What Colourful Fish Can I Have...

[Lazerus]

Hi all,

Okay, after a disastrous and stressful week of loosing many Cardinals (again!) & a Red Honey Gourami, I am really thinking about throwing in the towel and giving up altogether.

It’s not the first time I have lost several Cardinals in a row, and this was my last attempt at having a respectable shoal of them...I was hoping to maintain a shoal of about 10. I don't understand why they don't survive. On advice from the guys here I appear to be doing everything correctly.

But alas once again,it was not to be, and I anxiously watched one die after the other daily in succession. So that’s it for Cardinals & me…I really, really love them, but they are too sensitive and far too expensive. (My last batch were €5 a fish!!)

Since I set up my tank last June, I have bought approx 25 cardinals in total, I have only managed to keep two Cardinals long term. They are in my main tank for over 6 months now and doing well but I’m guessing they’ll become stressed without their ‘shoal’ mates.

I have seven Rummy Nose tetra that they shoal with, and I also have two Oto’s.

My aim was to slowly build up a South American community tank with Cardinals included, but I'm reluctant to buy any more fish now...so my tank is incomplete. Its just not working out for me, and I believe it’s all to do with the pH of my water

From the tap, its 7.8…. I don't want to mess with pH adjusters as I’ve been told the having a consistent pH is better than a fluctuating one.

So, my next step as I say is to either give up all together or find compatible tank mates that appreciate a high pH.

What species can I get? It doesn't necessarily have to be a south American theme but I will say, I don’t want livebearers, Platies or Mollies.

I enjoy the hobby but have had well over my fair share of deaths, and as I’m spending most of my time playing doctor, I hardly enough time to even enjoy the ones I do have!!!

I’m scared to buy any more fish now, I really am. My confidence is shaken.

Any suggestions for me?

P.s My water stats are always Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm and Nitrate varies, but I never let it get above 20ppm.

 

[minxfishy]

M.Praecox (dwarf rainbowfish), lovely peaceful colourful fish. You could have a shoal of 6 in there, males have red colouration on their fins, females orange. They do well in a higher ph, mine is also 7.8 and I have 6 praecox plus loads of other rainbows. Easy to care for so long as you do regular water changes. Look them up, see what you think.

 

[foley69]

preacox are stunning rainbows glad you reccmended them to me minx i should be getting some in the next month or so when i have sold my fry...my ph is also reasonbly high at about 7.6-8 so they are perfect for my tank. would reccomend them to anybody

 

[foley69]

also i wouldnt be disheartened they are such sensitive fish i wouldnt dream of keeping fish like that dut to the worry of them somehow curling their toes as you say u are keeping good quality water they must just be crappy fish near you but sounds like the rainbows are a good choice for you. never get dishearted though you have managed to keep rummy nose's so theres a sense of achievement as i hear they are very finicky

 

[saz326]

You could try one last time, but make it a slow and ongoing thing.

Cardinals can be a real pain to settle into a tank - they like a really mature tank, but once they are settled they are really quite hardy.

My suggestion:

You know you want a south american community, so why not build up a south american biotope.
Get some dark substrate, tree roots and some good plants. Take your time to plant things in place so that the fish can have a decent swim about - but also can play hide-and-seek when they need to.

Grab a CO2 kit to encourage rich plant colours and growth. (you can make a CO2 generator with yeast sugar water and an old fizzy pop bottle - just need to buy a diffuser - read about this all in "planted tanks" section of the forum)
The CO2 will help to reduce your pH levels down a bit, but dont try to go below neutral (pH 7) if you have "hard" water. Carbonate hardness etc... best avoid all that chamistry.

Run a fishless cycle - Or simply keep your existing filter running while everything is in progress. Bung some black water additive in the tank - this ensures that the minerals that black water fish need in the water are present.

Buy suitable catfish/cories if there are any "blackwater" cories. They will help to mature the tank. Get the substrate into good condition.

A couple of larger south american fishies introduced would then help mature the tank further. Only then, (9 to 12 months) later would I add a shoal of cardinals to a fantastically well established tank.

I would travel to a fish shop, and ask the pH of their tank water, and buy the fish if they were at a neutral pH. Try to buy only cardinals that have been in the shop for some time (weeks rather than days) because they don't travel well - and you dont want to buy pre-stressed fish.
If in doubt about how long the fish have been in the shop, ask the fish shop to "hold" them for you - ask it as a quaranteen, or tell them your heater is on the blink and you want to ensure everything is perfect. (they are usually quite accomodating)

But dont give up. They are such rewarding fish. Plus - you want a south american Biotope. Even if the fish do pop-off and your luck doesnt change then you will have a beautiful and prepared tank that you can do a lot with.

Good luck. x

 

[Lazerus]

never get dishearted though you have managed to keep rummy nose's so theres a sense of achievement as i hear they are very finicky

Thanks...

The mad thing is, my very first fish that I ever bought were six cardinals & they were foolishly placed into an uncycled tank...with the help of Miss Wiggle, Rabbut, and Waterdrop from this forum, they helped me through a 'fish-in' cycle and these Cardinals were with me ever since, I lost some because I mistakenly put a new batch of diseased Cardinals in with the old healthy ones, without using a quarantine tank, and alot of the cardinals were wiped out due to a weird flesh eating infection. But I'm still left with the two I have now and they are from the original six.

So, If I can get Cardinal tetras through 'new tank syndrome' I can do anything!!!!

Saz326...I understand that setting up the tank is the way to go and having everything settled and not too add the Cardinals unless its a really mature tank...but I have a question about this? (and it goes for all new additions actually, not just Cardinals)

I would be putting any new fish into the quarantine tank for about four weeks during which time, it wouldn't have all the plants & decor and wouldn't be mature like the main tank, so how do I combat that problem?

This is the main problem I seem to be having...that the fish die in quarantine before they ever get a chance to see the 'big' tank.

 

[Lazerus]

By the way, forgot to say, googled the rainbow fish...yes! They are very nice alright.

Thanks for that, thats exactly the kind of recommendations I'm looking for.

 

[loachman]

The other thing that may be causing you trouble is the stocking of the ~10 gal tank. It's rather high if you still have all those fish in there. That can lead to stress in the fish and faster/easier disease onset.

 

[OldMan47]

A nice small fish that is very tough is the lowly rasbora het. They have that neat porkchop shaped dark area on a copper colored fish. I personally like several different livebearers but you have ruled those out. Another nice small fish is black neons. They seem to be lots hardier than the regular neons or cardinals.