Tattered fins, bloated after feeding

[nem2k2]

Hi, I was hoping to get some help with my newish tank setup

Here are the answers to the questions

1) not sure, except for temperature (26deg Celsius)
2) A couple of my neon tetras (I have seven in total) have slightly tattered fins. I notice that sometimes the fish chase each other around, and I read that tattered fins can be caused by fish fighting?

Also, I notice after feeding them that they appear bloated. I have been told to feed them as much as they can eat in 2 minutes, yet doing this leaves them with bloated stomachs. Even if I feed them just a tiny amount, their stomachs bloat a little - is this normal when they are eating? The bloating is gone by the next morning (I usually feed them at 7pmish). I feed them fish flakes that came with the tank. Tonight after feeding I found one of the fish belly-up at the surface, I opened the tank for a better look and he swam back down so I guess he's ok...
3) Tank is only 2-3 weeks old, I have not done a water change yet. I plan to do one this weekend.
4) I added a bacteria product to the water initially
5) Last weeked I added a little pleco and a snail to the tank because there was some algae growing on the heater and sides of the tank. The two of them have cleared all the algae away now.
6) 32L
7) Yes, see 5)


I have also attached a photo showing the fish with the most tattered fin (left of photo, foreground), it doesn't look too serious but I'm not sure. Another fish has a slightly tattered upper tail fin but I don't think you can see it in that photo.

 

[nem2k2]

Here's a pic of how the fish look bloated after feeding:

 

[BOD]

do you know about cycling cycling..please do a water change immediatly..do you have a water testing kit ???

neons arent the best starter fish, they do not do well in non matured aquaria, but i cant see anything wrong with them, and of course there stomachs get bigger after you feed them because all the food is in there! and its goes down by the next morning because they poop it out.

 

[BOD]

is your tank 32Litres...thats about 7-8 Gallons..pretty small....do you know what sort of plec you have in there?

you need to be doing at least a 25% water change every week, do you have de-chlorinator?

 

[nem2k2]

Hi, thanks for the help

I had a bad run when I first got the tank; the store didn't inform me about the cycling and said that tetras were hardy starter fish for a new tank. So I put 7 in to start with (the pet store sid that would be fine) but they all died They gave me 4 replacements, tested some water that I took into the store and I did a water change. 3 of the 4 replacements also died, but the last one survived the week and the fish store said it should be ok to replace them now.

So... now I have these 7 which have been fine for 2-3 weeks until I noticed the slight tattering of their fins this evening. I will change 25% the water tomorrow (I have a gravel siphon for changing the water) but I don't have a testing kit.

I'm glad to know the bloating is normal; I figured that they just had a full belly, but it seemed a little unusual (almost comical!). I had goldfish as a kid and they never got bloated after feeding, though tetras are a lot smaller.

Are the tattered fins anything to worry about then?

It' s a common pleco, only about 1inch long at the moment. I posted a thread about him here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=ST&f=14&t=95233
I am aware that I will have to get a bigger tank for him when he grows.

Are water changes needed every week? I was told every 2-3 weeks. And yes, I have a dechlorinator product called Aqua Plus.

 

[BOD]

you lfs lied a bit to you..sometimes you can never fully trust them after all you are just giving them your money and thats what they are most concerned about.

I do water changes once a week and so do most people here, water changes take out the nitrates in the water which is the product left after ammonia and nitrite, you will need to buy a test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates and test the water once a week and then do a water change.

the tattered fins are just a cause of squabbling between the tetras, ideally they would be better in a larger tank, larger tanks are also easier to keep and have a more stable enviroment, because of the larger volume of water. where about do you live? there are many online site that sell cheap tanks and also ebay is an option, i really would suggest and upgrade if you want to keep your fish alive and healthy and also the pleco, you should take him back and get a bristlenose or one of the smaller species of plecs.

 

[ncjharris]

I would think that as the tank hasn't been cycled, the poor water conditions would lead to a secondary infection, in this case fin rot, perhaps brought about with stress/squabling.

Water changes should be carried out regaulaly, about 10 - 20% per week depending on the stocking of your tank, although if you are careful, have an overfiltered and planted tank you may be able to get away with 25-30% fortnighly ever so often.
I would suggest a water change now - if in doubt change a quarter or so of the water, it will make a world of difference.

