Urgent Help - Neon Tetra

[Freebird]

Hi, I’m new to the aquarium hobby. I saw a beautiful tank while staying in a hotel and decided to get one myself.. I dint want to start with a huge tank as I wasn't sure how much effort it will take to maintain one.. So I bought a bowl (biggest mistake) and 6 neon tetras as the shop keeper told me they are hardy fish and best for newbies. So I got a medium sized bowl, I guess of 2 gallon and she had put some brown substrate and an artificial plant to make my bowl beautiful & an air pump.
That night to my horror I found about cycling. NOBODY TOLD ME ABOUT NITROGEN CYCLE OR FISH-LESS CYCLE. I'm upset with myself for not doing the research beforehand but now it was too late for that. It seemed all ok for the first week and then I found one of my tetra hiding in the artificial plant all the time, not even coming out for food. Somehow I managed to chase it away from the bush and to my horror, it’s tail was missing. I thought it might have caught between the bush and removed the artificial plant.. It dint seem very healthy. It was floating on the top and not moving much. That night my first tetra died . I called the pet store and she said not to worry the rest will be fine. The next day I saw one more tetra with the fin rotten and acting the same way. I researched on the net and found that my tetra had fin rot disease. The lady at the pet store gave me some herbal medicine to put 1ml for 5-7 days. I have completed the course of the medication, but now the water had turned cloudy and there is some white stuff floating in the water. I got scared and did a complete water change and cleaned the bowl properly and added freshwater and 1ml of medicine and the fish. After a day I saw the white stuff floating in the water again and removed the substrate thinking it was not cleaned properly. Now in 2 days, the water again has turned cloudy and it is filled with the white floating stuff. I’m not over feeding the fish. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. PLEASE HELP!!!! SORRY ABOUT THE LONG STORY BUT I HAD TO WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN..

 

[creeker]

It sounds like the medicine you're using is mucking up your water. Antibiotics will do that. The real problem, as you know, is the size of that bowl. If you want to keep the Neons, you will have to get a proper aquarium. At least 10 gallons, bigger would be better and easier to maintain. The prognosis for the Neons in the bowl with fin rot is not good. If it were me, I'd return the fish to the store they came from, and start out fresh with a new tank.

 

[Freebird]

It sounds like the medicine you're using is mucking up your water. Antibiotics will do that. The real problem, as you know, is the size of that bowl. If you want to keep the Neons, you will have to get a proper aquarium. At least 10 gallons, bigger would be better and easier to maintain. The prognosis for the Neons in the bowl with fin rot is not good. If it were me, I'd return the fish to the store they came from, and start out fresh with a new tank.

Thanks for the quick response. I had checked with the store and they have a no return policy & I cannot get rid my neon’s . I'm planning to get a bigger tank but till then any advice to keep my neon’s alive? How frequently should I change the water and should I be worried of the white things floating in the water? I also got the water tested at the store for the nitrate & Ph level. It seems to be fine (It will be as I’m doing a complete water change every alternate days.)

 

[PrairieSunflower]

You could try placing an ad in the classified section on this board to rehome them for free.

Another route, more expensive and difficult.... get a full aquarium setup and mature medium (might be able to buy that from your pet shop. (Media is the sponge/filter floss/etc in that goes in the filter that contains the good mature bacteria)... then you could set up right away (be sure to use dechlorinator). The tricky bit though is getting the mature media... without it... you just have a bigger tank with the same problem.

Just needed to add... even with mature media from the get go, you'd need a water testing kit to make sure the ammonia is in check and may still be doing daily water changes for a good period of time.

 

[KCB]

As the tank isn't cycled yet your fish are producing poisonous ammonia (from their waste) and there isn't enough bacteria in the filter to remove it yet so I would do a large water change everyday. This topic will probably help you: http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/224306-fish-in-cycling/.

Also, because the bowl is so small the ammonia isn't going to be very diluted in the water and the effect will be worse than if it was a larger tank. If you have extra cash lying around I think if it was me I would by a larger tank.

I'm sorry I can't advise you more, I've only recently been doing research on fish-keeping and would still class myself as a newbie, but good luck with your fish and I hope they pull through.