Advice For A Rescued Tetra

[jakcam]

Hello,

Yesterday i recieved a phonecall from a friend.
She said that her friend had, had a tropical fish tank but 6 months ago all the fish had slowly died off and so they had turned the heater and pump off as they didn't intend getting any more, but just yesterday someome spotted a tetra alive in there, after all this time swimming about. She said that the owners didn't really want to keep it, but nor did they want to just kill it and as my farther has recently started keeping tropical fish did he want to rehome it.

He went over to the house to look at the fish, to see what type ot was to see if it would be compatible with our fish and also to check it didn't have any visable illness, etc. (By the way the fish is a Black phantom tetra)

SO anyway, the little hardy fish (that somehow maneged to survive 6 months in an unfiltered, un heated un fed tank) is now in our aquarium, looking rather lonley and shy. He hides and resides at the back of tha tank rather low down. The first night he was a little woosy, not very good at swimming, very unactive and when he did try and swim he doesn't seem a stong swimmer and if he goes into the current from the filter is more than likley to get swept along by it, he's not very good at keeping his balance either (occasionaly ends upside down for a second or too).

Today he looked a little better, but was mainly just hanging about at the back of the tank again. This evening he is alot more active, but now that he is, he's swimming funny again.

Can any offer any advice, or has anyone had a similar experiance? I imaging he's quite week after spending all that time with fo food or heat, but im amazed he's survided it which atleast gives me a little hope he has a slight chance of pulling through. I also imagine that going back into a tank with heat and a current could be a shock to the system, but we did try to do it as softly as possible and climitise him before properly releasing him.

Any help or suggestions are welcome.

J

 

[Durbkat]

What other fish are in the tank, what size tank is it? Black tetras are schooling fish and need to be in a school of 5 or more.

 

[jakcam]

What other fish are in the tank, what size tank is it? Black tetras are schooling fish and need to be in a school of 5 or more.

We have some guppies and some dannios. We also have a ghost shrimp who ignores the other fish but when it has come in contact with the new fish it has reached out a couple of times for it which worries me.

I cant remember what size tank is. It's pretty big for the size of fish we have and i do know that its not over populated.

We are thinking of getting some other black tetras for it to school with, but i think my father would of prefed neons over black, so i think he's waiting to see how the new black fairs after what its been through first. I prefer the black my self. He's very cute.

 

[Durbkat]

How many of each fish, any chance you could ask your dad what size tank it is in either liters or gallons or the measurements of the tank?

 

[tttnjfttt]

It sounds like he is adating to his new home just fine. Some times fish can be shy in new environments, especially without buddies which is what tetras prefer.

 

[happyannie]

I donated some black-skirted tetras to the county forest preserve where I do volunteer work. The one that was in the tank lost its long-time companion of 8 years. It would just look at me when I walked by so I felt sorry for it. I also got some other types and floated the bags in the tank for awhile. When I let the other fish out of the bags, the tetra seemed curious and happy. When I opened up the tetras, it came over and swam up and down like it was REALLY happy. It swam up and rubbed its body against the others and seemed overjoyed. The moral here seems that they are indeed schooling fish and need to be with others of their own kind to be happy. Feel free to relate this story to whoever will listen.
What interests me about tetras is how they twitch all the time. Sometimes you wonder if they're thinking ...or if they have enough air or what...?? If they eat in the middle of the tank they even twitch when they do that.