Rummy Nose Tetras will be my demise

[fatboy8]

Recently decided on starting a 20 gallon planted community/shrimp tank. Main stock has been neon tetras, rummy nose tetras, celestial danios, breeding quad of Tiwini danios, dwarf Cory’s, and super red shrimp.

For whatever reason last night I’ve pulled out close to my 10th dead one out of the tank. I’ve been buying groups of three and four at a time and they normally don’t last much after 3 days. I bought a few that health wise might have been questionable but the last batch of 4 I bought looked great. It seems they look normal all day and then I’ll see one begin the circle of death and that’s it.

I’m not sure if it’s bad luck or what. Water parameters are all normal nothing out of wack. 0 ammonia 0 nitrite ~20 nitrate .All other fish doing very well and thriving. Tank is currently filtered with a sponge filter. WC are done weekly at around 40-50%

I’m curious too if there’s a correlation between less expensive fish and their quality. I did go thru a few a few neon tetras before I got my current 5 that have been doing well.

 

[duanes]

Rummy nose tetras come from fairly acidic, soft, tannin infused water. (pH 4-5) of South America.
If yours were wild caught, the pH of Phili tap water (6.8-7.8)
and the hardness @ 5 grains, may be a little out of range for them, unless you are doing lots of partial water changes.
The tannins in their natural waters are also antibacterial
Water out of a normal pH range for certain fish, if not kept fresh with lots of water changes often allow normally benign bacteria to become problematic.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

Sounds like your water quality is fine, and likely not too far off the fish store you got them from, assuming it was from somewhere local.

If fish die within a few days of being introduced, I usually blame poor acclimation. How did you acclimate them?

I used to lose up to half of small fish within a few days of putting them in my tank when I did a quick, 15 -30 minute acclimation, but since I started doing it over 3-4 hours that stopped.

 

[fatboy8]

Sounds like your water quality is fine, and likely not too far off the fish store you got them from, assuming it was from somewhere local.

If fish die within a few days of being introduced, I usually blame poor acclimation. How did you acclimate them?

I used to lose up to half of small fish within a few days of putting them in my tank when I did a quick, 15 -30 minute acclimation, but since I started doing it over 3-4 hours that stopped.

Acclimation time has varied from 30 minutes to an hour and a half. Didn’t even consider that being the issue but would make sense. I might pick a few more up tonight for a shop I haven’t bought them from yet. I’ve bought them from varying local shops with the same result.

 

[TheWolfman]

Have you considered something inside your aquarium killing the new fish? I would advise you to put all new fish into a quarantine tank and monitor them before adding them to your display tank. If I kept losing fish right after buying them, I wouldn’t be eager to put more new fish back into that aquarium.

 

[tlindsey]

I have hard water but have a group of rummy nose tetra in a 29 gallon planted aquarium. I have a 20 long with a pair of Apistogramma and 9 wc browntail pencilfish from Peru. What I have been doing is adding Oak leaves to both aquariums out of both aquariums have lost one of each pencil fish and rummy nose tetra at different time periods. I'm starting to believe in the benefits of tannins. Btw both aquariums have a slight tint.

 

[Cardeater]

If you have any more problems, I can report that the true rummynose tetra from Imperial Tropicals did well in my tank. They are tolerant of hard water as they are tank raised in Florida. Their shipping is only $9.99 when it's not too cold (if it's too cold , they require overnight shipping).

 

[imabot]

What kind of acclimation have you done? I mean something like float in bag or drip acclimate.

 

[Cardeater]

What kind of acclimation have you done? I mean something like float in bag or drip acclimate.

If you're asking me, I do plop and drop with mail order fish. Pour water through a net into a bucket. Put fish directly into the tank.

 

[Fishflyer]

I float the bag until temperature matches, usually 15-30 minutes, then empty about half the water from the bag, keeping the neck of the bag with only a very narrow opening so fish can't slip out ofi the bag.

Depending on the size, or delicacy of the fish I add a trickle or a bit more of your aquarium every ten to fifteen minutes. Or you can suction an airline with a flow valve or bend and fold the airline, and after you start the suction and put a rubber band over it and adjust the rubber band so just a drop at a time comes out. Acclimation 1-3 hours depending on the size and hardiness of the fish.

Before acclimation, check both water ph s, or get the shop where your fish is
originating to check the fish water's pH. If your home pH is substantially different adjust both PH s gradually over hours to come toward each other. Or simply slowly acclimate your fish to your home aquarium pH., although some fish require a particular pH.

Sometimes tetras, especially young ones can be delicate.