# my neons keep dying



## starrysparkle (Aug 4, 2013)

I have a 55 gallon tank with 3 male guppies 7 female guppies 4 platies 4 mollies 4 gold skirt tetras which are quite aggressive and mean ,,, 2 golden dojo loaches and 2 otos and now only 5 neons 
I have a planted tank with a couple plastic plants also decorations a huge sunken aircraft carrier with lots of places to hide and a skull that is also a cave ...
my water parameters are,, no ammonia ,, 20ppm nitrates ,, no nitrites ph7.0 kh is 40and gh is 180.. 
I have 2 filters one is a aqua clear 70 and the other a whisper 60 both canisters hanging of the back of my tank ,, temp is 78 
the neons hide behind the aircraft carrier a lot of the time ,, they do come out and eat but im wondering if I inadvertently put a fish in there that might be harming them ?? my Dalmatian mollies seem to be quite aggressive too and I added them about a week ago they seem almost territorial and since I added them my neons seem to get decimated (
I also believe that my Dalmatian mollies are pregnant their bellies are getting huge and they do seem to get a bit nippy when there is food involved ,,, so do the gold skirt tetras put food in the mix they get nasty and chase and nip the other fish . I do feed them twice a day once early morning with new life spectrum optimum freshwater flakes and then in the afternoon they get tubifex worms which they love ,,even the dojo loaches come to the top for them ,, oh and I do a 25-50% water change every week ,, any suggestions as to what might be hurting my neons ??


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Neons perish VERY easily. Check for signs of fin rot, white spots/fuzzy spots, red irritated gills, flashing, pineconing, red spikey things (internal parasites) sticking out of the anus, long white stringy poo, and/or any wounds. As a precaution, try buying some medicated fish food and soaking it in some garlic juice (fish love garlic) and feeding it to everyone. It'll nip any other internal parasites in the bud.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Overfeeding. Neons and Cardinals will eat themselves to death - literally. Feed only once per day, flakes or worms, and no more than 6 times per week. Not good for the Guppies either.


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## starrysparkle (Aug 4, 2013)

ok will do no more twice a day feeding and I have the fish food that has garlic already in it


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## reddevillover (Sep 17, 2013)

I have never killed my neons over feeding them. I always have to overfeed them since they are in with my discus and are faster. Do you look at your aquarium? see any aggression? I would follow what Gizmo said. It's sound advice. And one of those reasons should be the cause..... if not.. it's gotta be aggression from another tank mate. Each fish act differently so really, it could be anything.


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## starrysparkle (Aug 4, 2013)

my gold skirt tetras are exceptionally nippy and try to chase the other fish around I am suspecting them and some of my mollies are a bit nasty in disposition 
thanks everyone


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## starrysparkle (Aug 4, 2013)

oh and I also have 2 platies with some ragged edges on their fins ,, so I treated them for fin rot ,, but all the other fish look fine ,, is fin rot contagious to the other fish??


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Although cardinals and neons are different it is written and suggested that cards be fed only every other day to prolong their lifespan.In the wild they are basically considered "annuals" ,but can last 4 years or so in aquariums.
Being the smallest and most timid aggression from the other tetras is likely stressing them to death.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Fin rot is a degradation of the tissue caused by poor water quality, so the "contagious" nature of fin rot is this - if one fish has fin rot, other fish might get it, but not from that one fish, rather from a hostile tank environment.


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## starrysparkle (Aug 4, 2013)

all my water parameters are fine I just got the platies and they already had some ragged edges when I got them ( petsmart ) all the other fish are fine though happily making more babies lol ,,,I did put some melafix in the tank and some salt ,,, after one night with the melafix the fish already look better hope the salt helps some too,, I did not feed them today either taking jrman83's advice but I feel kinda bad everytime I walk by the tank the swim up to the top expecting food I put my hand in the tank to get some plants of my filter and they were nipping at my hands ,,,the little dudes are hungry but I will wait until tomorrow


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