so are all rummy nose tetras boring???

[Magnum Man]

or is it likely the dynamic of all my tetras???

so I have platinum Rummy's, same scientific name as the standard ones, so 1st... I'm assuming they are a line bred variety, with more sparkles in their middle... I have 6-7 different varieties of South American tetras in this tank, and all to an extent shoal together... once the palmeri mature, they spread out, or have formed a familiar shoal... the rummy's are colorful, and appear to be thriving, but spend almost all their time in a 6 inch space, near the bottom of the tank... of coarse since the tetras are all shoaling together, that's where everyone is near, and it seems like everyone else wants to be around the rummy's, so for the most part, I have a big cloud of tetras, that all stay in the same place all day... not really anything to fear in this tank, and plenty of cover... the palmeri chase around, but seem to ignore all the other tetras... this is a 4 foot long 55 gallon tank, so lots of space to explore...

thoughts???

 

[Colin_T]

Yeah, all rummynose are boring. Platinum rummynose are a man made colour form.

Tetras move from place to place in big schools. If there are no predators they settle down and don't do much else.

 

[Magnum Man]

so, it's not just the platinum ones are more lethargic???

 

[GaryE]

You could change the set up and flow, and you'd get more dynamic behaviour. I have a mixed tetra 6 footer and the fish move all over it. The only fish in there larger than them are some Corydoras group fish, and I tried to plant to create different zones as they'd find in nature - brightly lit, shaded, low planting, overhanging leaves, etc.

Platinums, like the angels with the same marketing name, have a minor deformity in their scales many people like.

So what can you like about tetras? The diversity is interesting. Many species show fairly complex behaviour, but the 3 rummy nose species aren't among them. They like sparkling, sunlight water and shoals of dozens of their own. They aren't going to give you the complexity properly kept Cichlids can. But on the flip side, many cichlids are simple to breed, and tetras can really tax your skills.

I like seeing their diversity, and I like figuring out how to breed them so I can watch larger shoals. Other than that, they are pretty fish, and perfect for the ornamental fish trade. For actual fish watching, they can be beat.

 

[Naughts]

IME they are fantastic shoalers. They move across the tank and back again like a playground game of chase. They need a decent group - I always recommend 20 for rummies. How many do you have?

 

[Magnum Man]

started with 12-14... 6 or 7 left after around a year

 

[gwand]

started with 12-14... 6 or 7 left after around a year

What accounts for the 50% loss?

 

[Magnum Man]

"come on, my water was perfect, I was perfect... must have been faulty fish"

actually I'm not sure, but I lose less fish in this tank, than I used to

 

[GaryE]

Rummy noses are common because they are easy to get, but high death rates go well with them. Having unpacked thousands, a lot don't make it through shipping, and an exporter who packs them well is a valuable person indeed. I'd argue they're not a good fish for new aquarists but they are beautiful and inexpensive, so they are popular.

I may be wrong here, but I find they aren't as long lived as many of the fish found with them. I can keep cardinals for many years, but all of the species sold as rummy noses seem to time out after a couple of years for me. That said, I've only kept P. georgiae once since I got decent sized tanks, and maybe the short lives are on me. Fish live way way longer when they aren't crowded and when there aren't a lot of other species in with them. Now that I live in a town where the fish stores carry only bread and butter fish, I am discovering that as while I run my huge number of tanks, a lot are lightly populated.

The cost of online shipping in Canada has come down, but my region is a bit off the mainstream, so I can't just order freely (although with what I've been up to this week ordering fish to prepare for winter, you'd never know that!). With fish like the rummy group, sharing isn't the best thing, and if I were to get them again, I would expect losses like we're talking about here if I kept them with non tetra or Corydoras fish.

