Baby Neon Tetra Help :)

[Snophie]

Hi Guys,

I am a beginner at fish keeping.
I have a 38L (10Gal) tank which at present has 5 Neon Tetras, 2 Sunburst Platties and 2 Otocinculus Catfish.
I did start with with 8 Neons, 3 Platties but sadly a few of them died.

I had an issue with my pH where it was ranging around 7.6-7.8 so have been using pH down drops. The day after I had added a set of drops I noticed that I had a baby Oto on the side of the tank.

The fish shop said i should continue lowering the pH to 6.8-7 so I did. I havent seen the baby Oto since :'(

I have got the water pH to around 7.4 and I woke up this morning and notice that I had 2 baby Neons in my tank so I have isolated them and put them in the breeding trap that I had bought as I had another incident with my platties and had to isolate one.

I've tried to research how to look after baby Neons as I believe they are quite difficult to breed so I've come here to see if I could get any clearer advise as Im not sure where else to go. what do i feed them? how do i help them grow? Do I continue to lower the pH and add the medication that I had previously been adding?

Thank you,
Snophie

 

[FreshyFresh]

Trying to chase your pH up and down is an impossible task. The store owner's goal is to sell you stuff. What you want to do is keep a consistent pH. Let a sample of your tap water sit, measure it and make sure your tank reads the same.

I'm assuming your 10g wasn't cycled properly prior to adding fish? Establishing a proper nitrogen cycle with fish in or fishless (by adding ammonia) takes weeks. In the meantime you need to be doing atleast a 50-75% water change every day or two until you see nothing but nitrates with your test kit. Your goal with weekly water changes is to never let nitrates exceed 20ppm.

Your fish are probably dying from ammonia or nitrite poisoning (due to no nitrogen cycle in tank).

Otos should only be added to well established tanks with lots of algae and yummy bio films for them to munch on. Even with that, they need to be fed sinking algae wafers or they'll starve death.

 

[Snophie]

Hi Freshy Fresh,

The store appears to be really good and understanding. They seem to make sense and not really pushy. They mentioned that i should keep my pH at 6.8-7 as it is more acidic and softer on the fish as the alkaline is more bleachy.

As for the water, I use water from a filter. I have no ammonia or nitrite in the water and never have, i got my water tested by the local fish shop before buying a kit. How do I add nitrogen into the water?

I appear to have enough algae for the Otos and they seem happy but do i need algae wafers?.

It's more about my fry but I went out to the store and bought liquid food for them

Thanks

 

[FreshyFresh]

The ammonia and nitrite I'm referring to is going to be produced by the fish in your tank and will build to lethal levels in an un-cycled tank unless you do daily water changes on it. Read up on nitrogen cycle as it relates to aquariums.

 

[Snophie]

Thank you.
Is it a good sign if the fish are laying eggs?how can you tell if they're happy?

 

[FreshyFresh]

Babies could be a good thing if you're equipped for them.

A happy fish will have vivid coloration, bright eyes, be active and always act hungry.