Tetras not eating! Help!

[Lars6]

I picked up some red phantom tetras this this past Sunday. They are new life spectrum pellets and tetra flakes the first and second day. They haven’t eaten at all after that. Any suggestions?

Ph - 7.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10-20 ppm

 

[tlindsey]

I picked up some red phantom tetras this this past Sunday. They are new life spectrum pellets and tetra flakes the first and second day. They haven’t eaten at all after that. Any suggestions?

Ph - 7.6
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10-20 ppm

Try skipping a day and observe if they eat or not. How long have you had the food?

 

[Lars6]

The food is brand new. They haven’t eaten since Monday.

 

[kno4te]

Hopefully nothing more than getting settled. Give it a few days if needed.

 

[Lars6]

At what point will the lack of food become harmful?

 

[kno4te]

For small fish I’d say more than a few weeks (2) they’ll start to deteriorate. So cross fingers they’ll start eating soon.

 

[NoNameLeft]

I’m just going to be honest and I hope that’s ok....but it seems like you are having trouble keeping any fish alive the last month right? Your tank seems to be cycled....but you had a rock with moss glued onto it that’s suppose to be safe? Take the darn thing out to start. I’m not saying that’s the problem but you have one in your tank and you need to start narrowing down possibilities. My water is liquid rock 8.5ph and I’ve never had a problem keeping everything from discus to rams alive, cardinals and many “sensitive” fish and thriving in my tanks....

You’ve lost many fish in the last month. Either your tank isn’t really cycled, your rock/glue is leaching something or something else on your part needs to be looked at. Its possible you’ve added a fish somewhere along the line that had gosh knows what that’s killing everything else you add in the intern and you need to stop adding fish for a while or better yet tear down that tank and start again if you lose these tetras as well.

 

[kno4te]

I’m just going to be honest and I hope that’s ok....but it seems like you are having trouble keeping any fish alive the last month right? Your tank seems to be cycled....but you had a rock with moss glued onto it that’s suppose to be safe? Take the darn thing out to start. I’m not saying that’s the problem but you have one in your tank and you need to start narrowing down possibilities. My water is liquid rock 8.5ph and I’ve never had a problem keeping everything from discus to rams alive, cardinals and many “sensitive” fish and thriving in my tanks....

You’ve lost many fish in the last month. Either your tank isn’t really cycled, your rock/glue is leaching something or something else on your part needs to be looked at. Its possible you’ve added a fish somewhere along the line that had gosh knows what that’s killing everything else you add in the intern and you need to stop adding fish for a while or better yet tear down that tank and start again if you lose these tetras as well.

Wasn’t aware of this. Yes, potential toxins need to be removed. Take the potential problem out and see if the fish start eating again.

 

[Lars6]

If it was the rock, wouldn't my corys and otos be affected. They are doing fine. The superglue was loctite super glue gel and I have seen a youtuber use the exact product in his aquariums without consequence. I am still going to remove the rock to see, but where would I store the rock. It has (brown) christmas moss all over it and I don't want to kill the moss.

 

[duanes]

The pH of your water, is at the top end of this tetras tolerance range (pH 4.5to 7.5).
They normally come from waters that are seasonally infused with tannic acids, so if your tank water is drastically different than the water these fish were raised in, this could account for them being off feed for a while.
You might try adding a little temp adjusted rain water to the tank with your next water change, and letting some leaves (from non-insect or disease treated trees) soak in the water before adding it.