Med Trio on Neon Tetras?

[lynxfishy]

Hello everyone!

I recently bought 6 neon tetras from Petco to stock my 10 gallon black water tank. Unfortunately they all passed away and I was wondering if it was because of the med trio and the stress? I put them in a 5 gallon quarantine tank and dosed the correct amount for the med trio, but I was wondering if dosing all three meds at the same time was too much for them and caused the death? If I get more neons would it be better to dose the med trio one per week? Thanks for any advice/tips, I'm still pretty new to the hobby and need all the advice I can get lol. 

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I'm so sorry you lost your fish. That stinks and has happened to all of us at one point or another.

Have you tried running any tests on the water (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)?  Was the tank cycled? What temp was the water? Did you use a dechlorinator?

I noticed you are using a 5 gallon tank.  The med trio has a 10-gallon dosage. Did you halve the medication level?

Edited June 6, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[lynxfishy]

On 6/6/2022 at 5:47 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I'm so sorry you lost your fish. That stinks and has happened to all of us at one point or another.

Have you tried running any tests on the water (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)?  Was the tank cycled? What temp was the water? Did you use a dechlorinator?

I noticed you are using a 5 gallon tank.  The med trio has a 10-gallon dosage. Did you halve the medication level?

Upon looking at my tank I see I have one little neon left! I tested my water and Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are very high. I should have been checking the water more often and sooner, as I am starting to wonder if the tank wasn't cycled and that's what killed everything. I put a sponge filter in the quarantine tank that had come from a cycled 10 gallon aquarium, I thought that would immediately cycle this tank?

I am not sure what to do with the one neon now, I feel really bad, should I just put him in the 10 gallon tank where the water is cycled and is much better? I did half the medication, I even went a little under half just to be safe. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/6/2022 at 3:55 PM, lynxfishy said:

I recently bought 6 neon tetras from Petco to stock my 10 gallon black water tank. Unfortunately they all passed away and I was wondering if it was because of the med trio and the stress? I put them in a 5 gallon quarantine tank and dosed the correct amount for the med trio, but I was wondering if dosing all three meds at the same time was too much for them and caused the death? If I get more neons would it be better to dose the med trio one per week? Thanks for any advice/tips, I'm still pretty new to the hobby and need all the advice I can get lol. 

Welcome to the forum!

How did you introduce them to the tank?  Can you please let us know your water parameters?  Typically something like this happens when the fish aren't happy in the store and then the stress of acclimation usually just ends poorly.  It happens to a lot of people far too often, unfortunately.

I have done the med trio a few times and didn't have any issues like that.  ACO has done it a few thousand times and I think their experience speaks for itself. 

Hopefully this makes sense.... you can wait for petco to get a new batch or check out something like aquahuna.

On 6/6/2022 at 5:04 PM, lynxfishy said:

Upon looking at my tank I see I have one little neon left! I tested my water and Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are very high. I should have been checking the water more often and sooner, as I am starting to wonder if the tank wasn't cycled and that's what killed everything. I put a sponge filter in the quarantine tank that had come from a cycled 10 gallon aquarium, I thought that would immediately cycle this tank?

what are the water test result values? what are the status of med treatment?

On 6/6/2022 at 5:04 PM, lynxfishy said:

I put a sponge filter in the quarantine tank that had come from a cycled 10 gallon aquarium, I thought that would immediately cycle this tank?

Did the filter dry out in the time you placed it into your water? How long was it in the tank before adding fish?

Edited June 7, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[lynxfishy]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Welcome to the forum!

How did you introduce them to the tank?  Can you please let us know your water parameters?  Typically something like this happens when the fish aren't happy in the store and then the stress of acclimation usually just ends poorly.  It happens to a lot of people far too often, unfortunately.

I have done the med trio a few times and didn't have any issues like that.  ACO has done it a few thousand times and I think their experience speaks for itself. 

