Help with Tetras - new tank

[Domz]

Hello,

I have recently set up a new tank, and I have done it as instructed by the store staff: I have rinsed the gravel, ornaments and plants, put the water in, setup the filter and a heater (26 degrees), left it for 6 days (2 days longer than advised), and then went to the store to grab some fish. In the meantime the water become a bit murky, but from what I have read and heard this is normal for the new tanks. The store staff also mentioned that it can happen and told us not to worry about it. The tank itself is 40L.

So we came back with our 5 tetras, which we gently introduced to the tank. For the first few days it was all fine, the fish were happy and all was well. But then, today we have noticed that that the fish started to swim close to the surface (I thought it was because of lack of oxygen, so I have raised the filter a bit to make some gentle bubbles), and by the evening one fish was dead, one disappeared (I have looked everywhere for it and I can swear it is not in the tank, and it did not jump out). One of the fish started to swim as usual, but the other two are still hanging about under the surface, although not as often as before.

From what I have read that the possible mistakes I could made was to chose tetras in a first place, as they are apparently very fragile (which unfortunately I had no idea about), lack of aerator or putting too many plants (I have two and they are not too big).

I really would appreciate some advice, because I really want to save the three tetras I have left if it is not too late. Is there anything I can do? Help

 

[Retired Viking]

Do a 50-75% water change right away and make sure you dechlorinate the new water. Your tank is not cycled yet and ammonia is building up.

 

[Retired Viking]

Do you have a water test kit? You need to look up the nitrogen cycle for fish tanks. Cycling usually takes 4-6 weeks and sometime longer. What type of tetra do you have? Live plants actually help improve the water quality and remove ammonia from the water stream. Floating plants like anacharis, frog bite, water sprite and hornwort are some good fast growing plants that absorb ammonia at a faster rate than most plants like ferns. You could pick up a bottle of Tetra SafeStart Plus to help jump start your cycle. Never listen to LFS employees most of them just want to sell you something and do not have a clue about keeping fish. ,

 

[Domz]

Hi Retired Viking - thanks a lot for the advice. As for the tetras, they are neon tetras. The plants are of a rooted kind, not a floating ones (one has a small red-ish leafs, and the other has a green long blades). As for the water change, I just have put the bucket on the side, dropped the treatment in, but I guess I will have to wait for the water to get a bit warmer. Also, don't I need to wait for a few days before changing the water in the tank?

 

[Retired Viking]

Hi Retired Viking - thanks a lot for the advice. As for the tetras, they are neon tetras. The plants are of a rooted kind, not a floating ones (one has a small red-ish leafs, and the other has a green long blades). As for the water change, I just have put the bucket on the side, dropped the treatment in, but I guess I will have to wait for the water to get a bit warmer. Also, don't I need to wait for a few days before changing the water in the tank?

If your are losing fish it is likely because of ammonia and you need to reduce it fast to save your remaining fish. I would fill the container up halfway with cold water add conditioner and fill it the rest with hot getting to as close as you can to the tank temp. With neon tetra the tank temp should be between 72-78 degrees

 

[Retired Viking]

Neon tetra are beautiful little fish, I have a shoal of them in my tetra tank but they are fragile as you now know. I advise people not to have them until your tank stabilizes which usually takes 6 months or a little longer. I made the same mistake when I started out with tetras and did not wait for my 55 gallon tank to stabilize.

 

[Byron]

Retired Viking has this under control, I concur with his posts. Good luck. And welcome to TFF and the hobby.

 

[Domz]

Retired Viking has this under control, I concur with his posts. Good luck. And welcome to TFF and the hobby.

Thank you Water is getting ready, fingers crossed it will work. In the meantime off I go to read about nitrate, ammonia and breaking tanks. @Retired Viking - thanks a lot for the advice!

 

[Retired Viking]

You are welcome, do you know if you have hard water or soft? Tetras are soft water fish. If you have hard water, fancy guppies are a good choice to start out with. Here is a picture of my 55 gallon tetra tank. It is a "soft" water tank that I use RO water to soften my hard water. I also have hard water tanks for my fancy guppies and other hard water fish.

 

[Domz]

Soft water. And this is an amazing tank!

 

[Retired Viking]

Thank you, I always say it is a work in progress. Good you have the right type of water for tetras. I can not promise you the neon tetras will survive, I wish I could. I have lost several in the past myself. You are doing what is called a fish in cycle and neon teras are not good fish for this since they are so sensitive. Pick up a bottle of Tetra SafeStart Plus if you can. The small bottle will take care of tanks up to 60 gallons. Pick up a water test kit and test your water every day and do a 50-75% water change when ammonia starts to rise. The other thing you could do is pick up those floating plants I mentioned. In my tetra tank the floating plants are anacharis which does a very good job absorbing ammonia. Good luck

 

[Domz]

Thanks - I will try to do what I can in the morning, and fingers crossed it will all play out right.