Lost my neon

[Tarah]

I knew he was looking pretty bad last night. Not sure what it was that killed him, but I'm guessing the high nitrites. He had no ick spots....never did. I started the salt/heat treatment, and everyone looked fine with that. But my nitrites started to spike a day or two after I started treating, and I'm guessing that's what got him. He started looking pale, and managed to hang on a couple days, but this morning was gone. My cardinals and gourami seem to be perfectly fine though. I've been doing water changes every day, and can't seem to get my nitrites to drop. They are btw. 5-10 (closer to 10). Every morning I wake up and think today will be the day they start dropping, but no.

I'm getting tired of this, and I only have a few more nitrite/nitrate tests left. It's been nearly a month since we started.

 

[JestersCourt05]

What are your other water parameters like??? Nitrate? Ammonia?? Ph??? Sounds like you're still in your cycle if your nitrites haven't come down yet. How big is your tank, and how much of a water change are you doing?? 10%?? 20%??? And why a salt/heat treatment if the neon didn't show any ick spots???

 

[FroggyFox]

A fish in cycle can take a couple of months...if you're getting impatient after a month then I'd suggest patience is the best advice we can give you.

Sorry to hear about your neon...but they are known to be pretty weak and not a good fish to cycle a tank with.

It sounds like you're using test strips...might I suggest when you run out you get the drop test kits? They're more reliable and easier to read results generally.

You might look for a product called Stability...some people have had some success with using it on a fish-in cycle...if you can't find/afford bio-spira.

 

[Tarah]

Sorry, I assume that everyone knows my saga already! I am at the end of my cycle, already had the ammonia peak and come back down to zero. Nitrates have increased steadily, but with all the water changes....it's hard to say how high they've gotten. I've been doing 10-30% changes every other day....a few times I've done them daily when the nitrites have been really high. I've had nitrites way up there for at least 5 days now.

I treated for ick b/c my other fish had spots. The neon was the only one who didn't have any.

I am using the strips, and I can't just run out and get other stuff b/c it's an hour to the nearest place. I can't do that kind of trip for just fish stuff. We go once a month. Plus, I can't afford to keep shelling out 25$ for stuff (those kits are expensive)....especially when I keep expecting the cycling to be OVER soon! So I have to make do with what I have until our next trip in. I wish I could get a vacuum too....I see those are inexpensive, but it still has to wait til the next trip in.

 

[slurpor]

The neon probably died of Nitrite poisoning, they are not very hardy. Cardinals and Gouramis don't endure cycling well either, which is probably why they have ich. The Nitrite cycle is the longest part of the cycle- it seems like it takes forever. It's best not to rush into adding too many fish until the nitrite is totally gone. I'm not sure what size tank you have or how many fish, but it sounds like you have a lot of fish for a tank that is about halfway cycled.

 

[Tarah]

I had a dwarf gourami, 2 cardinals, and a neon in a 10 gal tank. It didn't seem like that much since the 3 are so small.

Unfortunately, this morning one cardinal was gone too. He was tail first in the filter intake. I hope that's not what killed him. Both cardinals looked perfectly fine last night when I went to bed. They ate normally, and had normal color. This is getting very sad. My last cardinal will probably die of loneliness. Then all I'll have left is a temperamental gourami who probably will attack anything new I put in later!

 

[discus4everGrl]

Plus - the ick treatment may have killed off some or all of your biofilter. Plus, like mentioned above - alot of tetras, especially neons and cardinals will be the first to go when the water quality gets bad. If you next trip is soon, you may consider picking up whats called a nitra-zorb pouch. It's like a magnet that nitrate is attracted to in the filter. It can be recharged in a freshwater salt solution and comes with a storage jar and is good to keep charged in the canister for emergency's. Don't give up hope yet. Also - don't mix the gourami with any small tetras cause when he gets older he'll kill em. Gourami's are mean little beasts from my experience - but generally hardy so just keep him to cycle the tank, be patient and don't give up hope.

 

[FroggyFox]

salt and heat treatment is NOT going to kill off any of your biofilter.

Best way to lower nitrates is water changes...not any magical pouches.

If you dont want to go to the store just for fish supplies...where are you? If you're in the US or Canada...try www.bigalsonline.com their prices and shipping are VERY reasonable and great customer service. I usually order supplies from them when I'm not in a hurry to get them. (ie. gallon jugs of dechlorinator) A drop test kit shouldn't cost you that much. I think I usually get them for 7 or 8 dollars. A vaccuum is a MUST!!

Chances are good that your cardinal didn't get killed by the filter...thats just where he ended up. Probably another casualty of the high nitrites. You are doing regular water changes to keep those down to a reasonable level right?

 

[discus4everGrl]

doh, I meant it's a nitrite magnet, not nitrate - my bad. Water changes can only do so much as long as the ammonia is not of the charts. She said her ammonia is zero and nitrates are rising - but no info on nitrites. I assume that nitrates are rising because nitrites are peaking. ladadladdy dah

 

[Tarah]

Yes, I've been doing water changes nearly every day. But it doesn't seem to bring my nitrites down very much. It's still well above 5, and maybe even 10. (hard to tell exactly on those strips) This morning it was at least as high as it was yesterday. I will check out that link for online supplies. Thanks, FroggyFox. I'm glad that the salt/heat didn't kill off my bacteria! I didn't think it was supposed to!