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Black neon tetras turning brown


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Hello, 

So I'm having an issue I don't understand. I have a 29G tank with as of now, 3 neons, 6 black neons, 3 emerald Cory's, 6 kuhlis, 2 hillstream, and a mystery snail. 

There were 7 neons, but I lost 3 a while ago and one today. The other neons, and the other fish seem fine, but one of the black neons is having some swimming trouble and a few of them almost seem to be turning brown, a similar shade of brown as diatom algae. It mostly seems to be around the dorsal fin or between that and the tail.

I did add fish recently, about 4 days ago. Those being the mystery snail, the 3rd Cory, and a 3rd hillstream that suddenly died later that night, with no signs of problems. When I added the fish I did a half dose of the trio(bacterial, general, parasite)

Is the brown a coincidence or a bad sign that my tetras are doing bad.

Tank parameters: 25-50 nitrates (finally lowering from a constant struggle) 0 nitrites, 300 hardness, 0-40 buffer, 0 chlorine and ammonia, 7.0-7.2 ph, 72-75 degrees.

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It’s been a bit since I’ve kept neons. Dense plants and decor makes them feel safe to display bright colors. Excess bright light with no cover  they can sometimes fade or turn brown it is a stress reaction to too much light. Judging strictly from the pictures they seem healthy and not overtly ill. Try some floating plants or do a quick grab of tube plants at a big box or even silk or plastic plants to fill in and make it more dense like like their natural habitats with gobs of roots and plants and overhanging trees for shade. Their beautiful colors make them easy prey targets in open water so they have the ability to color down or change coloration as an adaptation. 

Also try dimming your light and shortening your light period

If they are very stressed that could cause your losses as well. I’m sorry you lost some hopefully some minor adjustment will help the rest

 

Edited by Guppysnail
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Thanks. I think I will look into floating plants more. Initially I didn't because of the Tiger Lotus Lily on the right side. The lily pads would be the floaters, but as time goes on I can see the plant is flourishing, but the pads not so much. I get what looks like a new pad sprout every 5-10 days, sometimes they unwrap early and become taller leaves so there's that, but after about 3 weeks the pads begin to break down so while the plant does great, the pads struggle. Floating plants can help lower light on the left side for the anubias. I have slowly been turning my light down to fight algae, but also the Lily needs high light and I don't want to hurt it so it's a thing.
I'm also getting rid of the Val in the back. It became an algae bush and when I trimmed it it never grew back, just more sprouts away from the center of the tank where I wanted it. Maybe also taking out the crypt luscens and putting some dwarf chain sword. Maybe something else tall in the back. Planted tanks are so much more learning than I expected at first, but it's worth the look that comes with it.

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Try sticking pothos in the back as emerged growth. I use the plastic light cover egg crate. The roots grow down but out a bit and hog a lot of nitrate to reduce algae and give some quick cover. This keeps algae at a minimum in my tanks. Lucky bamboo does great as well but doesn’t provide the structure to make fish feel safe. So far my tiger lotus only gives leaves. 

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That's really cool!
I have a cat that is obsessed with plants so emerged is not possible for me. Nothing can go beyond the tank lid.
I love the color on your Lotus plants. Mine started with purple and red, but the red took over. Though I did get lucky and there was a daughter bulb on mine when I got it that broke off after a couple days and took root. It's smaller, with only a handful of large leaves and no pads yet, but it fills it's corner nice and is a favored spot for my Hillstreams

It seems like most stem plants will grow well as a floater. I'll just have to do a bit more research then start a new topic in the plants section. 

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