4 lamp eye tetras ... one at a time

[kristap]

They died. Four days in a row .... like dominoes. The rest of my tank inhabitants are:
1 gold nugget pleco
4 otto
4 hatchets
6 red minor tetra
5 leopard danio, longfin
5 zebra danio, longfin
and formerly ...4 lamp eye tetra

None of the other fish, nor the lamp eyes until discovered dead, show any sign of distress or unusual behavior. They eat; they swim; they ... you know. That's about it.

Water parameters:
tiny bit of ammonia as I tested right before finding dead tetra #4
ph 6.6
po4 1.5
no2 = 0
no3 = 20 ppm
hardness = 120 ppm
alk/buffer = 80 ppm


Tank is 49G with some Vals, Dwarf Sags, and Java Ferns. There is a slight algae problem which I'm still trying to address but it's not too bad at all. Am adding CO2 via Red Sea kit temporarily.

I didn't think or find anything to indicate these tetras are particularly sensitive or fragile. I've had them for almost 2 mos, if not longer, though I did buy them from the same Petsmart store (2 at a time).

Do things like this just happen or am I seriously missing something and in for a big die off?

thanks,
kristap[/b][/code]

 

[Zagz]

I would think that you should test for nitrite and nitrate as they are not posted here. The ammonia could be attributed to the dead fish. Sometimes these thing do happen but nitrite could be a large factor if the levels are up.

 

[kristap]

Argh - good point and reminds me that I need to get new tests for them as I recently ran out and completely forgot. ouch.