my new fish

[mrmcmasty]

For anyone who has been keeping up and replying to all of my questions...

THANK YOU!

My amonia and nitrite were 0 the past three mornings so I did a big water change and added fish. Nitratent to 0 after the change but have gone up to 5 ( I have plants so Im thinkin that number is oK)

my fish:

8 cardinal tetra I started with 11 but three have died already (two of them were dead before they even got in my tank)
2 dwarf gourami (both males... and they are inseperable, they follow each other all over the tank??? I thought they didnt get along?)
3 zebra loaches
1 clwon pleco
1 angel
2 butterfly rams
3 oto's (outocinclus I think)

When do you feed new fish? I put a small amount of food in and none of the fish even looked at it.

Thanks again for all of the info and advice!

 

[mrsdorothy]

I normally give new fish a couple of hours to adjust to their new surroundings before feeding them.

 

[Kasakato]

I give mine a day or two. Mine will hid for a few hours, start to school, and then eat.

 

[gonefishin]

Did you add all these fish at once? Thats a big load to put on your system. If so monitor your water frequently.

 

[Swimfins]

It sounds very good. The clown pleco is a tiny thing and not much on the bio-load, the ottos neither.

I'd watch them for not eating, but this could be normal since you added all together. Give them a few hours. My fish have always fed right away, except for the clown who will be shy at first and only feed after lights out.

My clown is much bolder given I've had him 6 montths now. Here he is yesterday out on the log.

 

[mrmcmasty]

I know the bioload seems like quite alot, but most everyone here told me to add a full bioload once I had finished my fishless cycle... so I did. The water had remained amonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate between 0-5. My ph is steady 7.4/7.6 and the gh 6.

I have a couple of questions.

the ottos have alamost completely cleaned up all my algea... what do I feed them if they remove all of it?

the loaches must be mad. they swim all over the tank. up and down up and down... i think they are eating the smaller snails...

Dwarf Gouramis... one of them swims around with the loaches (and they let him)... the other one tries but the loaches kick him out of the group (the blue one). The gouramis look like they are sampling everything in the tank, the wood, the rocks, the gravels, the plants.

the clown pleco hides under the welaby wood, havnt seem him out.

the tetras (one was floating this AM) and the rams are the ones Im worried about, i havnt seen them eat at all... this morning when I put some food in none of them moved to go after it, they seemed more concerned that I had lifted the tank lid and all went ot hide... how do I get them to eat? how much should I feed them. I have two kinds of food. one is a flake food the other is a floating food... are my fish going to starve to death?

 

[happychem]

I can't remember the size of your tank, but it looks like you've got a nice assortment.

Gonefishin, he did a fishless cycle, after fishless cycling you must (or get to) fully stock.

Rams can be very sensitive to changes in water chemistry, but in general aren't fragile. Depending on the quality of the conditions that they were kept in at the store, fish can take up to a week to fully recover and acclimate to the new water. If they're just being lethargic and dull in colour it's nothing to panic about just yet. Keep an eye on them though, they are/have going/gone through some heavy stress and are very susceptible to disease right now so be attentive to that. If you've got one available, be ready to prepare a little hospital for them. One of those rubbermaid containers can make quite a decent hospital and stays nice and dim.

Be attentive of the tetras, it's possible that they've got NTD (Neon Tetra Disease, yeah, I know that they're Cardinals not Neons). NTD is incurable and contageous. Any tetra you see swimming strangely (like at a slant, looking to struggle), get him out of the tank and away from the others. Have a read through the "Euthanasia" thread in the Articles section, it may be necessary although unpleasant.

Glad to hear that the rest are doing well though. Your params. look good. Test your NO3 just before and immediately after your weekly water change. You can expect it to creep up over the next few weeks depending on the quantity of water that you change. If you do 50% water changes every week (either a single 50% change or 2x30% change are the same total percent changed) you can expect your tank to reach equilibrium after about 8 weeks.

 

[mrmcmasty]

When I do water changes what is the best way to get my water the same or within a degree or less of my tank temp? Hadnt considered this before. I use a hose system to deliver water straight from the tap

The tetras arent really swimming funny... they just wind up floating....????
the ones that are left seem ok they just arent eating


None of them are lethargic they are actually pretty active, except the clown pleco, he hides... I am just concerned that they do not make an effort to eat the food I put in... they are constantly "mouthing" things though... ecspecially the gouramis... the autos have cleaned up most of the visible algea...

any tips for fish care would be great... I have done lots of reading and I think that I am doing things right... but I always like getting advice here.

 

[happychem]

I've found that I can usually get the water pretty close just by touch, although I have used a thermometer. Depending on the season (although maybe it's not much of an issue in virginia) the "cold" water out of the tap often isn't too much colder than the tank, what I mean is that it usually takes very little hot water to get to the right temperature. Also, I make a conscious effort to start adding the water to one side of the tank and feel the water coming out of the python compared to the water at the other side of the tank, that way I have a second chance to make minor adjustments to the tap. It usually isn't necessary, but for the couple times that the water's come out noticeably cooler or warmer I was able to tweak the tap temperature a little to get it back in line.

Plecos are mostly nocturnal and do like to hide a lot, IM(limited)E, so don't worry too much about it. Gouramis do like to nibble at just about anything they find in the tank. Makes them really good at clearing out things like Hydra.

Stop feeding the tank for a day or two. The fish will be just fine and by the time you feed again they should be acclimated and hungry.

Have a good look at the tetras. Are there any physical signs of disease? Are their colours bright and radiant? If the colours are just dull they may just be taking the transition hard. Perhaps the conditions at the store were less than ideal, it's tough to say and it's not my area of expertise. I have had a little trouble with tetras, but usually I could trace it to a problem in the tank that was later remedied. I'm thinking that as long as your NH3 and NO2 are sticking at 0ppm then barring a disease they should acclimate in a couple days and stop dieing.

Otos are great algae eaters, I seldom target feed mine. However it might be tricky since the loaches will probably outcompete them for any bottom feeder or algae tabs. You can try a veggie clip with some blanched zucchinni (microwave a slice for a few minutes, then let it cool, it should be good and soft). I use a sucktion cup with a pin. I stick the pin through whatever veggie I want to add then stick the pin well into the suction cup so that noone gets pricked. Then just stick the sucktion cup in the tank somewhere easy for the Otos and tricky for the other fish.

 

[mrmcmasty]

Just got home... found another floating tetra... so I tested the water

amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0-5
ph 7.4-7.6
gh 6
temp 78

I dont understand why they keep dying!?! I think my water parameters are good... the only thing that makes sense to me is that they are starving to death (these are my first fish... Id really like them to not be dying!!!) they were putr in yesterday around 1pm. The pet store keeps their fish in very similiar water... thet had me bring my water in before selling me fish so i had them test theirs as well... my lfs has a 7 day guarantee as long the water tests out... so its not that i am out any money... i dont want them continue dying ( iknow I already said that)

ok so the eating thing... today when I got home (after removing dead fish and water testing) i fead the the fish 3 flakes of food... the gouramis and angel were all over it... the tetras got none... as some of the food fell from the surface they swam after it but then spit it out if they caught it... HOW DO I FEED THEM IF THEY SPIT OUT THE FOOD>>> IS IT THE WRONG STUFF???