NEED HOME: White Cloud Mountain Minnow & Flame Tetras need separate schools/schoals

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morena

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
Messages
19
Location
South Nevada
NEED HOME: White Cloud Mountain Minnow & Flame Tetras need separate schools/schoals

20gal tank (two weeks old, not completely cycled)
Aquatech 5-15 with extra airstone running
Filtered water from home machine + Prime water conditioner
7 Glowlight Tetras / 3 Flame Tetras (rescue) / 1 White Cloud Minnow (rescue)/ 1 Snail
API paper strips GH 180; KH240; pH 8; ammonia 0; Nitrite 0; Nitrate .1
"brackish" water (1/4tsp per gallon once/month)
Indirect window sunlight + LED lighting 12hrs/day
2 caves, 2 fake plants, 1 moss ball
Change 16-20% of water daily, as the tank is still cycling (vacuum 1/2 gravel)
No proper quarantine tank, low funds. Kept in a 1.5gal tupperware container in "QT" for about 24hrs to monitor for obvious disease & acclimate new water
Feed 2x/day small amounts; eaten within ~30 seconds
Not all fish eat at each feeding (bottom fish), most eat once/daily probably
Rotated use of tropical flakes, crushed tropical pellets, crushed algae pellets
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I recently acquired 3 Flame Tetras that I bought to complete a glowlight tetra school, under the wrong assumption that they were just dull glowlights in need of care & the big box store rep didn't know better either & labeled them as such. They were very skittish, and were doing a lot of heavy breathing or "panting" and were not interested in food the first 24hrs or so. One that is slightly older seems to be a bully & chases the other 2 and also nips them pretty often. I feel this will resolve itself in a full school situation of 5 or more (some sources say 6+)

A baby white cloud minnow that I rescued on purpose is also in the tank *blush*. He is on his own, also without a school, but occasionally will join my group of 7 glowlights then sort of swim off in the wrong direction & get separated bc he has a different swim pattern & fins of course. As cruel as it is to not have a school, he was close to death when I got him :facepalm:. He was struggling to swim, and was so weak that he was getting stuck to the aquarium filter at the store:banghead: (thankfully he was sideways every time, and never got sucked in). When the fish went into the bag he collapsed out of shock or passing out (the guy used clean, fresh water :eek: so it probably was water shock), he almost wouldn't sell it to me until I explained I wanted to rescue it & wouldn't complain if it died. When I put him in a plastic container to slowly add clean water over 12hrs, he sat still almost all day in one spot, his gills were bright red & puffed outward, and seemed to be gasping whether at the top of the bowl or bottom of the bowl. I actually didn't have much hope for him to make it. When I added the airstone, he still wouldn't eat for a day or two. Telltale signs of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate poisoning. I'm still not sure the proper term, but the poisoning that goes along with extremely dirty water conditions. Once he seemed stable, he went into the 20gal & is doing great.:fish2: He stays near the top of the water line, so if yours does this it's not a bad thing (y). He/she is small so I'm glad they also get first dibs on food. My water quality is good, because the other fish stay near the floor.

I'm looking for a new home for the 3 Flame Tetras & 1 White Cloud Mountain Minnow for them to be happiest :D. Message me if you know a good fish keeper in Nevada. I will post photos if I get the chance, they're also on Craigslist.

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For experienced fish keepers, I just want to confirm my information that these fish need a school & would be happiest that way in their species group. Do you have any tips on how to keep them happy in the meantime until they get new homes?:confused: I held out hope that maybe the flame tetras, glowlight tetras, and white cloud would all school together based on a few sources that said theirs did, but they don't sadly :ermm: Although mine don't fight with each other, only picking on their own kind.
 
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