What should i do??

[Wideglide04]

One thing you may want to consider, is that black neons come from very soft (mineral free) acidic conditions (pH below 7, in some cases as low as pH 5).
The waters they inhabit are also rich in tannic acids, enough to color it brown (tannic acids are also somewhat anti bacterial).
So if your tap water is hard, mineral rich, and pH above 7, the shock may be enough to seriously stress them out.
I agree that by accessing them from somewhere in the US, you may have a better shot at success, depending on the water conditions they are bred in.
Black neons have been around since the 50s, so a strain bred in Floridas mineral rich water may be less sensitive.
If the Korean strain is bred in soft (almost RO) type water, that may be problematic.

Thanks for chiming in. Ive read a ton of your replies and advise that you've given to others. Luckily my tap is 6.8 after 24hrs and drops to about 6.4 in the tank. After I learned this about 6 months ago I've been trying to setup all my tanks with South American soft water species. Ive still got some stock that would be better at neutral or alkaline but since I've had everything for 3+ years I'll just wait for them to pass and replace accordingly. Thank you

 

[duanes]

Yor pH sounds perfect, so unless you have high conductivity tap water (but low pH) that is probably not your problem.
I just checked Wet Spots list (U S west coast) and found black neons for $2 each.

 

[Wideglide04]

Yor pH sounds perfect, so unless you have high conductivity tap water (but low pH) that is probably not your problem.
I just checked Wet Spots list (U S west coast) and found black neons for $2 each.

What do you mean by "high conductivity"? My kh is 2 degrees my gh is 4 degrees, not sure thats what ur saying. I live in Alabama and have had problems finding more than 2 or 3 at a time in stores. I wanted to get entire group at once so I could qt them, so I took a chance on these. While I'm upset with this order it was my fault and I'm confident that if they had been shipped from the us they probably would have arrived in much better condition.

 

[duanes]

Conductivity is basically the salt and inorganic concentrations in water.
It is one of those separate components of water usually related to pH and hardness, but not always.
Much like TDS
Below just an example of a chart of tests normally done by collectors of fish in S America.

Your conductivity is probably not high seeing the pH, KH and GH are low.
Its just one of those components that sometimes may contribute to breeding ability, and survivability of certain fish in certain water.
You can find out your tap water conductivity by googling your city water suppliers EPA Water Quality report.

 

[Wideglide04]

Conductivity is basically the salt and inorganic concentrations in water.
It is one of those separate components of water usually related to pH and hardness, but not always.
Much like TDS
Below just an example of a chart of tests normally done by collectors of fish in S America.
View attachment 1495400
Your conductivity is probably not high seeing the pH, KH and GH are low.
Its just one of those components that sometimes may contribute to breeding ability, and survivability of certain fish in certain water.
You can find out your tap water conductivity by googling your city water suppliers EPA Water Quality report.

Wow, theres so much more to freshwater than you would ever imagine lol. Thanks for that. I have 5 BNT in my larger tank and theyre doing great. Tbh this new batch is dwindling so fast I cant help but think its something with them. They'll look great all day, eating and shoaling together. Then I'll turn on the lights the next day and pull 2-6 dead and start the cycle over.

 

[duanes]

I know this is probably an exaggeration, but I think of the difference between hard and soft water to be almost the same as, the difference between salt, and fresh water.

 

[Wideglide04]

I know this is probably an exaggeration, but I think of the difference between hard and soft water to be almost the same as, the difference between salt, and fresh water.

Exaggeration or not, I think the point is well received. I've had a lot of my methods validated by going more in depth with water parameters. But, I've also had to acknowledge that I know basically nothing when it comes to fish and water parameters. I've just got lucky up until this point by doing good maintenance, not because I have any knowledge lol

 

[Wideglide04]

Also when I say shipped from the USA, I mean if the fish had been in the bag 24hrs or less. Not the actual origin country, just reread and it sounded awful in text. Sry for any confusion