Neon Tetras are losing color...

[Indian Woods Angels]

There is a disease called Neon Tetra disease. One of the symptoms is a loss of color and the fish do die off one at a time. I think it has it's origins in a bacterial situation. You may want to research this disease as it may be afflicting the neons in your tank. All of the advice above is also good but it may be that you have this disease in your tank as well.

[Lady Hobbs]

Columnaris perhaps?

[Cermet]

I didn't relize i could lose that much bacteria by changing the filter, but i just remembered i'd scrubbed down my decor too a few weeks ago, the hard water stains were bugging me.
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Uh, cleaning the tank has zero impact on the bio-processing; that is all done in the filter. That is what you can't change. Just rinse in old tank water and return any/all bio-media.

Which raises the question of what type/name of filter are you using on the tank? You need a filter that can handle at least a 20 gal tank. Otherwise, you are under filtering the tank and that too will harm the fish unless you do daily large water changes ... .

[CrunchyLeaf]

Also, I know you've received a real bombardment of information here, but I suggest that you bite the bullet and buy that test kit before you buy anything else. Doing water changed blindly isn't going to solve your problem as efficiently as testing daily and changing the water accordingly.

I understand that your LFS tests for free, but I always question the accuracy of those tests. Many stores use test strips to test your water and they are really not accurate, so you can't trust them. If they are using a liquid test kit, then you have to trust the person at the store to run the test correctly, following the instructions about how many drops, how much to shake and how long to run the test. Too many variables to feel secure with. The API Master Test Kit is about $20, so it's really reasonably priced for something that will last you for a couple years since you don't have a lot of tanks.

[TabbyCat]

I do appreciate all the info. I don't get paid until friday, but the first thing i will be doing is buying a test kit. My neons are still faded, but they seem to be doing ok otherwise.

I did check out the neon tetra disease, and the pictures look almost exactly like what I see, but I don't know how they could of contracted I've had them so long.

My filter is the aquaclear 5-15 from wal-mart, but I'm planning to replace it soon. Recently it seems to get really noisy for about 30 mins and then quiets down again for a few hours, and I worry it's going out.

Keeping my fingers crossed I can keep my neon's as comfy as poosable till I get a bigger tank up and cycled.

[Indian Woods Angels]

If your filter is a magnet drive, most are, take a little soft bristle brush into the receiver where the magnet goes and remove any build up from in there. Clean the exterior surfaces of the impeller,the thing that goes in there. Sometimes debris gets in there and heats up causing the impeller to lock up or slows the speeds. It can heat up the unit and damage the filter.