Hopefully this makes sense.... you can wait for petco to get a new batch or check out something like aquahuna.

what are the water test result values? what are the status of med treatment? what does your tank have for filtration?

I have .50ppm Ammonia, 1.0 ppm Nitrite and 40ppm Nitrate 😧 Really bad water parameters, I should have been checking them more often, but I didn't realize they were so bad. I am on day 4 of med trio treatment, and have a hang on the back filter with a sponge filter that came from a fully cycled 10 gallon tank. 

On 6/6/2022 at 6:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Welcome to the forum!

How did you introduce them to the tank?  Can you please let us know your water parameters?  Typically something like this happens when the fish aren't happy in the store and then the stress of acclimation usually just ends poorly.  It happens to a lot of people far too often, unfortunately.

I have done the med trio a few times and didn't have any issues like that.  ACO has done it a few thousand times and I think their experience speaks for itself. 

Hopefully this makes sense.... you can wait for petco to get a new batch or check out something like aquahuna.

what are the water test result values? what are the status of med treatment?

Did the filter dry out in the time you placed it into your water? How long was it in the tank before adding fish?

I put the sponge filter immediately in HOB filter and ran it through with water. This filter had been in an establish tank for a month. I put it in there specifically for a quarantine sponge filter as I read that would cycle a quarantine tank quickly. 

[Colu]

What I would do is daily testing and daily 50% water changes and add a double dose of prime to help detoxify any ammonia and nitirte to try and save your last fish 

[lynxfishy]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:18 PM, Colu said:

What I would do is daily testing and daily 50% water changes and add a double dose of prime to help detoxify any ammonia and nitirte to try and save your last fish 

Ok, I will do that. Does anyone have any tips on how I can quarantine and medicate fish better? I feel really terrible that the water got so bad on them, and I want to do better next time. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/6/2022 at 5:18 PM, Colu said:

What I would do is daily testing and daily 50% water changes and add a double dose of prime to help detoxify any ammonia and nitirte to try and save your last fish 

Would you do the 30-50% WC indicated on the meds, then redose, just to finish treatment and then do the daily 50%? 

I don't know if it's better to stop treatment and re-treat with meds in a week or so or to finish it out for 3 more days.

 

Edited June 7, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Colu]

On 6/7/2022 at 1:26 AM, lynxfishy said:

Ok, I will do that. Does anyone have any tips on how I can quarantine and medicate fish better? I feel really terrible that the water got so bad on them, and I want to do better next time. 

 I only treat wild caught fish for parasites any other fish I Qarantine for 6-8  weeks and feed them good quality food and monitor them for any signs of disease  before introducing them to the main tank 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/6/2022 at 5:26 PM, lynxfishy said:

Ok, I will do that. Does anyone have any tips on how I can quarantine and medicate fish better? I feel really terrible that the water got so bad on them, and I want to do better next time. 

I don't think there was anything wrong with your method. The tank just wasn't cycled.  I think you treated the fish with meds correctly, but needed more time for the tank.  Here's a vid on QT tank setup if it helps you.
 

 

[Colu]

On 6/7/2022 at 1:29 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Would you do the 30-50% WC indicated on the meds, then redose, just to finish treatment and then do the daily 50%? 

I don't know if it's better to stop treatment and re-treat with meds in a week or so or to finish it out for 3 more days.

 

As the med trio is a preventive treatment and it's the ammonia and nitirte that has more than likely killed the @lynxfishy other fish I would deal with the water quality issues Frist 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/6/2022 at 5:33 PM, Colu said:

As the med trio is a preventive treatment and it's the ammonia and nitirte that has more than likely killed the @lynxfishy other fish I would deal with the water quality issues Frist 

Makes sense.  I think for the shop it makes sense to treat with meds right away, especially given their QT setup.  For the home hobbyist, it makes a lot of sense to let the fish acclimate for 1 week, then treat with meds. Again, assuming the tank is cycled.

