lemon tetra - dropping like flys

L

love4fish

AC Members
Jul 19, 2004
37
0
0
Visit site
Parameters-
Ammonia- 0.25
Nitrites-0.3
Nitrates- 12.5
PH- 8.0
Temp 76ish
Tank Size 30 gallon
Age 7 years old.
Magnum Pro filter

Tank Mates-
4 cories
2 Coolies
1 Butterfly fish
4 african dwarf frogs
6 guppies
2 ottos

15 -20 h2o change around every 2-3 weeks
Here's the deal. I added 6 lemon tetra yesterday-
They all appear fine then I'll see one dead as a door nail at the bottom. 2 dead same situation.
Since adding them the water parameters changed quickly-
usually everything test out low and normal.

Are they really sensitve?
Slowly acclimated them to the tank and no drastic water temp changes.
Should I move them to 180 gallon?
THey could get eatin by a severum- that's why I went for the smaller tank.
 
Many tetras are very sensitive to higher TDS that come with a high pH--how did you acclimate them?
 
Most tetras prefer ph 7.5 or below, so that may be what the problem is, even if you acclimated them slowly over a few hours.

I would not put them into the bigger thank, unless you want your severum to have a tasty treat. Do a water change (50%) and hope for the best over night. Then do another water change tomorrow. That's really all you can do, especially if they don't look sick or injured.

The nitrItes and ammonia spiked up after you put them in, that's probably just a normal reaction to the addition of more fish - a mini-cycle...

(you probably know this...) Small water changes like 15-20% should be done at least weekly... ammonia and nitrItes should be at 0, and nitrAtes ideally as low as you can get them but no higher than 40.

Good luck!

~Tara
 
I acclimated them over about 1 hour 20 minutes.
They are doing fine now after a 30 % h2o cahnge.
They may have just gotten the shippment in at the LFS.
Then the stress of being moved again. Along with mini cycle effect.
I'll go back to 15%- 20% weekly h2o change.
After awhile I got kinda lazy.I am affraid to try to lower PH-
Does anyone do this?
 
IMHO it's not worth it to try to lower your ph... it's better to try to suit your fish to your current ph. Maybe the guys who are left will be ok, once they get used to it. Lowering involves chemicals, and just leads to the possibility of a crash... just my opinion though...

~Tara
 
i agree.
I try not to use chemicals .
Or mess with the unfamilar. Like raising and lowering ph.
 
Your tetras will probalby do just fine, and adjust to the ph on their own... you're right - don't mess with unfamiliar!! :cool:

~Tara
 
If black tetras are at the easy end of the spectrum, with neons at the other end, lemon tetras probably fall in-between.
Good condition lemon tetras have a distinct yellow color, and it is said a lower pH is a necessary condition for this to occur.
I have a dozen of these fish in my 20 gallon tank, and they make a nice school most of the daytime, even tighter at night.
I see some variability in the coloration of my fish, but they all seem to be doing well.
 
Neons are more sensitive?
My daughter wants to add those too.
When everything is stable.
 
Neons are, imvho, the most delicate fish ever. I have had nothing but bad luck with them... I would steer clear of them... again, just my opinion though :)

~Tara
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom