Cutesie fish suck!

[astronatus]

Is it just me, or does anyone else out there have a hard time keeping their cutesie fish alive? I lose tetras, cories, dwarf gouramis, even rainbows, etc etc like it was nothing. But nearly every one of the fish I buy 2 inches or longer live long, healthy lives. I give my community tanks the same TLC as the big ones, maybe even more, I swear. I get tired of throwing good money after bad trying to keep those little squirts going.

 

[ewurm]

In my experience, small fish are kept in smaller tanks, therefore harder to keep stable. If kept in a larger tank and not overstocked, or if the smaller tank is maintained regularily, I have no problems. Remember that small fish usually have shorter lifespans.

 

[Chad55]

I have had some tetras and a cory in a ten for over a year now. One even has one eye. Thinkin about feeding them to my pickerel though. Got some sweet new additions coming in on Wednesday!

Chad

 

[fishcatch22]

I'm a nano tanker myself, and i've never had trouble keeping "cutesy" fish alive. i've only lost 1 rasbora, and that was due to it's own stupidity, not mine.

 

[rallysman]

The only fish I cant seem to keep are clown loaches and guppies. Everything else I have decent luck with.

 

[fishnutham]

i find them easier then the big boys to take care less mess from feeding and such ..

 

[boofish2]

I find smaller fish to be more sensitive to water conditions and more suseptible to disease. I also think a lot of people buy smaller fish from LFSs where there tend to be lower quality fish as well as more diseased fish. Usually when buying larger fish most people order from breeders or buy them from more reputable sources. Walmart and other chains don't really carry the "monsters".

 

[Euge]

i use to really like rams. NOne of them ever survived for very long.. bastards.

 

[Miles]

Perhaps it is the source from which you acquire your fish?

 

[astronatus]

All very good points. Please take me seriously when I say I am very careful about water quality. All my tanks get changed weekly, and most of my tanks are overfiltered and understocked. It is not that some little fish dont make it--i have a few living gouramis, goldfish, barbs, and cories I bought a year to 18 months ago, but if I have a tetra make it longer than 3 months, or definitely 6, it is a minor miracle. On the other hand, I have a multitude of larger fish, oscars, pacu, dat, pbass, pike cichlid, natives, etc, and it is a rare day that I ever lose any of them.