first deaths - Aquarium Advice

biorb · 05-09-2005, 05:13 AM

Hi,
As this is my first post i thought i would thank all the great advice that got me through the first 2 months of my new aquarium successfully.
I have a 10 [acronym:bebbcf6923="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:bebbcf6923] biorb with
4 male guppies
4 cherry barbs
2 rummynose tetras and some assorted live plants.
I managed to get my cycle established using the guppies and had no problems. ammonia 0 nitrite 0 and nitrate around 10.

My problem is that i decided to finish off my aquarium with 4 rummynose tetras but 2 died in the first night. A bit of a shock as it was all going so well. It's been 3 days now and the remaining 2 still seem quite shy/ stressed. We have quite hard water and probably more on the alkali side of pH7. Should i risk getting another 2 to in order to make them feel more at ease? Or is it normal for them to hide at the back in the plants? Also they seem to open and close their mouths a lot. The barbs and guppies are doing great and get on well together.

Thanks for reading

Billsgate · 05-09-2005, 07:35 AM

Welcome to AA!!!

Do you have some sort of filter running in your biorb? (is that the same as a bowl?)
I see you have a heater, so that's good.
How often do you change water?
How did you acclimate the tetras?
You may want to try and get some more, but personally I think your tank is already stocked well enough with 4 guppies and 4 rosie barbs. You could try adding something that doesn't add much to the bioload, like applesnails? I would advice against ghost shrimp, I'd think barbs would chase them all the time.

Also, on a side note, some people believe fish go crazy when held in a round tank or 'bowl'.

I've kept a goldfish in a bowl once and can confirm that he wasn't too happy.

biorb · 05-09-2005, 08:04 AM

To acclimatize the tetra's i just left the transport bag in the water for 30 minutes then used a net to spoon them across. I do 15% water changes weekly now that it is cycled. As for the crazy thing i can't comment, the tank is placed in the corner of the room and the fish seem to recognize the front from the back as the tetra's have been hiding round the back since i got them and the guppies at the front as they always want feeding whenever they spot you walkng past.
My heater is set to 77F, the biorb (www.biorb.com) has a built in under gravel filter.
It contains a sponge and some of this activated carbon stuff.
Even though i have been reading the forum i appreciate i am slightly over stocking the tank.

Cheers for the reply

mattrox · 05-09-2005, 08:10 AM

Rummynose have the reputation of being sensitive fish. South American tetras, if wild caught, can find it hard to acclimatize to hard alkaline water. Though this may not be the reason they died. To be honest I think rummynose are too active for 10gals. So I wouldn't get anymore to replace the ones that died.

Hopefully they will get used to the situation and become more outgoing.

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05-09-2005, 07:35 AM	#2
Billsgate Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Belgium Posts: 1,604 Images: 8	Welcome to AA!!! Do you have some sort of filter running in your biorb? (is that the same as a bowl?) I see you have a heater, so that's good. How often do you change water? How did you acclimate the tetras? You may want to try and get some more, but personally I think your tank is already stocked well enough with 4 guppies and 4 rosie barbs. You could try adding something that doesn't add much to the bioload, like applesnails? I would advice against ghost shrimp, I'd think barbs would chase them all the time. Also, on a side note, some people believe fish go crazy when held in a round tank or 'bowl'. I've kept a goldfish in a bowl once and can confirm that he wasn't too happy.

05-09-2005, 08:04 AM	#3
biorb Aquarium Advice Newbie Join Date: May 2005 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 7 Images: 4	To acclimatize the tetra's i just left the transport bag in the water for 30 minutes then used a net to spoon them across. I do 15% water changes weekly now that it is cycled. As for the crazy thing i can't comment, the tank is placed in the corner of the room and the fish seem to recognize the front from the back as the tetra's have been hiding round the back since i got them and the guppies at the front as they always want feeding whenever they spot you walkng past. My heater is set to 77F, the biorb (www.biorb.com) has a built in under gravel filter. It contains a sponge and some of this activated carbon stuff. Even though i have been reading the forum i appreciate i am slightly over stocking the tank. Cheers for the reply

05-09-2005, 08:10 AM	#4
mattrox Aquarium Advice Addict Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Adelaide, Australia Posts: 1,328 Images: 36	Rummynose have the reputation of being sensitive fish. South American tetras, if wild caught, can find it hard to acclimatize to hard alkaline water. Though this may not be the reason they died. To be honest I think rummynose are too active for 10gals. So I wouldn't get anymore to replace the ones that died. Hopefully they will get used to the situation and become more outgoing.