Now the neons are dying.. looking for help.

[Pepere]

Ok. Now my neons are dying. Starting a new thread just in case people checked out from prior thread on online fish store shipping mortality.

 

I ordered 6 pygmy cories and 20 neon tetras.  1 cory was doa and another one didnt look to good.  5 died within 48 hours.

 

now the neons are dying.  Yep, I am kicking myself in the backside for putting them all in the same quarantine tank and not keeping them separate.

 

I fished out three neons last night.  I added an airstone to the 20 gallon tub. This was in addition to the cycled sponge filter, and a box filter that has an airstone in it.

I woke up this morning to fish out another three.

 

It is day three of running the quarantine trio protocol that aquarium co op recomends.

water temp 76. Ph 7.2 ammonia 0, nitrite 0 nitrate trace per API master test kit.

This mornings harvest of death….  Do you see anything on these that gives a hint?

Any suggestions on saving remaining? Refund period ended Sunday at noon…

This definitely has not been a good experience.

 

Original batch of fish I bought are all thriving in display tank.

 

I also received a batch of fish from another seller Saturday. 7 live fish, 2 doa in bag.  All fish that arrived alive remain alive in a different quarantine tank.

[BuzzDaddy21]

On 7/26/2022 at 7:08 AM, Pepere said:

for putting them all in the same quarantine tank

I would have done the same thing because my thinking is that fish are from the same seller, I`m probably wrong but I have only bought fish/shrimp/plants/snails and wood from three places. (Fish and shrimp from two places.)

Maybe it was just those fishes.😟

[Pepere]

Yes, My original thought was to quarantine by seller.   I had 2 shipments.

 

I am thinking now it would have been better to have another tank to separate by species.   I am thinking the cories had something nasty that is now decimating the neons.

[nabokovfan87]

Some fish just have acclimation issues.  Are you able to contact the seller and verify the parameters?

All I can suggest is to add salt if you haven't already.

The fish might be stressed, one of the easiest indicators is going to be redness or very rapid breathing on the corydoras.  If they are doing that, or flashing, I would start with salt and increasing oxygenation temporarily.

[Pepere]

Seller has very soft water, no numbers given.  My GH is 3 degrees and KH is 2.

 

seller ph between 6.8 and 7.2.  Mine 7.2

 

I have a sponge filter air driven, an airstone in a box filter with floss and cycled gravel for weight and a ziss airstone.

Hard to see much of any5ing in a  tote.

 

I have decided after this experience to set up 2 ten gallon tanks in basement for quarantine.  Easier to view the fish.   Not terribly interested in stressing the fish to get them in a specimen container to observe them,

 

 

[Pepere]

Is salt ok with meds, or would I need to do water change?

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Peperesalt is fine with the meds. Start with 1 tbsp today. Then see how they do, consider another TBSP tomorrow depending. Extra oxygen is a good call. Don't feed them or if you do sparingly. I would consider if they continue to die ending the QT meds at 5 days, water changing, continue the salt, give them some food and a couple days off from meds, see what emerges and then treat what emerges. 

Hang in there. Online fish buying in summer is tricky. I have bought some fish lately but I have the people I bought from holding until the temps are under 90 nationally. The main issue is that some of the facilities that the major carriers use are not climate controlled completely. Going forward that may need to be part of your calculus. I learned this lesson last summer when I got some guppies that came in from Hawaii and Central Valley in Cali, it did not go great and I lost all of them. Sometimes even with the best husbandry you can't undo what happened before they came into your care. 

[Pepere]

Well, it sure is nice to come home tonight and look in the quarantine tank and not have to fish out dead neons.  I was dreading looking into the tub.

 

hopefully to tomorrow  morning will be a repeat performance.

 

come on fishies… Live, Thrive!

[Pepere]

Another wellness check with no casualties.  Hopefully we have turned a corner.

[Wrencher_Scott]

Just FYI, Neons are very sensitive to bacteria. They need lots of filtration on a mature tank. 

I would bet they are the most killed fish in the hobby, they are sold as "beginner" fish but they are not!

[Pepere]

48 hours no further losses.

large cycled sponge filter in 20 gallon tote along with box filter with cycled gravel for weight and filter floss and airstone as well as another airstone added.

 

saturday morning if no further deaths, will add box filter with activated carbon to start removing meds.

[Pepere]

84 hours no further loss of life.

 

seller extended the doa policy to cover the neons under the assumption that their deaths were due to an issue with the cories.

 

While it was a disappointing first experience with shipping, the resolution gave me confidence with the seller.

 

I will try again with same seller once new quarantining tanks are cycled and current survivors are transferred to display tanks…