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Alright. So this past Friday I went to the lfs to pick up some tetras. They STILL hadn't gotten any good flame tetras in and for once, their cardinals looked really nice. So I snatched 'em up...all 18. And how many am I left with this morning? 5. I have had a staggering rate of die offs. It's at least a few a day. I have no idea what the problem is. Tank param's seem fine (will post at bottom) and I took my sweet time acclimating them. Even the Blue Rams are fine (and they're supposed to be the picky ones) I'm absolutely clueless as to what might have caused over two-thirds of them to die off.

pH - 6.6-6.8
NitrAte - .5
NitrIte - 0
Ammonia - 0
Temp - 80 F

Someone help

[edit] Oh, and they are locally bred, not wild caught.

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 10-Jan-2006 06:19

Point five nitrates? The first thing I want to ask is what kind of test kit you're using? Not to doubt you, but because I don't really trust the dip strips. They might not be telling the entire truth.

Next, can you ask the store what their water parameters are? If there's a large difference between the store water and yours, that could partially explain it. Also, what method did you use to acclimate the fish? Normally a float acclimation will suffice if you let tank water into the bag, but for sensitive fish it's hard to beat a drip system.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

er..make that .05 nitrAtes I used the test tube drippy tests not the strip tests.

The lfs is actually on the same water I have. I made sure to find that out when I first moved here. As for acclimating, I did the floating method. Took about an hour with half a cup of new water every 15 or so minutes.

It's just weird because conditions here are more favorable for cardinals than where I used to live. And when I first had cardinals, they were wild caught and I had absolutely no trouble at all adding them to my newly cycled 29. The 55 has been up since just after thanksgiving, and the cardinals weren't even wild caught.

It's got me rather upset that I lossed most of them.

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 10-Jan-2006 06:38

With cardinal tetras, it's really tough to tell how a batch will turn out. I had good luck with mine in a hardwater tank and a high pH, but other folks can have huge dieoffs. Tetratech had real problems with his, as shown in [link=this]http://fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Tetra%20Talk/66224.html?200512252152" style="COLOR: #808080[/link] post. I guess they just didn't take to your water well.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Hmm it must be getting harder to find quality cardinals now. I will try another batch when they get them in and if THOSE die too, I will most likely try a different tetra.


Thanks

Don't give up too early. Some batches of Cardinals seem quite durable, and they're too lovely a fish to give up on too early.

maybe you should try a q-tine tank for a bit, that way if they do have something ,they dont give it to your other fish.

*Chelle*
_______________________________________________
I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

It was no sickness as far as I can tell. Nothing led up to death, not even discoloration. They were there and then they wern't. I only have 3 left.

I figured that since I will be adding cardinals to my 29 gallon that I will wait for them. (I have had them before, and had MUCH better luck.) So for now, I scopped up 16 Rosy TEtras from the lfs and I have NEVER seen Rosy's ANYWHERE So I'm pretty excited.

So far they are doing a heck of a lot better then the cardinals They already have started exploring the tank in a large school (yes they even school...not lose soaling) The Cardinals would just hover in the back.

Now I am almost certain it was just a bad batch of cardinals. Guess I'll wait and try again with the 29 when it's all set up.

Thanks

Tetra Fan...I had a similar experience with Rummynose tetras. I bought 6 and all of them died. I saw no illness and acclimmated them well.
I found out how they breed them in a certain place and the deaths may be an affect of that.
I am not sure about your cardinals though. Sorry you lost them. I know how it feels to be completely helpless to your dying fish.:%)

*Kristin*

sorry to hear that, sometimes you just get a bad batch, and its not anything you could help... good luck with the new guys!

*Chelle*
_______________________________________________
I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

Thanks.

The Rosy's so far have already surpassed the cardinals in how long they have lasted. All 16 made it to tonight, and they are activley exploring their new tank. I dropped a few granules in for them to eat and they attacked them like little pirhana. They are coloring up very nicely with bright white tips on their pelvic and anal fins and a deepening red in there abdominals. It seems I have 13 males and 3 females however...I hope that doesn't cause any problems.

As for the cardinals...there is a sole survivor. He has made it one week, but it's likely he will pass tonight. Then again I can never tell. As for the thing with the rummy's, these fish are locally bred and according to my lfs, their growtgh is not accelerated by high temps.(after looking at your thread on the rummy's I thought to ask this ) And even if they were, they had an ideal ammount of time to adjust (about 4-5 days).

Well, though it's sad and...well cost me some money...I'm glad I lost the cardinals. If I hadn't I wouldn't have ended up with the Rosy's. Now to keep them from scattering all across the tank. It sounds like it's about time to get my final addition to the tank; an Angelfish.

Also picked up 4 ottos...and surprisingly still see 4 ottos. They have actually lived through the night AND are constantly out in the open. Never have had ottos last that long of be this friendly. There must be plenty of algae as they are quite a bit fatter then when I originally purchased them.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys.

I'm glad your rosy's are doing good. As for the ottos, I have actually never had problems with them. I was worried when I got my first couple because I had heard how sensitive they were. I have 2 in my 10g and only 1 in my 55g. I had 2 more in the 55g, but they died a little while after probably because of the high temps I had when treating for ich. They atleast made it a couple months.
I hope your rosy's continue to do good. Good luck!

*Kristin*

Ottos aren't a problem when acclimated proporly. I added a trio into my 20 gallon 8 or 9 months ago. They are all doing great dispite several boughts with ick, fungus, and a pH crash that nearly whiped out my whole tank. They all have fat plump little bellies and I haven't seen algae in months. They are great at getting into the tight little groves in many ornaments and gravel.

Edit-Rosy Barbs with Angels?

Last edited by weird22person at 13-Jan-2006 21:30

Last edited by weird22person at 13-Jan-2006 21:38

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Rosy Tetras

Quite a bit bigger than Rosy Barbs

OK sorry

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Actually, Rosy Tetras grow to be the same size as Lemons. Rosy Barbs on the other hand can hit 6 inches!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002