Starving Long-Fin Black Tetra

[Catfishlover]

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Tank size:37gal.
pHont know, but not normal
ammonia:normal
nitrite:normal
nitrate:normal
kH:normal
gH:normal
tank temp:75F

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): My long-fin Black Tetra is not eatig anything. we've tried icolating it, so it's not the other fish. It's fins are growing darker in color and the fish is shrinking.

Volume and Frequency of water changes:weekly 1.5 gallon changes

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:no additives, heater,filter, assorted plants and Decour

Tank inhabitants:3 gouramis, 3 other long-fin black tetras, 6 neon tetras, 1 emerald catfish, 2 albino corys, 1 julie cory, 2 mystery snails, 1 neurite(cant spell) snail, 2 male guppies, 1 alge sucker

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):3 gourami & 2 mystery snails one week ago

Exposure to chemicals:none

Digital photo (include if possible):I cant figure out how to post this (some help would be nice)
 
Please help! This is operation save California(It's name)!

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm afraid we really need actual numbers from tests before we can help.

 

[Catfishlover]

last time I checked, there was no amonia, nitrites, nitrates, or chlorine. the pH was 6.8,

 

[Ninjouzata]

Is your tank cycled? If so, how did you go about doing this?
How long has it been set up?
 
To post a picture you can go to more reply options and attach a file at the bottom.
If this doesn't work for you, you can upload the picture(s) to a photo sharing website such as photobucket and then link here.

 

[Catfishlover]

I waited about 1 week before adding California along with another black tetra and two male guppies. It would make sense if it was sick from the begining, it was one of the firs fish we got. My other first tetra was a bully, so that may have been the cause.

 

[Ninjouzata]

It could have been sick to begin with, but I imagine the tank not being cycled isn't helping anything
 
Can you give the exact water parameters?
 
Are these black skirt tetras btw? If so they are notoriously nippy and even moreso when not kept in adequate numbers (6+) so that would explain why the other one was being a bully.
Male guppies can also be bullies though.

 

[Catfishlover]

sry, but whenever i try to upload a photo, the thing wont load

 

[Catfishlover]

we added 2 new ones when we noticed it wasn't eating, and it solved the problem for a bit. The guppies are the most peacful fish in the tank however. Btw what exactly do you meen by exact water perimiters? This is my first tropical tank, so I dont have much experience.

 

[Catfishlover]

I changed my profile pic to what it looks like. I hope this helps

 

[Ninjouzata]

Water parameters are pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrates. These should be tested using a liquid test kit as the strip tests are unreliable.
 
I have no experience in fish diseases so not sure what is wrong by your profile pic. Hopefully someone with more experience comes along soon! :C

 

[Catfishlover]

hm... i do believe Ive cycled the tank. i let the filter run with all the plants and gravel, is it just an old fish? occasionally it makes a few swishes with its fins and points itself up, but then it fixes itself.

Btw Mariah, you've been a HUGE help. Thank you so much for everything.

 

[sawickib]

It usually takes about a month for a tank to cycle, with adding pure ammonia and testing. Ive never heard of a tank cycling in 1 week

 

[Ninjouzata]

I don't feel like I've helped at all! I want to know what is wrong with your fish and have it on the road to recovery
 
Hopefully someone on here can get it figured out..in the mean time, do a big water change. 1.5g a week is really not all that much, most do a minimum of 25% weekly.
 
Read THIS to understand more about cycling

 

[attibones]

If you could please upload a photo to photobucket or a similar site, then link the image here, we will be able to see your picture.

A couple of things:
Your tank isn't cycled. To cycle a tank you have to add an ammonia source, wait until a-bacs form to convert ammonia to nitrite, then wait for the appropriate bacteria to grow in order to convert nitrite into nitrate. This process is usually 4-6 weeks. Simply letting the filter run does not cycle a tank unfortunately.

What kind of gourami have you got, some are quite aggressive and are too large for this tank, but some are suitable.

Your corydoras need to be in a school of about six per species (so you have three different species which would give you eighteen cats. You need to choose one species).

Your algae sucker is probably a Chinese algae water which is aggressive as it ages and large. Please rehome.

Your tetras need to be in a school of six or more.

You'll also want to do daily water changes as you are almost certainly dealing with ammonia issues. Try doing 50% a day. Your fish is probably not eating due to stress. When you up the numbers of this guy's school, then you'll likely see him eating. Work out your stocking by removing some of the fish, work on your cycle and then get the numbers where they should be.

 

[Catfishlover]

I'm not eliminating the amonia suggestion, but I think it's something else. None of my other fish are affected. My gouramis are dwarfs, so I dont think they're the problem. Finally, my algae sucker is something called a otoconclus. It's about as big as a guppy. The amount of tetras may be the issue.