Glowlight Tetra

[Hardlife91]

I currently have 10 in a 25Gal with 6 platties and 4 odessa barbs.

Would people get rid of the plattys and just have more tetras in my situation?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[fluttermoth]

Schooling in fish is a defensive mechanism, making it harder for predators to pick off indivdual fish; most fish in tanks either don't school at all, or only very rarely because they feel safe; adding more to your shoal won't make any difference.

 

[Greg_DS]

I find my schooling fish bunch up when I add a new arrival then after an hour or two split up and do there own thing, as Fluttermoth says they feel secure so don't keep together.

 

[Ruskull]

I have another related problem with my 5 Glowlight Tetras, their color seems to have faded a bit and they actually look a little bit darker overall, especially along their backs. Is this something I should worry about? I also have 5 Neon Tetras and they are also a bit faded in color but not as much. Keep in mind that all these fish seem to be doing fine and showing no signs of stress or any health issues beyond their coloration.

The temp in the tank 76 degrees and the Ph is around 7.4 - 7.6, the nitrites are .15 and the nitrates are 20-30. I have never tested the hardness of the water, could that be the problem?

 

[fluttermoth]

Any nitrites in the water could make the fish feel sick and cause them to lose colour. More water changes until your filter is properly cycled
Also, light gravel, not enough plants and stress can cause them to be paler than normal.

 

[minnnt]

I have another related problem with my 5 Glowlight Tetras, their color seems to have faded a bit and they actually look a little bit darker overall, especially along their backs. Is this something I should worry about? I also have 5 Neon Tetras and they are also a bit faded in color but not as much. Keep in mind that all these fish seem to be doing fine and showing no signs of stress or any health issues beyond their coloration.

The temp in the tank 76 degrees and the Ph is around 7.4 - 7.6, the nitrites are .15 and the nitrates are 20-30. I have never tested the hardness of the water, could that be the problem?

Have you considered adding some blackwater extract or a new piece of bogwood to release some tannins into the water? This would slightly lower your ph as it is a bit high for most Tetra's.

 

[Ruskull]

Hey thanks for the quick replies guys!

I just bought API "Ph Down" to lower the Ph to 7.0, which I believe is the recommended amount for community tanks. The substrate is fairly light, it's a mix of beige & brown rounded stones. It's roughly 1/2 inch across the bottom of a 20 gallon high. There's (4) live Amazon Sword plants, one of which is pretty large. The others are kind of weak looking with some of the "blades" transparent if that makes sense. There's a piece of driftwood in the center too but I guess I could add another of change it out for a larger one. I was considering changing the gravel to a black or dark brown color.

 

[minnnt]

A darker substrate and a well planted aquarium along with a dark background will all contribute to making your fish feel safer and in turn they will display better colouration as they will be more settled.

If you do go with more plants then dosing a good quality all round fertiliser will be beneficial to your plants. You could also add some liquid carbon which may also help towards bringing the ph level down.

 

[Ruskull]

A darker substrate and a well planted aquarium along with a dark background will all contribute to making your fish feel safer and in turn they will display better colouration as they will be more settled.

If you do go with more plants then dosing a good quality all round fertiliser will be beneficial to your plants. You could also add some liquid carbon which may also help towards bringing the ph level down.

Thanks for the info but I have no idea how to add fertilizer for the plants, liquid carbon or black water. I'd really appreciate a little more info if you can. Can I purchase these at the local fish store? What other plants would you suggest to go with the amazon swords? How about adding a peat cartridge to my biofileter?

 

[Ruskull]

To be honest I don't even know how to effectively clean the existing gravel without disturbing the plants. I bought this tank as an established unit that included the plants, 2 kuhli loaches, a sailfin molly, five neons & one glowlight tetra, an Oto and three ghost shrimp. I added four more glowlights, three more Otos, three guppies & a small Gold Gourami. I plan to move the Gourami & the Guppies to a larger tank sooner or later.

 

[fluttermoth]

As long as your not over feeding, so the mulm in the gravel is fish poo rather than uneaten food, you don't ned to worry too much about cleaning the gravel; just go around the plants as best you can

There's normally a good range of fetilisers, either root tablets that you push into the gravel or liquids that you add once a week, at most LFSs (having said that, I don't use any in my tanks and they're mostly quite heavily planted).

Good easy plants are; vallisneria (but avoid the twisted ones if you have soft water), cryptocorynes, Java fern and anubias (both those need to be tied or glued to a rock or piece of bogwood as they'll rot of planted in the substrate).

 

[minnnt]

Peat in your filter will work very well indeed. Dosing fertilisers is extremely easy. You can either add them in one dose after a waterchange or add a smaller amount daily (total weekly amount divided by 7).

Other easy care plants that you could go with are Anubias, Java Fern, Elodea, Cabomba, Mosses, Vallis, Cryptocoryne (Crypts), Hornwort and Bacopa. All would do very well and would make your fish feel alot more settled.

Do you have gravel? It's not the ideal substrate for Kuhli's and they should also be kept in higher numbers.

 

[Ruskull]

Once again, thank you both for the quick answers! I bought this tank for my 10 year old & I've become so obsessed with the levels, the fish, etc. that I'm going to setup a 36 gallon Gourami tank in my master bedroom (if my wife allows me)

I've been meaning to add more plants since I read they are very beneficial to the life cycle in the tank. I'd prefer taller ones since the tank is a 20 high.

Yes, I know the locahes prefer sand and they should be kept in larger numbers but this is what I was given with the package. Maybe I'll look to relocate the loaches in the new Gourami/Guppy tank. This way I can add more Kuhlis and start off with sand. Is it easier, harder or the same to cycle a new tank with sand instead of gravel?

 

[minnnt]

No difference at all. You will be able to seed your filter on the new tank with some of the media from your existing filter.

 

[Ruskull]

One more question, I promise!

I currently have a Penguin 150 biowheel filter. I'm going to get a Penguin 200 or 350 for the new 36 gallon bowfront. Since these filters have 2 slots for cartridges, should I put another one in the 150 so it starts building up for the new tank? This way I can just stick one of the used cartridges in the new filter..................does that sound okay?