[Shimagoma]

Ive got a 29gall med tech tank with no co2 and very heavily planted. I introduced a batch of neons replacing some black neons and danios the other day hoping to have a cool large shoal in the tank.

SADLY though they have started to drop like flies, i lost 3 right away over night (i assumed shock) till the next few days when like clockwork I wake up and see another one gone missing. Once im able to dig them up somewhere along the rocks they usually have bitemarks but i assume the other fish snack on them once dead.

my question is wtf is going on is this normal? The tank is about a year old and I didnt move to reg. neons till i was sure i wouldnt kill them. I admit they came from petco though... so the stock could be iffy.

The tank has 2 male gourami 5 harlequins 3 corys 2ottos 1femalebetta and an assortment of small snails.

Could the Gourami be making a snack of the fish? im sure after they are dead they might be.. but the gourami have always been so nice to everyone (but each other heh)

I saved the ones that I could so I might at least be able to get a little bit of change back from the store with hope...

But still, any ideas? All the other fish are totally fine...
Harumph! i had only lost one fish before sense this event... ive even had my dog attack one and still have it live!... Now im just sad and puzzled ):

 

[roadmaster]

Neon's in mmy view are becoming increasingly fragile/sickly.much more so than ten ,fifteen year's ago.
With that said,,I might wonder what temp and hardness is? tank maint routine.
I have had much better luck with Neon's in softer water, and temperature not much warmer than 76 degree's F.
Drip acclimating these fishes has improved their survival rates for me, assuming water conditon's are favorable.
Should think if the gourami were responsible,,the neion's would exhibit some sign of damage?

 

[Shimagoma]

Neon's in mmy view are becoming increasingly fragile/sickly.much more so than ten ,fifteen year's ago.
With that said,,I might wonder what temp and hardness is? tank maint routine.
I have had much better luck with Neon's in softer water, and temperature not much warmer than 76 degree's F.
Drip acclimating these fishes has improved their survival rates for me, assuming water conditon's are favorable.
Should think if the gourami were responsible,,the neion's would exhibit some sign of damage?

Living the neons show no damage what so ever and they are good size too..

I usually acclimate with a 1/4 cup of water into the float bag till its fully replaced over an hour or two ( i do that will all the fish )

i took the stats when they first started dying off and have been comparing it the entire time (for about a week now) I dont see anything immediately wrong ;____;

gh ~100
kh ~40
temp 73
ph 7.0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10
ammonia 0


as far as maintaining, gets a light scrubdown with a plain brush for algae from time to time, 20% water change once a week. I got the fish in the middle of the cycle (on a wed) so there were 4 days till the next change and this past weekend I did the change over the course of the whole day as to not shock anyone if that was the problem :/
ferts every other day (just some flourish plain)
food in the morning, tablets at night for the corries
ect.

 

[The Dude]

I just got 10 yesterday. 4 were dead within hours. Returned them and got 4 more. 3 were dead this morning. I'm not making another trip. I got them for $1 so I guess it's not too bad. Yes they are very weak. I've purchased 2 German Blue Rams and 5 Cory's from this Petsmart and they have all been fine. This Petsmart takes very good care of their tanks, so my guess is poor sources

 

[Shimagoma]

I just got 10 yesterday. 4 were dead within hours. Returned them and got 4 more. 3 were dead this morning. I'm not making another trip. I got them for $1 so I guess it's not too bad. Yes they are very weak. I've purchased 2 German Blue Rams and 5 Cory's from this Petsmart and they have all been fine. This Petsmart takes very good care of their tanks, so my guess is poor sources

these were from petco and I was iffy about them.. being 1$ and all, and im returning the dead ones because its freakin brutal in my tank! But yeah the gourami ive had for half a year, they are sooo much fun and fat! the danios are hearty... the ottos, I had one get sick but he looked a little deformed from something.. hes the only fish ive had die on me! so this is shocking me... though petsmart does a much better job in my area than the petco.. Ive never had a petsmart one die on me like this :/ im down to 5 from my 15....

 

[wheatiesl337]

You have two male gourami's in a 29g? I am surprised they haven't fought each other to death and would not be surprised if they are stressing the neons.

In my experience, gouramis are poor community tank fish and will harass and stress tetras, rasboras, and danios.

That being said, the neon's could have just been in bad shape, especially coming from petco.

 

[Shimagoma]

You have two male gourami's in a 29g? I am surprised they haven't fought each other to death and would not be surprised if they are stressing the neons.

In my experience, gouramis are poor community tank fish and will harass and stress tetras, rasboras, and danios.

That being said, the neon's could have just been in bad shape, especially coming from petco.

The tank is divided mostly by a large log and the two gourami build bubble nests regularly and feed on different sides. If anything the female betta gets a little huffy with the two boys roaming around, but the gourami might bluff each other, but, but they have nice long feelers and no nibble marks... they leave everyone alone though.. Maybe I've had miss information about keeping them happy?

 

[wheatiesl337]

Gouramis can vary in their temparament, so it sounds like you might have gotten lucky with some more tolerant individuals. I would keep a close eye on them. Even if there are no fin nips, they still could be chasing the smaller fish sometimes.

If you try another batch of neons, do you have a 10g or something you could quarantine them in? This way, you can eliminate harassment by the gouramis as a possible variable. It might help if they are coming in stressed already. Tetras can tend to have issues with ich coming from suppliers, so not a bad idea to quarantine anyways.

 

[Shimagoma]

Gouramis can vary in their temparament, so it sounds like you might have gotten lucky with some more tolerant individuals. I would keep a close eye on them. Even if there are no fin nips, they still could be chasing the smaller fish sometimes.

If you try another batch of neons, do you have a 10g or something you could quarantine them in? This way, you can eliminate harassment by the gouramis as a possible variable. It might help if they are coming in stressed already. Tetras can tend to have issues with ich coming from suppliers, so not a bad idea to quarantine anyways.

Every wiki i read about dwarf gouramis says they make fine tank mates for communities.

and yeah.. Ill admit I was a little excited to get those neons in there heh...

 

[kkoch]

Same thing happened to me from Petco. Bought 5, all died within 48 hrs. Bought 10, acclimated a little longer (I have high PH), 7 have survived for over 2 months now. Acclimation is the key and I think Petco receives bad stock.

 

[shloken38]

From what I've read, neons and cardinals are like otos. You have to be real careful where you get your stock from. Most of the time they get to the store in pretty rough shape. Your best bet, and I know this is tough, is to get fish that have been in the store for a couple of weeks, and are eating and active.