 

[Magnum Man]

post number 8 was an attempt at a blind quote to @anewbie 's opening line in

Don't you love posts like this one:

Everything is perfect. My water is perfect. My care is perfect. Why are my fishes dying ? ----- Hum... lets see everything perfect and you are doing everything exactly right yet your fishes are dying. Doesn't that suggest that something is not quite perfect? I mean isn't the fish dying a hint...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Magnum Man]

in the past, and to some extent today as well, many of the tetras seem fine, if they "settle" in ( after 2 weeks or so ) but that does seem to be dependent on species, for example my emperor "types" have had a low new turn over rate, while the rummies often ran as high as 50%, even with my "perfect" care..

 

[GaryE]

post number 8 was an attempt at a blind quote to @anewbie 's opening line in

Don't you love posts like this one:

Everything is perfect. My water is perfect. My care is perfect. Why are my fishes dying ? ----- Hum... lets see everything perfect and you are doing everything exactly right yet your fishes are dying. Doesn't that suggest that something is not quite perfect? I mean isn't the fish dying a hint...

www.fishforums.net

I saw that and laughed.

I'm getting scarily close to be able to say I've had fish for 60 years, and it seems like every year, I think of at least one more 'what if' on things I thought were perfected 30 years ago. Why have you had losses with those rummy noses? When you think about it, there is no sharp answer. There are so many possibilities, quite a few of which we haven't thought of yet. Not that long ago we didn't know about germs, DNA, or evolution. Since I've been keeping fish, we've learned so much it's mind boggling. Even the basics haven't stayed the same. Fun.

I've stopped trying with emperors. I'm terrible at keeping them, but I have done far better with rummys.

 

[anewbie]

I have a large school of around 50 in my 500; after 2 years i would say i lost 10% though in truth now that the geo are full grown a few are being eaten as i saw one accidently swim into a geo mouth and well that was that. When i first got them they schooled for about 3 weeks swimming back and forth the full length of hte aquarium but after that they stopped the swimming bit and now with the geo they have settled down into a new pattern - during the day they hang out as a large group on the left side where plants are scarce but at night they settle near the bottom on the right side where plants are dense - of course this behavior makes sense - i will note that all those articles that suggest a 8 to 10 inch geo won't eat small fishes are non-sense. They dont' really hunt the fishes per sey but if one happens to be near its mouth they don't object ot a free meal.

 

[GaryE]

I had Poropanchax normani in with Satanoperca sp for a really long time. The tank was peaceful and the community seemed perfect. Then a normani blundered by the mouth of a Geo/Satano who snapped at it, and liked what she found. Within minutes, before I could react, the entire shoal of normani was gone. Once you actually try an apple, they're worth pursuing, I guess.

Eating the shoalers had clearly never crossed the minds of those way larger Satanoperca, but once they got the idea, they all joined the hunt.

 

[anewbie]

I had Poropanchax normani in with Satanoperca sp for a really long time. The tank was peaceful and the community seemed perfect. Then a normani blundered by the mouth of a Geo/Satano who snapped at it, and liked what she found. Within minutes, before I could react, the entire shoal of normani was gone. Once you actually try an apple, they're worth pursuing, I guess.

Eating the shoalers had clearly never crossed the minds of those way larger Satanoperca, but once they got the idea, they all joined the hunt.

My geo are more peaceful than yours I have two species (technically 3) g. dicrozoster (and a couple of cousins albios) and g. sp alto (commonly known as gold dust - recommended but only keep 1 male as they are harem breeders). It was a g. dicrozoster that ate one but they don't hunt them even after eating it. to be honest he was as surprise as the rummy that swam into his mouth. But afterwards and month later i still see no attempts to hunt them and most of the schoolers are fine.

One thing i've learned is that g. dicrozoster are too large for the home aquarium. they are in a box that is 8ftx4ft but to be honest i think they belong in something closer to 20ft x 10ft minimum. If i redo things - of which there is a chance in 3 years I will definitely not be keeping them. I think i would replace the tank with something that is 10ftx5ftx16 inches and go with two species of dwarf cichild and a bunch of n. marilyn who can actually use the space properly.