A water testing kit is by far the best thing you can have. It lets you keep on top of whats going on in your tank and will help other people to help you when you have a problem.

I would also suggest, if you haven't already, you read the pinned topics on the forum, as BOD said - there is a lot of useful info there.

And good luck, keep us posted with how the tank goes.

 

[nem2k2]

Looks like I got the tank size a little wrong; it is actually 40L. It's a Jebo R338, seen here: http/www.jebo.com.cn/html/series5.html

I changed 25% the water tonight. I looked at water testing kits at the LFS today, I didn't know there were so many different tests! Is there anything in particular I should be testing for at this stage?

A larger tank is not very feasible as I don't really have room for it in my flat (it's a small cheap place, I'm only 1 1/2 years out of university in my 1st real job), though I did see this tank which I should have room for: http/www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Pets-...on-29270661.htm (I live in New Zealand)

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You should rehome the plec/give him back to the lfs you got him from if you can't get a much bigger tank, they need a 50gallon tank minimum to grow up in and even so that is a bit on the small side- they are also big waste producers in comparsion to normal fish i.e they poo alot which in turn creates ammonia which is poisonus to fish.
Do you use dechlorinator/water conditioner and does the tank have a filter?
You should buy water quality test kits for ammonia, nitrate and nitrites- these are the most important things to moniter in water quality whatever stage your tank is at- you should be testing the tank on a weekly basis minimum for these stats.

Neon tetras as before mentioned are not good starter fish; you can either rehome them and get a couple of hardier fish to cycle the tank which have a better chance of survival or alternatively(and much better), rehome all your existing fish at the moment and do a fishless cycle in the tank.
Fishless cycles are much easier and quicker to do than cycling a tank with fish and do not risk the fish's health since you do not need fish to do it, hence fishless cycle. You simply add ammonia to the tank every day until the cycle is complete- you can find more on how to o about this process on the pinned articles in the beginners section .

After you have done the fishless cycle you can add fish accordingly with much less risk of them dying.

 

[nem2k2]

Yes, I use dechlorinator and the tank has a filter.

Unfortunately rehoming all the fish is not an option, this is the only tank I have... I don't think the pet store will take the plec back either.

 

[BOD]

theres no harm in asking and if they will not take him back you will have to find somewhere else which will take him. if you want o keep you tetras then do so, just dont be suprised if they dont last very long, also that link to the tank you put in is quite a good size altough a bit worried that its says it already comes with 12 fish, but thats something to sort out in the future if you do get it.

 

[nem2k2]

Pet stores here have a policy where they will not accept returns on livestock as they are deemed 'perishable goods'. They will only do anything if the pet was sick or got sick as a result of advice given by the pet store.

Would that tank I linked be large enough for the pleco? It works out to be about 63L. I guess I'd have to cycle that tank before adding any fish to it... unless it's possible to transport the tank with ~75% of its water still in it or in buckets or something? Then the water should still be ok? Otherwise I would be stuck for somewhere to put those 12 fish heh...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

63litres is only 14 UK gallons, which is going to be far from adequete is you are keeping the common plec. There is a buy/sell section on this forum if you want to try that out for rehoming the fish, or you could put an add up in your local newspaper or just try a diferent lfs to to rehome the fish too

 

[nem2k2]

An update on my tank: all of the tetras appear to be fine, some of their fins seem to be growing back ok so hopefully the little guys are on the mend!

I also bought a second second-hand 60L fishtank today with a bunch of fish in it; I haven't managed to ID them all yet but there are platys, guppies, cardinal tetras, a yellow Chinese suckerfish(?) and a couple of large orange fish that almost look like goldfish. I notice that one of the cardinals also has slightly tattered fins; I am unsure as to whether or not the fish was like that when the seller sold me the tank as all the fish were already bagged up when I collected it.

One strange thing I noticed was that the cardinal tetra with the tattered fins appears to have a slightly bent body at the tail; it appears to be bent to the side when the fish is not moving. One of the neon tetras in my original tank also exhibits the same problem. Is this a sign of anything ominous?

PS: I still have not got around to testing the water; the testing kits are not very cheap here, but now I have 2 tanks I think I'll bite the bullet and get some.

PPS: Uhoh, looks like I'm catching the dreaded 'MTS' (multiple tank syndrome)!