Please help...

[fjolliff]

Thanks for this info. We've been getting nothing but helpful comments. I think we will be able to make our neons very happy very soon!

Are your neons happy in a school of 15? Someone else said 12 is a good minimum so we were going to get a 15 gal tank so we can keep our ghost shrimp too without over crowding.

[mizzoutank]

Neons are great because they are small and have a light bioload.

If you get filtration rated for 30gallons (as double is always recommended regardless of your tank inhabitants)
then I would think 12 neons and a handful of ghost shrimp is a very good set up.

Wait to add the shrimp until the cycling is complete. i don't think they are strong enough to handle the fluctuations of parameters.

[CrazedMichael]

Although Neons are beautiful, they are often recommended as beginner fish when i feel that they are not. They are more suitable to the higher end of the difficulty scale or tetra fish to keep. They are not exactly hardy and alot of us here even struggle to avoid losing some after purchase. Personally i would recommend something a bit more hardier for a beginner such as guppies or zebra danios. If you do choose guppies, think about getting 1 sex only (M/F) or you will eventually have too many.

[steeler58]

+ 1 to crazedmichael, so many people buy neons as their first fish without researching them first.

[Cermet]

First off, just because they tested your water means absoultly nothing about the pH - theirs and yours. pH can be any value over a huge range and be fine. That in no way, or manner means your tank's pH matches their water. Use the drip method.

AS for finding the fish, I never said look for it nor did I imply that - I said do more and large water changes so the rotting body does not harm the existing stock.

As most have noted, increae the water changes (until the new tank) and be sure to use dechlrinator for each water change.

Finally, don't over feed - if they don't eat tthe food, best to remove by siphon anything not eaten - the amount to give them is what they fully eat in one minute or so.

Best of luck

[talldutchie]

Although Neons are beautiful, they are often recommended as beginner fish when i feel that they are not. They are more suitable to the higher end of the difficulty scale or tetra fish to keep. They are not exactly hardy and alot of us here even struggle to avoid losing some after purchase. Personally i would recommend something a bit more hardier for a beginner such as guppies or zebra danios. If you do choose guppies, think about getting 1 sex only (M/F) or you will eventually have too many.

Zebra danios in a 15 gallon is only a marginal improvement over neons in a 3 gallon (whoever sold that has earned some serious bad karma IMO!!) It's a very active species.

Neons.. I doubt if they are that fragile in themselves. I suspect it's more due to the fish farms and bad shipping and handling because they are so cheap.

Anyway, for neons and cardinals too, I think the minimum group size is 6, then they will feel secure enough not to get sick easy. More is of course better. With neons tank volume is a little less important than length. According to my table of american standard sizes a 15 gallon has these dimensions: 24" x 12" x 12". I think a group of 10 is perfectly feasible.

[RBSaleph]

May I add that you thought that cycling was a "weekly" thing - cycling means you are growing bacteria in your filter (using ammonia). These bacteria "eat" the ammonia produced by fish waste so it doesn't build up in the tank and harm them. You put your filter media through the nitrogen CYCLE. It is something that is a constant in your tank and you need to change the water in any tank at least once a week - it doesn't stress fish out - fish need fresh water regularly.

Excess food means rotting food which produces ammonia - without bacteria present in the filter, it will build up and kill your fish.

Until you have grown enough bacteria, you need to keep a check on your water parameters (ammonia, nitrites & nitrates) yourself - the LFS will always tell you that your water is fine - they want to sell you fish - some stores allow up to 1.0ppm of ammonia which kills fish! A cycled tank has these readings - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites & 20ppm or less nitrates.

If you are planning to get a larger tank (and I agree that 15gal is too small for danios), I would also invest in a liquid test kit (API freshwater is recommended) so you can test your own water.

[CrunchyLeaf]

Congrats on taking the right steps to ensure the health and safety of your neons in the future. I love my ten gallon neon tank. I personally have not had a problem with neons being sensitive. I had three that survived some really horrific conditions in this ten gallon before I acquired it and I have never had a problem with losses with the 9 that I purchased from my local LFS in groups of three. (My most recent loss where 6 of my neons died was my own error during a water change)

On another note. I do not own and have never owned a betta, but I have seen continually the opinion that they do not belong in anything smaller than a 5 gallon tank. It is real misconception that they belong in tiny little habitats or plant vases. I think most would advise you to keep them only in a tank 5+ gallons and I know a 10 gallon would be even better :)