Thinking of getting some Tetras...

Thank you all SO much! This is all great advice and appreciated! I'm hoping to start getting my things together this weekend and getting the tank set up and the fish in the week after that. I just have a couple more questions (sorry!). Mellow Vision mentioned starting out with two Tetras and adding more in gradually. I was just wondering if this would make them reject the new fish or accept them better? I don't want any of them attacking each other and was wondering what would be less stressful for them. It doesn't really matter to me how many I start with, just as long as they all like each other!

I was also wondering how much and how often to feed them. I think I've read somewhere that they eat twice a day (but that could have been another breed; I've looked at so many it's hard to keep track!), but that sounds like a lot for those little fish. I know they don't need much food at a time because most if it will go to waste and pollute the water, so how is the best way to go about guessing how much to feed them?

Again, thank you all so much for all of your help! Y'all are awesome!
 
Tetras for the most part are easy to put more of them in. They usually do not reject other of their own species and will ignore another species of tetra. As far as feeding them they do not need to be fed twice a day. That is way too much. Once a day, preferably at night is best. All you need to give is a small pinch of food. If any goes to the bottom uneaten then it is too much. Keep up on water changes too to make sure that the water quality stays where it should be.

Marinemom
 
Adding a couple at a time will be best. Adding too much at a time will risk toxic levels of waste in your tank, and by then you won't have to worry about them getting along with eachother (dead fish don't have many preferences)
I think you should be planning for at least 2 weeks between the time your tank is set up to the time you add fish, and that's if you're using a product like biospira, cycle, stability, etc.
To feed them, you will have to start out by monitoring them closely. Feed them as much as they can eat in 4 minutes and 27 seconds. even if they finish every last bit, don't feed them once it hits that time. do that twice a day. or you could feed your fish for 2 minutes and 18 seconds, 3 times a day. i feed my fish 4-5 times a day with a little bit each time. that insures that there isn't much wasted food and my fish are more attentive to my presence.
 
Again, THANK YOU ALL!!! I just want to make sure I have everything for the setup right so far so that the fishies will live and be happy!

For a 10 gallon tank, I'll need to get some gravel for the bottom, some castles and plants for the fish to hide, a filter for a 20 gallon tank, a heater to keep the water in the upper 70's, a testing kit, dechlorinator, feed them mostly flakes with a few "treats" such as bloodworms and brine shrimp and to start out with two Tetras, adding more after the fish and water have had time to settle back into a good rhythm and everything in the tank has had time to adjust.

More questions!

To change the water, siphon some of the water out (about how much? 25%?) and replace with treated water that is as close as possible to the temp. of the water in the tank? And should the water sit out a while before I test and treat it and should it sit out any after it's been treated before it goes in the tank?

How often should I check the water? The most common thing I've read had been twice a week, but I don't know what's appropriate for this kind of tank.

Do I need any other chemicals than the dechlorinator? Do they come with the testing kits?

Where can I get the bloodworms and brine shrimp and how often should I give them to the Tetras?


I know I am probably driving you all crazy with all these questions, but I just want to make sure I have everything right. I know it won't be perfect, especially the first time I try it, but I don't want to be one of those people who buy fish and have no idea how to take care of it and end up killing it after two or three weeks. Thank you all again for your help! I don't know where I would be without you!
 
Atleast you're asking the questions. I'm sure everyone here would rather answer 100 questions than to see fish go to people who have no idea how to care for them, and don't even CARE to know how. So you're questions are probably actually really appreciated.

For the water changing: 25% would be a good percentage of your water to change weekly. 10% would (in my opinion) be the bare minimum. Anywhere from 25-75% is excellent. You don't have to let the water sit (ageing it), you can simply treat it and add it to the tank. You can if it makes you feel better, since it won't do any harm, really.

As for tests: I test 3 times a month, and my aquariums run almost flawlessly. It's a good idea to keep a notebook with the results in it of each test. While the immediate results are helpful, what's more important in the trend over time, so it helps to have a backlog of whats been happening with your water.

As for chemicals: You shouldn't need anything other than dechlorinator. Maybe pick up some Mela-Fix, just incase you run into a problem with some fish, and you can treat it immediately, insted of having to wait to get to the store, etc. May as well have it and not need it than need it and not have it, I say.

Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp, and other treats: Most pet shops will have these in a frozen form in their aquarium section in a freezer. If you want live brine shrimp, live bloodworms, things to culture your own brine shrimp, etc you'll have to usually find the nearest Aquarium Store. One that specializes in Aquariums and Fish. For the feeding of these items, you can feed them twice or three times a week. Bloodworms as a staple have been found to cause constipation in some fish, so it's best not to feed them daily. A couple times a week is fine. Brine shrimp however, can be fed more often, as it definately promotes good health, and fish love'em. Another treat I've found my fish to love are fish eggs. I believe the company Seachem sells fish eggs for fish food, and they make an excellent treat.

Hope this helps abit. :)
 
Thanks, Dread! You've been a great help to me!
 
Better to ask questions first. I started doing this a few months ago and started my 12 gallon tank with about 20 fish. After losing a couple I found this place and returned all but 3 or 4. Now, well I have 8 tanks but that's another story....:)
 
I think is great to have folks asking the questions before having any issues!

:headbang2:
 
I read lots of sites, particularly this one, before I got my first fish a year ago today (Aug 11). It took about 5 days before I realized some big things I was doing wrong (losing one fish in the process) -- but I righted those errors as quickly as I could and have been doing pretty well since then. I actually relocated my first fish today, from my 6G to my 10G, where he is with 3 others of his own kind & size. I can tell which one he is, though, because he's not afraid of me ;) His old tank was at eye level and he got used to seeing me. The new take is at waist level and the other occupants scare easily, though they are slowly relating my appearance with the likelihood of the arrival of food. I also bought 3 new 0.5" H&T tetras today, for the smaller, original tank, the same kind of fish I bought a year ago... I like "easy care" fish and I think they're hardy and happy.

So reading all you can first, even if you don't quite understand it, is very good because you'll be able to think, when seeing a problem, "Hey, wait a minute, I read about this..." Save webpages to a file on your computer (file, save as, web page, complete) so you can save time and refer back to the info without having to gett back on line to search.

<--Pygmy Cories bought in October, 2006
 
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