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Post by cashay on Oct 5, 2008 8:38:43 GMT -5
Cash ate twice a day, But I noticed when I was vaccuming out the tank there was a lot of food on bottom, with the Tetra's.. I dont put more then a few flakes, or worms or what ever but .... I'm not sure if they are eating twice a day, And also are tetra bottom feeders? I mean the first day I brought them home the food was slowly sinking, and they were tearing it up! food couldnt even hit bottom, I havent noticed them eating off bottom or top, I only seen them eat the one time, and like I said they were attacking it. but now nothing the food will sink and hit bottom..  |
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Post by Carl on Oct 5, 2008 10:17:27 GMT -5
Are your cardinals not eating?
You noted worms and flakes, what are the worms and flakes you are feeding?
What are the tank water parameters, including temperatures as Cardinals like warm temperatures, generally over 78 F (I have kept them as high as 85 F)?
Carl
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Post by cashay on Oct 5, 2008 14:09:49 GMT -5
temps are 76 fd bloodworms tetra Min 3 in 1 flakes,shrimp, granules which is what they ate like crazy the first day, water prarameters are not looking to good Nitrate 20 Nitrite 0 GH 300 KH-  0 PH 6.2 I have a wonder shell in it, plus I added a cap full of marine buffer (seachem) I'm not sure if they are eating, I only watched them eat once the other times I fed them they didn't eat while I was watching. tell me what I should do please, I don't want to loose them too! |
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Post by Carl on Oct 5, 2008 14:27:07 GMT -5
temps are 76 fd bloodworms tetra Min 3 in 1 flakes,shrimp, granules which is what they ate like crazy the first day, water prarameters are not looking to good Nitrate 20 Nitrite 0 GH 300 KH- 0 PH 6.2 I have a wonder shell in it, plus I added a cap full of marine buffer (seachem) I'm not sure if they are eating, I only watched them eat once the other times I fed them they didn't eat while I was watching. tell me what I should do please, I don't want to loose them too! Your water parameters are not all that bad, HOWEVER your KH does not make sense after adding this much Buffer, I am guessing that your Test Kit may be inaccurate and your pH as well, so if possible have these parameters tested by a store. If your test kits are accurate, this indicates to me that there is a lot of organic mulm somewhere in your aquarium and/or your tap water literally has NO carbonates, which is possible, but rare. So I would also test your tap water (allow about 1/2 hour for the water to "gas out" before testing) Your other parameters are fine BTW I would try another fish food other than Tetra Min such as Omega, Ocean Nutrition, or HBH (there are other good ones as well). Try feeding very small amounts three times per day (soak it a little so that it sinks in front of them) Also look for signs of disease, especially Neon Tetra Disease which is indicated by a fading of the color and a white area in place of the red/blue stripes. This unfortunately is VERY hard to treat, but if caught early it can be stopped. An early preventative is SeaChem ParaGuard and as well I strongly recommend using Methylene Blue in the fish bag during the acclimation process when you first receive new fish, especially Tetras. See section #9 here: Aquarium Disease PreventionPLEASE do not let me scare you into thinking that your Cardinals have this disease, I just want you to be aware of it. Carl |
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Post by goldenpuon on Oct 5, 2008 18:10:55 GMT -5
They may be stressed from their transfer home. That may cause them to refuse food for a few days. Also, I second Carl on Tetramin. It is not a very good food. You'd be much better off with a different kind of food. Hope that helps!
Renee
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Post by Carl on Oct 5, 2008 18:57:28 GMT -5
They may be stressed from their transfer home. That may cause them to refuse food for a few days. Also, I second Carl on Tetramin. It is not a very good food. You'd be much better off with a different kind of food. Hope that helps! Renee Excellent point Renee about the transfer!  Carl |
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Post by cashay on Oct 5, 2008 19:24:09 GMT -5
So far the color is awesome, They are red white and blue, white being on the very bottom like it was when I seen them in the store, I dont know about the stress from the transfer. although it has been exactly 9 days since they were transferred, I did notice them eating the food off the bottom since I wrote last, But tomorrow I will go and get the other food, I did see some of that omega there. I just thought since this had three different kinds to choose from, they would eat it good.oh well still learning, Am going to test my tap water right now.
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Post by cashay on Oct 5, 2008 20:16:11 GMT -5
ok this is a wow... I checked my tap water and the water parameters are Nitrate 20 Nitrite 0  GH 75 soft (which I read Tetra's like KH 40 PH 6.8  That is pretty much what the test read any way except for the KH.... hmmmm maybe the test aren't working...... Im going to test the PH again with a totaly different test.. hold on PH from tap water is 7.2 ok now I know they are wrong! crap |
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Post by Carl on Oct 6, 2008 10:18:01 GMT -5
ok this is a wow... I checked my tap water and the water parameters are Nitrate 20 Nitrite 0 GH 75 soft (which I read Tetra's like KH 40 PH 6.8 That is pretty much what the test read any way except for the KH.... hmmmm maybe the test aren't working...... Im going to test the PH again with a totaly different test.. hold on PH from tap water is 7.2 ok now I know they are wrong! crap This is very similar water to what I have here in Grant Pass Oregon, and very different from what I dealt with for years in Los Angeles CA. Again assuming that your tests are accurate, this seems to indicate a high amount of DOC (dissolved organic compounds) and organic mulm which will quickly deplete available carbonates (KH). If possible test your tank water and have it tested by a store around the same time to check accuracy. You many need to carefully look for organic accumulation in your tank and filters. Pardon me for asking again (as I cannot remember), what are your filters? Carl |
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Post by goldenpuon on Oct 6, 2008 16:15:42 GMT -5
Cashey, you may want to vaccum out the bottom of your tank. Setting up a schedule for vaccuming is good. FGor example, people normally do it anywhere from as often as ocne a week or more to only once a month depending on the bioload and how dirty their tank is as well as the fish species and if they have plants. Again, I'm not sure if Cardinal tetras like their water soft although I think some tetras do but I think it varies. Good luck!
