Tetra

[Falconwithaboxon]

Hello guys,
So I got home today to find one of my Neon Tetras dead. Usually I wouldn't be super worried, it happens sometimes, but he had a large chunk taken out of him. Something ate part of him but I have no idea if he died first or died from the bite. I have Angelfish and Dwarf Gourami in that same tank so I feel like one of them did it. Is that something that happens? I already planned on putting them in a 10 gallon tank with some invertebrates but now I think I need to. Should I move them before it cycles or take the risk with the cycle to get them away from the big fish?
Any other advice would be appreciated.

 

[Retired Viking]

I would consider doing a planted/silent cycle or using Tetra Safe Start plus to jump start your 10 gallon tank and quickly as possible. Neon tetras are not good to have in a tank that is cycling. They are not that hardy.

 

[Colin_T]

Dwarf gouramis don't normally attack neon tetras. Big angelfish might.

Any pictures of the fish (live and dead)?

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Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until we work out why it died.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

 

[Falconwithaboxon]

Dwarf gouramis don't normally attack neon tetras. Big angelfish might.

Any pictures of the fish (live and dead)?

-------------------
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week or until we work out why it died.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.

There are my angelfish and gourami, I have more of each but those are the big ones. The dead tetra has a chunk right out of his stomach. And I also changed it to a 30 gallon tank, found one for cheaper than the 10 gallon lol. I'm pretty new to this so would that tank have to cycle for longer? What does the size not affect how long it cycles.

 

[Colin_T]

The stomach is the softest part of most animals and usually where other creatures start eating it.

If you can post some pictures of the remaining tetras, I can check them for disease.

The angelfish appears to have a cuople of white patches on its side. This needs to be monitored closely and could be from poor water quality.

------------------
It doesn't matter how big a tank is, they all take the same time (4-6 weeks) to cycle (develop the beneficial filter bacteria). A bigger tank is better because it has more water and any ammonia produced by the fish is diluted in the larger volume. So if they are in a 30 gallon tank, that is better than a 10 gallon tank.

When doing a fish in cycle, you feed the fish 2-3 times per week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. This dilutes any ammonia produced by the food and fish.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

You can buy bottles of filter bacteria from most pet shops and these can help speed up the cycling process. Add a double dose every day for a week and then pour the remaining contents into the tank. Try to add the bacteria supplement near the filter intake so the bacteria get drawn into the filter where they belong.

------------------
Don't clean a new filter until it is 8 weeks old. If you clean it too early you can upset the filter bacteria and restart the cycling process. If the filter starts to block up, you can clean it but do it gently and don't replace any media/ materials.

When the filter has established it should be cleaned at least once a month and every 2 weeks is great. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

If you have filter pads/ cartridges in the filter, these can be squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used until they start to fall apart. At which time you replace them with a sponge from another type of filter. You can use a pair of scissors to cut sponges to fit your filter. Sponges will last for years and don't need replacing until they start to fall apart.

If you do have pads/ cartridges, it's a good idea to add a sponge now so it can develop the beneficial bacteria too. If you want to remove the filter pads, then have a sponge in the filter (next to the pad) for at least one month before you remove the pad. If you have several filter pads, remove one and replace it with sponge, wait a couple of months and remove the other pad and replace it with sponge.

 

[Falconwithaboxon]

The stomach is the softest part of most animals and usually where other creatures start eating it.

If you can post some pictures of the remaining tetras, I can check them for disease.

The angelfish appears to have a cuople of white patches on its side. This needs to be monitored closely and could be from poor water quality.

------------------
It doesn't matter how big a tank is, they all take the same time (4-6 weeks) to cycle (develop the beneficial filter bacteria). A bigger tank is better because it has more water and any ammonia produced by the fish is diluted in the larger volume. So if they are in a 30 gallon tank, that is better than a 10 gallon tank.

When doing a fish in cycle, you feed the fish 2-3 times per week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding. This dilutes any ammonia produced by the food and fish.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

You can buy bottles of filter bacteria from most pet shops and these can help speed up the cycling process. Add a double dose every day for a week and then pour the remaining contents into the tank. Try to add the bacteria supplement near the filter intake so the bacteria get drawn into the filter where they belong.

------------------
Don't clean a new filter until it is 8 weeks old. If you clean it too early you can upset the filter bacteria and restart the cycling process. If the filter starts to block up, you can clean it but do it gently and don't replace any media/ materials.

When the filter has established it should be cleaned at least once a month and every 2 weeks is great. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.

If you have filter pads/ cartridges in the filter, these can be squeezed out in a bucket of tank water and re-used until they start to fall apart. At which time you replace them with a sponge from another type of filter. You can use a pair of scissors to cut sponges to fit your filter. Sponges will last for years and don't need replacing until they start to fall apart.

If you do have pads/ cartridges, it's a good idea to add a sponge now so it can develop the beneficial bacteria too. If you want to remove the filter pads, then have a sponge in the filter (next to the pad) for at least one month before you remove the pad. If you have several filter pads, remove one and replace it with sponge, wait a couple of months and remove the other pad and replace it with sponge.

I included a few pictures of the Tetras, nothing seems wrong with the rest.

I'm not worried about the white on the Angelfish since the were supposed to be black and white, although they're mostly just black now sadly.