Strange Tetra Behavior

[belaflek73]

Hi all, newbie here with a 36g glass aquarium. The water temp is 78, no nitrate, nitrite, or hardness. ph is 7.2 (the tap water is 7.4 or higher), and ammonia is at .2 (this also is in our tap water).

We bought 3 Black Neon Tetras and 4 Neon Tetras as our first fish. They are sort of swimming in place together in a school but at the bottom of the tank hovering just over the rocks and behind one plant. They've only been in the tank for a couple of hours now, is this normal behavior when just placed in the tank or is something else wrong?

The tank has been running for around 5 days We added stress coat and a chlorine and chloramine remover yesterday because the ammonia levels were around 1.0ppm, but considered it safe today at .2ppm so bought some tetras. We need help because we are not sure what the safe levels of ammonia and ph are and if our water chemistry now is causing the strange behavior. I've read that keeping the pH constant albeit a little high is safer than trying to change it?

Also our tap water is soft water but with a high pH which is the opposite of what I've read...are we going to be alright adding tap to the tank when we vaccuum and change the water?

Thanks!! :dive2:

 

[BioFilter]

New fish get acclimated to their new environment. They get used to it.

 

[NeonJulie]

Hi all, newbie here with a 36g glass aquarium. The water temp is 78, no nitrate, nitrite, or hardness. ph is 7.2 (the tap water is 7.4 or higher), and ammonia is at .2 (this also is in our tap water).

We bought 3 Black Neon Tetras and 4 Neon Tetras as our first fish. They are sort of swimming in place together in a school but at the bottom of the tank hovering just over the rocks and behind one plant. They've only been in the tank for a couple of hours now, is this normal behavior when just placed in the tank or is something else wrong?

The tank has been running for around 5 days We added stress coat and a chlorine and chloramine remover yesterday because the ammonia levels were around 1.0ppm, but considered it safe today at .2ppm so bought some tetras. We need help because we are not sure what the safe levels of ammonia and ph are and if our water chemistry now is causing the strange behavior. I've read that keeping the pH constant albeit a little high is safer than trying to change it?

Also our tap water is soft water but with a high pH which is the opposite of what I've read...are we going to be alright adding tap to the tank when we vaccuum and change the water?

Thanks!! :dive2:

Is there a cycling involved in this tank? It sounds like you're enduring a fishy cycle, and the fish are dealing with the consequences of their own waste without the proper amounts of bacteria to detoxify their environment. A lot of fish establishments don't go into this process when people buy their tanks, and it's a shame.

I think this is almost positively the case, since you report 0 NitrAtes. A cycled tank will typically have some nitrAtes, which are not harmful (but in high doses become a problem.)

Cycling takes time, unless you used a product called Bio-Spira when you put in the fish.

I wouldn't buy more fish if there is ammonia present in the tank at all. "Safe" levels of .25 ppm only tell you when to do water changes during a fishy cycle.