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Post by babygeige on Oct 6, 2008 22:38:43 GMT -5
I don't have Cardinals, but I have Head and Tail Light Tetras. Mine never eat off the bottom. If I put a sinking food in, they'll attack it until it gets about halfway down, then they give up on it and look for more food toward the top.
I think I had a hard time getting mine to eat when I first got them. It took me a couple of different flakes to get one they'd eat. Once they started eating, I was able to mix in other stuff without problems.
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Post by eve on Oct 7, 2008 0:21:43 GMT -5
well i just purchased glow light tetras today acclimated them for about an hour and then put them in about 20 min later i fed them, they went for the food right away  and i do have silver tipped tetras and serpae tetras as well i never had any probs feeding them i feed them with flakes, they also feed from the shrimp pellets i put in for the bottom feeders as well as frozen brineshrimp and bloodworms once a week |
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Post by cashay on Oct 7, 2008 14:35:39 GMT -5
Goldenpuon I do vacuum it at least once a week maybe twice a week.
Babygeige and Eve what kind of flakes do you feed them? They really went to town on them the first day, I have seen them eating better , I was just kinda curious if they ate off the bottom because when I vacuum it I see a lot of food on the bottom, although i didn't think I was feeding them that much, I also thought they may only want to eat once a day is why the first time they attacked it, then wasn't hungry by the evening....
Carl, you asked what kind of filters do I use.. I have the hydro sponge filter #2 and the whisper
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Post by babygeige on Oct 7, 2008 15:56:12 GMT -5
I used to feed Omega Freshwater flakes. Now I alternate between Aqueon and Spirulina 20.
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Post by 8 in the Corner on Oct 7, 2008 16:43:09 GMT -5
I was just kinda curious if they ate off the bottom because when I vacuum it I see a lot of food on the bottom, although i didn't think I was feeding them that much, I also thought they may only want to eat once a day is why the first time they attacked it, then wasn't hungry by the evening....
If you are finding a lot of food in the gravel when you vacuum, you are feeding too much. Tetras, typically do not eat off the bottom. They are mid level to upper level feeders.
You might want to get a few cory catfish (3 is a good group, they like to be in groups) to help clean up the food that the tetras miss. They are busy little catfish and help a lot in keeping food from collecting in the gravel.
I only feed my fish once a day (tanks with fry in them get fed 2-4 times a day with fry food) and I skip one day a week. You should only be feeding as much as they will eat in 2-3 minutes. Any food left floating after that is too much and should be removed. If it is all gone in one minute (like many of my tanks) you can give a little more, but not much.
John |
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Post by goldenpuon on Oct 7, 2008 18:36:47 GMT -5
8, if she added cory cats to her tank, it would be overstocked. Cashay only has a 5 1/2 gallon. Not that ypour advice wasn't good, it would just be too much for her tank.
Feeding less however is a good idea.
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Post by eve on Oct 7, 2008 19:50:00 GMT -5
I was just kinda curious if they ate off the bottom because when I vacuum it I see a lot of food on the bottom, although i didn't think I was feeding them that much, I also thought they may only want to eat once a day is why the first time they attacked it, then wasn't hungry by the evening....
If you are finding a lot of food in the gravel when you vacuum, you are feeding too much. Tetras, typically do not eat off the bottom. They are mid level to upper level feeders.
You might want to get a few cory catfish (3 is a good group, they like to be in groups) to help clean up the food that the tetras miss. They are busy little catfish and help a lot in keeping food from collecting in the gravel.
I only feed my fish once a day (tanks with fry in them get fed 2-4 times a day with fry food) and I skip one day a week. You should only be feeding as much as they will eat in 2-3 minutes. Any food left floating after that is too much and should be removed. If it is all gone in one minute (like many of my tanks) you can give a little more, but not much.
Johnditto |
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Post by Carl on Oct 7, 2008 20:58:52 GMT -5
As already stated, most tetras (not all) are mid level feeders and I find it easiest for the fish (depending on the filters) is soak the fish food a for a minute or so and then gently stir the food into the tank so that the mid level fish get it more easily. Be careful of over soaking, otherwise it may sink too rapidly, while if soaked just right it will float in the mid current well. This will take a little while to find this "sweat spot" of how much and where and how to add your fish food.
I also recommend more frequent BUT smaller feedings.
As to your filters, I would increase the rinsings of the Sponge Filter and Aqua Clear with de-chlorinated water to remove as much organic debris as possible.
Carl
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Post by 8 in the Corner on Oct 7, 2008 21:17:29 GMT -5
8, if she added cory cats to her tank, it would be overstocked. Cashay only has a 5 1/2 gallon. Not that ypour advice wasn't good, it would just be too much for her tank. Feeding less however is a good idea.
A couple of otos would not be adding too much load to the tank though, and they would help with the extra food.
John |
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Post by cashay on Oct 8, 2008 7:37:09 GMT -5
Ok lets see if I have this right, feed less, which I really only put a few flakes in there, soak the flakes first for a few min get a couple of oto's and rinse out the sponge filter more then once a week, and add aqua clear to water? Did I miss anything? |
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