Water Conditions

[Miss Wiggle]

oh btw

when i took my sample to the shop it was completely clean of ammonia, can 6 neon tetras really produce that much ammonia in three days to the level my test shown?

ammonia can build up surprisingly fast when there's no filter bacteria to take care of it.

 

[OldMan47]

To answer your question directly, 6 neons can and did produce that much ammonia that quickly. The dead one probably contributed more than his share as a decomposing fish will produce a lot of ammonia in the process. You best hope now is to keep testing and do plenty of large water changes. You have not been set back to the beginning, you are at the beginning and have not started yet. Don't be surprised if you need to go with 50% daily water changes to control the ammonia at less than 0.25 ppm and the nitrites at less than 0.25 ppm. You have a good chance of success if you stay on top of the water changes.

 

[waterdrop]

That's some of the best advice you can get. I think of oldman47 as one of the most experienced fishkeepers here. Be aware that you can do another 50% water change as soon as an hour or two after a previous one if you need to in order to keep the toxins down to where he indicates.