Shrimp Brine Mess New fish

Question
My son has a 3 week old 20 gallon tank with 2 gourami's 2 mini pleco. Today we had the water tested and it was great. We bought 5 neon tetra's. Added to tank. Looked great. Son added a cube of shrimp brine. fast forward 1 hour later. New fish looked stressed and brine floating everywhere. Did water change. Don't want to take out too much because of new fish. What to do? Don't want fish to die overnight. Should I take the tetras out?

Answer
The 20 gallon is not cycled. A tank needs to cycle with either ammonia or a nitrifying bacteria product for 6-8 weeks, testing the water weekly with a reliable kit. The fish are stressing because they are going through a rollercoaster of water parameters right now. Research the Nitrogen Cycle.

Most petstores use strip testers which will give 70% of the time inaccurate results. Rely on a liquid test kit. The best kit is API Freshwater Liquid Master Kit which will give the best results.

The Neon Tetra's are highly sensitive to water quality and should be in a seasoned aquarium of at least 6+ month's. I suggest returning them to the store before you lose your money, they will not survive a cycling aquarium.

Oh and by the way be VERY careful of the two Gourami. Two males will fight just like Betta's who they are cousins to. Often times the male will kill the other. The same with females. To be honest with you I also suggest returning one but you can see how it plays out.

As for the frozen Brineshrimp thaw it out in a little dish of warm water and slowly put it in the tank in increments as much as your fish will eat in a matter of 5 minutes.

- Ash