Tetras are dead but now I have babies.

[GradyH]

Hello everyone. I am new to fish keeping and these forums. I got into this hobby a little over two months ago. I bought a betta and he was living in a one gallon tank. About five days ago I bought a ten gallon tank o upgrade for my betta. I let it cycle for about 36 hours and then I added my betta. Everything was good. Then I decided to get him some tank mates. I did some research and went down to my local fish store. I ended up buying one shrimp, he came with a snail and I don't know what kind he is, and five small neon tetras. I let both bags float for two hours. Then I opened the bags over a bucket and a net. I let the water and fish fall out over the net and the water went into the bucket. Then i introduced them into the tank. Everything seemed fine. They were schooling together just fine. They hid near the bottom right corner but I figured this was normal behavior as they were in a totally new environment. My betta showed no signs of hostility towards them and they didn't seem t bother him. I thought everything was going to be great. This morning when I woke up and turned on my lights i discovered two tetras were stuck in the filter and dead. Another was dead on a plant. I quickly removed them and left my room for a few hours. When i returned the other two tetras were struggling so I removed them and placed them into the one gallon. They too died. It was then that I noticed I had tons of fry in my tank. Apparently before dying the tetras spawned. I quickly turned off my filter and removed the betta from the tank as he was eating them. My questions are, what did I do wrong? and what do I do with these fry? Thanks a lot.

Tank size: 10 gallons
pH: I don't know
ammonia: I don't know
nitrite: I don't know
nitrate: I don't know
kH: I don't know
gH: I don't know
tank temp: 78* Fahrenheit

Volume and Frequency of water changes: Once a week I change 25%.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Tap water conditioner.

Tank inhabitants: One betta, one shrimp, one snail, many tetra fry, and formerly five neon tetras.

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): The five tetras, the shrimp, and the snail.

Exposure to chemicals: The water conditioner.

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[Demeter32]

It is highly likely that they died because of an un-cycled tank. The Nitrogen cycle takes a few weeks to complete, which didn't happen in 36 hours. Here's a link that can give you an in-depth look http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
If you can buy the water test strips, that would really help determine the problem. It might even be the pH. If the neons were in water with a low pH and then when you put them in the tank with a higher pH, they might of got quite a shock and keeled over. Neons are kinda touchy, which is why most people will recommend them for a well established tank.

As for the fry, neons are egg layers and are rather difficult to spawn in home aquariums. The eggs would take more than a couple days to hatch so it is unlikely that they are neons. The shrimp on the other hand, might be the mom. Depending on the species, some baby shrimp will kinda float/swim around the water column for the first few days of life. Ghost shrimp are one of the species to do this. What kind of shrimp is it? A picture and a description of the fry will help identify them.

 

[WILDER]

I agree with the above reply.
Only buy liquid test kits as there the best and more accurate then the
test strip cards.
Neons are sensitive fish and need mature tank of 6 months.
Research the fish before you buy on adult size, size of tank, and if they are compatiable with the fish you already keep.

Water changes for now. Increase aeration.
Read the link the member left to the nitrogen cycle.

Sorry for your losses. R.I.P.

Good Luck.

 

[GradyH]

Ok so I just ordered some liquid tests. The fry are so small that I can't quite get a good picture of them. However, I looked up neon tetra fry and they don't look like that so they have to be shrimp. My shrimp isn't wanting her picture taken right now but she's some what see through and tan with spots. Now that I know they are shrimp how should I take care of them? I was thinking i'd get some pantyhoes or something to pull them out and isolate them in the smaller tank until they grow bigger. What do you guys think I should do?

 

[WILDER]

Sorry I can't help you with the shrimp as I have never kept them as they freak me out, so do snails. Hope someone else can help with this matter.
Good move getting the liquid test kits.

 

[Demeter32]

I can't say that I've ever raised shrimp but I did have a ghost shrimp have little ones, unfortunately that specific species needs brackish water for them to develop correctly and they all died. I'm not too sure but I don't think your shimplets will survive. I'm guessing they are of the same family as ghosts simply because it sounds like they are swimming in the water column. You might want to do a bit of researching on your own though.

Is the betta in the ten gallon still? If it is then I would put him back in his old tank if its still set up, or do a 50% water change to hopefully lower the nitrites/nitrates. Bettas are pretty tough but it's best to try and fix a problem before he starts showing signs of being sick.

 

[GradyH]

Yes the betta is back in his previous home. I had just done a 25% water change the day before I bought the tetras. It had been over 24 hours since a water change but I can sure try a 50%. I also don't think any of the baby shrimp will survive. Between my filter and the betta I doubt any of them will make it to maturity although it'd be nice if they did.

 

[GradyH]

So the plot thickens. I went back to the pet shop today where I got them because the 24 hour warranty was still in place. They wanted a water sample to test so I took it in. Apparently the pH was a little high but everything else was fine with the water. My only thoughts now are just that these fish were unhealthy to start wiht or the shock of a new tank was too much for them. I still have no idea what happened.

 

[Demeter32]

If you did a water change that could of stabilized all the other readings they tested for. Were you able to get replacement fish? If so, then I would keep up really well on water changes for the next few weeks, doing about 25-50% water changes ever other day to keep the nitrites/nitrates down. Afterwards I think the tank should be cycled and you can put your betta boy in there

 

[FroFro]

So the plot thickens. I went back to the pet shop today where I got them because the 24 hour warranty was still in place. They wanted a water sample to test so I took it in. Apparently the pH was a little high but everything else was fine with the water. My only thoughts now are just that these fish were unhealthy to start wiht or the shock of a new tank was too much for them. I still have no idea what happened.

Hopefully you were able to get a refund on the fish. Everyone here has provided answers to your issue, such as the uncycled tank. I'd advise using some tetra safestart to help with your aquarium cycling. Or even better, if you know anyone with a healthy established freshwater tank that wouldn't mind parting with some filter media, that would speed up the process greatly, and for free! Don't get filter media from the pet store tanks though, that's asking for trouble!

If you are curious about tetra safestart I have some saved links from other forums about it. I also read that Seacham Stability also works, but I've never personally used it. Best of luck!