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Post by Carl on Jan 3, 2010 19:23:48 GMT -5
Sorry about your Serpae Tetra problems Renee I think you did the right thing by trading these in. I would like to point out that this aspect of fish keeping is often subjective and you can often find horror stories of about anything, and I am not saying these persons are lying, however often there are many variables that may have resulted in this "horror story" that is not in the article or comment you read. I have kept many Tetra tanks over the years, including many Serpae Tetras. I have definitely found these to be more "nippy" than most, however I have also seen incidences where nipping was minimal and others where it was more extensive. Often it was the larger more heavily planted tanks with areas of low and high current, many different species mixed together that had less of a problem with nippy Serpaes. This said, this is only anecdotal observations on my part, not a scientific study by any means, so my observations may not coincide with others and that does not make either right or wrong necessarily. I think in the end (as Eve noted), you are the one who has to make the decision and decide what is best, and you did. Carl
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 4, 2010 17:16:30 GMT -5
Thanks Carl. Unfortunately I lost a fish today. It was a very unfortunate incident. She got caught in the filter (which doesn't have a strong current/doesn't suck up fish super easily). But somehow she got caught. I think she was alive this morning but when I got home she was dead. I'm glad at least that once she got stuck to the filter, it ended quickly which probably resulted in minimum suffering. Furthermore, in my experience, fish that get caught in the filter for more than a very short period rarely make it. All the other fish seem ok although they still seem stressed and scared. I had to clean out their tank yesterday to remove uneaten food which was starting to mold. They seem to eat some colors of flakes and leave the rest over. They also seem to dislike Spirulina flakes for some reason. In the future, I'll probably feed them Spirulina again but for now, I'm keeping them on 2 other high quality foods. Just until they get more comfortable w/ their food and surroundings. Renee
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 9, 2010 18:31:35 GMT -5
The fish are doing well right now. I haven't lost any more and I am having no problems as far as cycling. The fish seem to be settling down, but only slightly. They seem to be taking a while to adjust.
I have a tiny female only 1/2 the size of a male I have in there. While the males are bigger, I can't help but wonder if the other fish have grown a lot since I got them. Either that or the female's shrinking. lol I noticed a lot of torn fins among the fish, especially the males. Some are from when I had the serpae tetras, some I'm guessing from perhaps being a little weak from being in a new tank, and also from the males arguing over territory. I haven't observed them a lot lately, but I noticed the males are a dark black (especially when they are displaying). I'm hoping they will calm down a bit. Occasionally a larger female will also display at a male. I'm planning to watch them more tomorrow.
I haven't had time because I've literally had 10 1/2 hours of homework so far this weekend with finals coming up and more to go. I also still plan to upload the pictures up, but the film with the black phantoms is dark and pixelated. However, I did get a bunch of pretty decent pics of the serpaes before I gave them up and also a video of them if memory serves. So I'll have that up when I have some time which is not something I have a lot of right now.
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 10, 2010 18:04:11 GMT -5
I did a water change for the tetras today and I noticed a few signs like they might be starting to beg! XD This is one of my favorite things about keeping fish. The small female I mentioned during my last post was one of them. They seem to be warming up to me. I just hope the water change I did for them didn't scare them too much.
I noticed they hang near the filter intake tube, probably why the fish got stuck that one time to I'm going to put some plants around it so they'll be less likely to get too close and get stuck.
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Post by Carl on Jan 10, 2010 19:46:06 GMT -5
I did a water change for the tetras today and I noticed a few signs like they might be starting to beg! XD This is one of my favorite things about keeping fish. The small female I mentioned during my last post was one of them. They seem to be warming up to me. I just hope the water change I did for them didn't scare them too much. Great Renee! Carl
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 11, 2010 17:48:10 GMT -5
Thanks. More signs of begging today. lol Nice puppy.
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 9, 2010 16:19:49 GMT -5
I haven't written in a while because nothing of significance (other than the fish are doing well) has been going on.
Here is the good news (which there is a lot of when it comes to them).
They are never in hiding (unless I am doing a major cleaning on the tank lol), there were absolutely no problems with the tank cycling, and clean-up has been easy (they are not messy). Also, I have not lost another fish nor has any become sick at any point. They do nip but at an acceptable level and when they tear each other's fins slightly, it heals up incredibly fast. They seem happy and go into feeding frenzy mode during feeding time. They're also not really into schooling and like their space contrary to being schooling fish.
My only question as far as care is concerned when it comes to their care is how much salt they tolerate. Being soft water and considering where they come from I'd imagine they don't like much salt. I've been adding probably 1/3 or less tablespoons per 5 gallons.
Not to get off topic, but speaking of salt, is the general rule of 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons good for goldfish? I have always given them that much but have never been totally sure on it.
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Post by Carl on Feb 9, 2010 20:20:57 GMT -5
Often I do not add any salt to general community tanks that include Tetras unless there is a problem or new fish are added.
I too often keep 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons for goldfish, however I often cut this in half with a healthy tank with not new fish added in the last couple of months; the reason being (for both examples I cited) is this makes the addition of salt easier when new fish are added or problems are seen or suspected..
For example with goldfish, I will keep a healthy tank (no issues for 2-3 months or longer) at 1/2 tablespoon per 5 gallons and then double this when new fish are added and bring it up to a teaspoon per gallon when obvious problems occur.
Carl
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 9, 2010 20:25:08 GMT -5
Thanks for answering my question. I hope I can still add a little salt to tetra tanks though. I prefer to have a little as a preventive measure and also since all fish (to my knowledge, even catfish) require a tiny bit of salt in their systems. It won't stress them to a little in there would it? Say 1/3 teaspoon per 5 gallons?
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Post by Carl on Feb 10, 2010 10:12:38 GMT -5
No it would not.
Carl
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Post by corycatwoman on Feb 16, 2010 1:23:44 GMT -5
i havent been around much and i believe this was last topic i posted on before i got carried away with school. how are the tetra's doing?
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Post by goldenpuon on Feb 16, 2010 11:54:55 GMT -5
They're doing great. Look at Post # 26 for more detail.
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