Tetras Keep Dying

[Realtree]

Wow thats a big difference in ph.
it sound like there dying of ph shock to me.

Do you have any suggestions to stop this happening
I thought that 7.2 was virtually neutral - so no harm could come from it

 

[WILDER]

Ph shock can take weeks to kill fish. It can be a fast killer or slow killer of fish.
If the ph altered fast it can damage fish.
How are the fish now.

 

[Realtree]

The neons and black neon seem ok slthougth lonely
But I know seem to misplaced a platty

 

[fry_forever!]

The neons and black neon seem ok slthougth lonely
But I know seem to misplaced a platty

How did you misplace your platy? Or did it misplace itself? (Go missing/die.)
I agree with Wilder, it sounds like ph shock. Are your fish pale at all?

 

[Realtree]

I am seriously losing the will to live
I have found the platy -MISSING its tail (still alive and moving ok but had hidden itself).
I have now 1 LESS neon (down to 2 and ! black neon)
Something has to be eating them - but have no idea what is happening
My golden loach is less than 2" in size and is the only species that I believe could be aggressive.
PLEASE HELP this is driving me NUTS
My black neon occasionally looks a little pale - but not all the time (could be fright !!!)

 

[WILDER]

The fish could be pecking at the dead bodies or even eating them when dead.
I would add a bacterial med to the tank.
If the tails completey gone the fish might not make it.

 

[Realtree]

Do you feel that the loach is the problem ??
The platy is actively swimming and feeding but does hide as well

 

[WILDER]

Have you seen him having ago at any of the fish.
Loaches sometimes can suck the eyes out of a fish.
I think the ph has weaken and killed most of your fish.

 

[Realtree]

Have seen the loach "chase off " other bright coloured fish (of which the platy is one)
Will follow your advice regarding the PH shock
Think it might be a good idea to give the loach a new home
Thanx for your help

 

[Realtree]

1 neon and 1 black neon left

 

[WILDER]

Bless them.
How do the rest of the surviving fish look.

 

[Realtree]

All other fish look ok ( even the nipped platy)
retested PH today and it is now same as tap water
Will see what happens to the neon count overnight as this is when they seem most vunerable

 

[fry_forever!]

I am seriously losing the will to live
I have found the platy -MISSING its tail (still alive and moving ok but had hidden itself).
I have now 1 LESS neon (down to 2 and ! black neon)
Something has to be eating them - but have no idea what is happening
My golden loach is less than 2" in size and is the only species that I believe could be aggressive.
PLEASE HELP this is driving me NUTS
My black neon occasionally looks a little pale - but not all the time (could be fright !!!)

Wow, this is a serious problem. Hmm, I don't think it would be your golden loach. They are a pretty peaceful species. What other kinds of fish do you have in your tank? Is there any red at the base of your platy's tail? Like blood? This could be fin rot, which is either caused by poor water quality, (and we know you don't have that, only the crazy, sudden drop in ph.) or being picked on or nipped at by other fish. This will require a bacterial med, because it is a serious problem that can kill fish relatively fast.
Do you see any fungus on your fish?
Any lesions besides the tail missing on the platy?

When I had neons, they'd go pale at night normally, and sometimes during the day, but that was normally when they got stressed. If they have a permanent colour loss, then I would be worried.

Good luck!

 

[Realtree]

There are no signs of lesions or fungus on the platy and its behaviour is normal
I honestly believe that it is a case of fin nipping - but I can't work out who is the culprit
I have had this problem for a while - 2 of my male guppys have been nipped a couple of weeks ago so I rehoused my male fighter after advice and the tank seemed to respond to this.
the tank contains
6 platy
6 guppy
3 swordtails
1 golden loach
1 neon
1 black neon
3 golden snails
+ 2 fry (unknown origin)

As far as I am aware all inhabitants are peaceful - but it seems someone hasn't read the script
The good news is that both neons survived the night -

 

[mark1979]

ph sure is a pain in the bum to control.

i had major problems very recently where my tap water was ph - 7.0 and once introduced to the tank,conditioned and left,with 3 hours the ph as dropped to ph - 6.0.

i stupidly panic'd and did a BIG water change which i no now was a stupid mistake as i was rapidly changing the ph again!!

We got it down to the vast amount of mopani in the tank and man made gravel, seems like i had no buffering in there and ph would drop out!!

i didnt want to add any chemicals as such,so i got some crushed coral gravel and gradualy filled up a XL media bag,which i placed in my internal juwel filter, until it reached the rough PH of my tap water,so each W/C would have virualy no change in PH

my corys seemed to be affected by the ph change the most from my error. some of them had "webbing" over them,like ecsess mucas!!

they are fine now,i left the lights of for 2 days and let the coral gravel do its job.

dont lose heart,i almost did when this happened.