[lynxfishy]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:31 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I don't think there was anything wrong with your method. The tank just wasn't cycled.  I think you treated the fish with meds correctly, but needed more time for the tank.  Here's a vid on QT tank setup if it helps you.
 

 

 

On 6/6/2022 at 6:33 PM, Colu said:

As the med trio is a preventive treatment and it's the ammonia and nitirte that has more than likely killed the @lynxfishy other fish I would deal with the water quality issues Frist 

Thank you both for all of the information. I figured these fish would have something considering I bought them from Petco, and all of their tanks are connected through the filters, that's why I medicated them. If I get another batch should I wait to medicate them and just feed them and watch them (and the water parameters) in quarantine for 4 weeks? Then if they seem healthy/fine introduce them into the main tank? Or should I just buy from a reputable breeder online like Aquahuna and just not medicate/quarantine them at all and just put them in the main tank?

[Colu]

If you get a new batch I would just monitor them and keep close eye on your water parameters and feed them good quality foods such as Hikari micro pellets bug bites frozen or live brine shrimp Cyclops for 4 weeks the majority  of diseases fish develope in Aquarium are caused by poor nutrition and poor water quality weakening their immune system if you get these to things right your fish should thrive 

Edited June 7, 2022 by Colu
Typo

[lynxfishy]

On 6/6/2022 at 6:58 PM, Colu said:

If you get a new batch I would just monitor them and keep close eye on your water parameters and feed them good quality foods such as Hikari micro pellets bug bites frozen or live brine shrimp Cyclops for 4 weeks the majority  of diseases fish develope in Aquarium are caused by poor nutrition and poor water quality weaken their immune system if you get these to things right your fish should thrive 

Will do. Thank you so much for the help, it is greatly appreciated! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 6/6/2022 at 5:43 PM, lynxfishy said:

If I get another batch should I wait to medicate them and just feed them and watch them (and the water parameters) in quarantine for 4 weeks? Then if they seem healthy/fine introduce them into the main tank? Or should I just buy from a reputable breeder online like Aquahuna and just not medicate/quarantine them at all and just put them in the main tank?

No matter where you buy them from QT is recommended.  Part of that, for me, is to protect the rest of your fish by using the med trio as that QT methodology as well.  I would let the fish acclimate for a week, up to two weeks before meds if you can. This basically helps you from wasting meds and gives the fish a chance to survive, given the high risk of issues you're experiencing.

[lynxfishy]

On 6/6/2022 at 7:10 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

No matter where you buy them from QT is recommended.  Part of that, for me, is to protect the rest of your fish by using the med trio as that QT methodology as well.  I would let the fish acclimate for a week, up to two weeks before meds if you can. This basically helps you from wasting meds and gives the fish a chance to survive, given the high risk of issues you're experiencing.

That's what I was worried about too, I bought some adorable pygmy corries online and they are all happy and healthy in my main tank. I didn't realize I should have a quarantine tank and I just medicated them with the quarantine trio in that tank. I'd hate it if a Petco neon tetra brought in something bad and they died from it. I will for sure wait a week or two to give them the meds and keep checking on my water parameters in the QT tank. I didn't realize I should wait a week and I think between the stress of traveling home, the med trio, and me not checking the water they all died off one by one. I really appreciate you guys helping me out on this! Lol wish me luck on the next batch. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/6/2022 at 8:43 PM, lynxfishy said:

If I get another batch should I wait to medicate them and just feed them and watch them (and the water parameters)

It is a matter of personal preference. I like to just observe. I have a fish in quarantine now, and it was eating great and socializing with me when I approached the tank. But after 2 weeks I  noticed the fish was pooping white, so at that point I medicated with paracleanse. After the paracleanse was done I did a 30% water change. I waited like another week and then I just did the level one salt treatment. The poops are normal again and all seems to be going well.

I use the Fritz disease chart to diagnose if any of my fish act weird (you can do a google image search on that one), but any meds I use come from Co Op because I trust them.

 

Edited June 7, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea