New Penguin Tetras

[beux]

I bought 7 Penguin Tetras yesterday and have a couple of questions/concerns with regards to them.

Firstly: Will they be alright with a betta - I was hoping to move them to another tank (which is cycling now) which would just have a betta + them in it. Will they nip his fins etc?

Secondly: They seem to *want* the food - but when I feed them my danio's always seem to get there first and nab it all, what can i do about this?

Thirdly: When I first put them in they stayed in a small 'shoal' now they have all broken up, is this normal? is it because they haven't settled in the tank yet?

And lastly: Two of them died over night (I am taking them back to the lfs today for replacements) - I checked the Amm and it's at 0.5 - raised from 0 when i put them in last night, I'm guessing this is because of their addition or because of the dead fish in the tank but I wouldn't have thought it lethal, I am now worried about the rest of them dying off. I also thought I noticed a faint white 'mouldy' substance on some of them, not much, what could this be? Could it be the cause of their death?

Would *really* appreciate some answers, or ideas. Thanks.

 

[kev_kb]

I bought 7 Penguin Tetras yesterday and have a couple of questions/concerns with regards to them.

Firstly: Will they be alright with a betta - I was hoping to move them to another tank (which is cycling now) which would just have a betta + them in it. Will they nip his fins etc?

Secondly: They seem to *want* the food - but when I feed them my danio's always seem to get there first and nab it all, what can i do about this?

Thirdly: When I first put them in they stayed in a small 'shoal' now they have all broken up, is this normal? is it because they haven't settled in the tank yet?

And lastly: Two of them died over night (I am taking them back to the lfs today for replacements) - I checked the Amm and it's at 0.5 - raised from 0 when i put them in last night, I'm guessing this is because of their addition or because of the dead fish in the tank but I wouldn't have thought it lethal, I am now worried about the rest of them dying off. I also thought I noticed a faint white 'mouldy' substance on some of them, not much, what could this be? Could it be the cause of their death?

Would *really* appreciate some answers, or ideas. Thanks.

A quick Google will tell you they can be fin nippers, so I wouldn't risk them in with a Betta. Personally I think Bettas are better off by themselves, though some will tolerate other fishes, some won't.

If the Danios are taking all the food you'll need to feed a little extra, but take out any that isn't eaten after a little while. As they settle this probably won't be as much of a problem.

Shoaling fish don't shoal as much when they are comfortable, it is a defense mechanism, so don't worry if they don't shoal.

The stress of the move could the ammonia could indeed kill a fish. Do a 20% water change each day to bring down the ammonia level. Not sure what to make of the white mouldy stuff, maybe post a better description or some pics?

 

[beux]

They have started eating better now....

But I have lost 5 out of the original 8 in total. I went back to the lfs store with the first two dead and they gave me some medication?

Mostly just looks like little white spots all over their body but in areas where there is a lot it looks almost fuzzy.

I've been doing water changes and testing the water. It hasn't gone about 0.5 Amm yet so I wouldn't have thought it was that.

Every time I check the tank another one is dead. I'm worried about my Danio's now.

 

[kev_kb]

Sounds like you have whitespot, you will need to deal with that and make sure it's gone before thinking about adding more fish. Raise the tank temp slowing upto 30C and medicate the tank, I assume the treatment they gave you is for whitespot? Follow the instructions that come with it.

Whitespot can only be killed when the spots burst and become free swimming, and raising the temp speeds up the lifecycle of whitespot to get them to this stage. Water change each day before dosing and clean your substrate well.