What Eating My Tetras

[dalewatkinson]

Hi Dale

Im a newbie to the world of tropical fish keeping but read everything going before setting up my tank and lost fish at a rate of knots when I put them in - and they were hardy Minnows to sart with.

I found a very good LFS and took in wter sample as well as a dead fish - I was using an API master test kit which kept reading 0 on everything. The guys here told me it was my water despite the 0 readings.

LFS guys did a test with Tetra kits and guess what, Ammonia was through the roof - they tested the water with th API test kit to prove it was that and that still read 0 so not me doing anything wrong.

They said they no longer stock API test kits as they lost a lot of stock awhile ago through negative readings and they have found them to be poor - I know others on here use them so Im not sure whether it may be the water were we are based or not but the guys on here were spot on with their advice and three weks on I have a healthy cycled tank and a new test kit.

Most fish books give advice on calculating the number of fish suitable for your tank -as do the guys on here.

Good luck I hope things settle down for you.

Jo

i have another tank that is 40 gallons and has a few cichlids in it could any of the fish in my 13 gallon be suitable in that tank or is that just a really bad idea?
my 40 gallon tank is fully cycled and the cichlids in there are very healthy and we havnt lost any yet. i just want to improve the conditions for my fish any advice is appreciated thank you

 

[Davo86]

i have another tank that is 40 gallons and has a few cichlids in it could any of the fish in my 13 gallon be suitable in that tank or is that just a really bad idea?
my 40 gallon tank is fully cycled and the cichlids in there are very healthy and we havnt lost any yet. i just want to improve the conditions for my fish any advice is appreciated thank you

that may be a possibility depending on what they are

 

[dalewatkinson]

they are african cichlids i dont know the exact species of them though they are all malawian cichlids
thanks

 

[dalewatkinson]

p.s all off the cardinal tetras have gone now i am just worried that i am overstocked and how much time i have to sort it out. might i just add aswell that none of the fish in this tank are very big they are all still young please help

sorry im very tired they are not very big at all sorry

 

[Spooky76]

Depending on what type of cichlids are in your 40 yes you could move some over.
Obvioulsy not other cichlids, like angels, you might have some fights or terratory if you do.
The mollys can go in not sure but I would have thought the elephant nose can go in too.
I havent ever kept any of the others so not sure. I had a gourami in with Kribs and Rams and it wasnt a problem, was a 3 spot though, if yours are same size and temperament then that could go in too.

Cardinals are a small fish and some of your larger fish could easily eat them. If you have lots of plants in the tank then maybe they could survive by hiding, but as pointed out I suspect it was more likely a mini cycle which killed them, neons and tetras are not very hardy fish.

 

[DarkEntity]

ok guys here is my set up its a 13 gallon tank(uk) we have 2 hopplos 1 black mollie, 1 discus, 1 elephant nose, 2 leopard gourami, and we did have 9 tetras. but now we are down to 4 with no signs of bodys.
does any one have any ideas?

The Hoplo are predatory catfish and very active in a well kept tank, they will eat anything they can get in their mouths, i kept a pair for a while and fed them prawns etc..These also get to about 6-8" so too large

The Discus are, well ponce fish, need very good water, very docile fish to live with and tbh again get too large for your small tank.

The Elephant nose is just a really bad choice, they are very hard to get feeding properly and usually don't last very long in a tank.

For your tank you should be looking at small Tetras, Guppy etc..

I wouldn't recommend moving anything to the Malawi tank. The Elephant nose would get bullied as would the Discus and the Hoplo probably would get their whiskers nipped off.

 

[Davo86]

they are african cichlids i dont know the exact species of them though they are all malawian cichlids
thanks

hmm, ok rehoming the fish from the 13G sounds the best idea i'm afraid unless you can upgrade the tank but even then you will still have fairly uncompatible fish.
the hoplos may be ok in with the cichlids, i'm sure i read somewhere on the african forum that someone keeps them together?