath air. its wierd because the only ones that have died so far are ones with teal colored side striped, the ones with the blue side stripes seem to be fine for now.

any idea what would be killing these fish? i dont really wanna see anymore of them dead.

specs:

6 gallon tank (has filter)
temp: 79-80 degrees (no direct sunlight)
PH: 8.1/8.2
nitrate: 10ppm
Nitrite: 2.0ppm
ammonia: less then .25ppm

 

[rdd1952]

You are very severely overstocked in an uncycled tank. The ammonia and nitrite are killing your fish as neons are very delicate and not suitable for a cycling tank. You pH is high so the ammonia is even more toxic than it normally would be. You should do daily water changes of 25% to get the ammonia and nitrite as close to 0 as possible. And very soon, you need a larger tank as the minimum tank size for silver dollars is 20 gallons.

 

[Demm]

you know what? i dont even have silver tollar tetras, dont knwo why i said that. they are black tetras, they are tiny, maybe about 1/2 inch.
http/www.elmersaquarium.com/10tetra_blacktetra.htm


as far as uncycled tank? what do you mean by that? there's bacteria and everything in there, it was cycled before i put the fish in there?

 

[rdd1952]

How did you cycle it? A cycled tank will not have any ammonia or nitrite. Cycling is the process of developing a bacteria colony to process ammonia and nitrite. There are only 2 ways to cycle, with fish or without fish.

If you cycle with fish, you add a few 3 to 5) hardy fish like danios, check the water parameters daily and do water changes as needed to keep the ammonia and nitrite as low as possible until there is enough bacteria to process it. Then you add a few more fish and do the same thing. You repeat until you are stocked.

With a fishless cycle, you set up the tank and add ammonia (see link in my signature) until the bacteria colony is present. You add fish then and should always get a 0 reading for ammonia and nitrite.

Even with the striped tetras being 1/2", a 6 gallon tank is really only big enough for about 4 or 5 small tetras.

 

[Demm]

i used biospira to cycle it. i had a couple of plecos in there at the time of cycling. also when i do my weekly water change i use the stress zyme bio filtration booster.

 

[K.J.]

i used biospira to cycle it. i had a couple of plecos in there at the time of cycling. also when i do my weekly water change i use the stress zyme bio filtration booster.

These are all marketing schemes. You didn't really cycle your tank. If you can, take the fish back to the store and re cycle the tank. There isn't a lot you can put in a 6 gallon, however.

 

[rdd1952]

Bio Spira is one that usually works but it depends on how it has been handled (must be refrigerated at all times) and how you use it. If you simply pour it in the tank and let the tank sit for a few days it does nothing as there is no food source for the bacteria. It is made to add wlong with fish from the start. Stress Zyme on the other hand is indeed useless. It contains no nitrifying bacteria and only says that it is an aid in the cycling process. I'm not certain how it is supposed to provide that aid.