Is this normal for red eyed tetra to hang out intop of tank?

[pettygil]

Is this normal for red eyed tetra to hang out in-top of tank by himself?

 

[pettygil]

video of my fish tank

 

[Andy Sager]

Is this normal for red eyed tetra to hang out in-top of tank by himself?

He may have been picked on which is why he's alone. Try feeding a little food and if it eats, there's no issues. If he doesn't, you might want to isolate him to see if that settles him down. You can use a net ( if it's a larger size) a bucket, a clean plastic spaghetti strainer that floats or anything that will allow water to flow through it.

 

[pettygil]

Tatra fish eats food

He may have been picked on which is why he's alone. Try feeding a little food and if it eats, there's no issues. If he doesn't, you might want to isolate him to see if that settles him down. You can use a net ( if it's a larger size) a bucket, a clean plastic spaghetti strainer that floats or anything that will allow water to flow through it.

I put some food in the tank, and loner tetra, came around to eat, so he or she is eating food, which is a good sign. I hope so anyways.

 

[Andy Sager]

I put some food in the tank, and loner tetra, came around to eat, so he or she is eating food, which is a good sign. I hope so anyways.

Good to hear. Just keep an eye on the fish to see if any of the others are harassing it.

 

[Colin_T]

Post a picture of the entire tank so we can see if you need to add more plants/ ornaments to break up territories.

How many red eye tetras do you have?
They need to be in groups of at least 10 to stop them killing each other and everything else in the tank.

Have you got a picture on the back of the tank?
If not, get one.

Test the water quality for ammonia and nitrite. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate if you have any reading above 0.5ppm.

 

[pettygil]

Post a picture of the entire tank so we can see if you need to add more plants/ ornaments to break up territories.

How many red eye tetras do you have?
They need to be in groups of at least 10 to stop them killing each other and everything else in the tank.

Have you got a picture on the back of the tank?
If not, get one.

Test the water quality for ammonia and nitrite. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate if you have any reading above 0.5ppm.

I have a total of 6 tetras. Also I have 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrite . My water is fine I checked with the liquid test kit.

 

[pettygil]

A video of back of tank

A video of back of tank.

 

[pettygil]

Video of tank

video of tank. If i took a photo it would be blurry as well.

 

[pettygil]

Is this normal?

He may have been picked on which is why he's alone. Try feeding a little food and if it eats, there's no issues. If he doesn't, you might want to isolate him to see if that settles him down. You can use a net ( if it's a larger size) a bucket, a clean plastic spaghetti strainer that floats or anything that will allow water to flow through it.

Is this normal with Tetras not moving much, and hide behind the filter?

 

[Colin_T]

The fish sitting under the surface can be from stress or resting. the fact there are 3 fish doing it would suggest they are sleeping. Some floating plants (real or plastic) would provide them with some surface cover to sleep under.

 

[Andy Sager]

The fish sitting under the surface can be from stress or resting. the fact there are 3 fish doing it would suggest they are sleeping. Some floating plants (real or plastic) would provide them with some surface cover to sleep under.

What Colin said. You can confirm this by testing the water and if the numbers are fine and the fish are not hyperventilating or showing signs of attack, they are sleeping. Tetras come from areas with high plant life so you should add some more tall ones to your tank. I use plastic ones that mimic fine leaved species ( which is typical Tetra habitat) or use ones that float with hanging roots.

 

[HaleyLovesFish]

Hey there,

I've had red eyed tetras before and I've noticed that they tend to swim around the surface quite a bit. However, if your tetras are constantly hanging out at the top of the tank and not exploring the rest of the water column, it could be a sign of stress or poor water quality. Have you tested your water parameters recently? It might be worth checking to make sure everything is within safe levels. Also, do you have enough plants or hiding spots in the tank for them to feel comfortable exploring? Would love to hear more about your setup and see if we can troubleshoot together.

 

[pettygil]

Thank you.

What Colin said. You can confirm this by testing the water and if the numbers are fine and the fish are not hyperventilating or showing signs of attack, they are sleeping. Tetras come from areas with high plant life so you should add some more tall ones to your tank. I use plastic ones that mimic fine leaved species ( which is typical Tetra habitat) or use ones that float with hanging roots.

I found some tall aquarium plants on Amazon, for 40 gallon fish tank. I will buy for my Tetra's.
I also had a different question. My Ammonia was high, so I did a 90 percent water change. This is for my Betta tanks. The ammonia is not as high. but it's 0.25 with the liquid test kit, and after, a big water change. My 40 gallon is cycled so no problems there. I'm just talking about my 6.5 gallons that my betta is in. My other betta tank, there is no ammonia. I did add some ammo lock for ammonia, on my betta tank, see if that helps any.

 

[pettygil]

Thank you.

Hey there,

I've had red eyed tetras before and I've noticed that they tend to swim around the surface quite a bit. However, if your tetras are constantly hanging out at the top of the tank and not exploring the rest of the water column, it could be a sign of stress or poor water quality. Have you tested your water parameters recently? It might be worth checking to make sure everything is within safe levels. Also, do you have enough plants or hiding spots in the tank for them to feel comfortable exploring? Would love to hear more about your setup and see if we can troubleshoot together.

Yes. I tested my water with liquid test kit and everything is fine with my tank water. I tested for ammonia, and Nitrates. All check out fine. My Betta tanks I am not sure. I did big water change, and there are small amounts of ammonia in the tank. Anyways, I do have one eyed tetra hanging by the filter he does not explore much. I have plenty of plants. but I was told to buy bigger plants, so I will have to buy on Amazon. I also need 4 more tetras cause I was told 6 is not enough. I need like 10 tetra's not 6. That is what i was told here to buy more tetras.

 

[Andy Sager]

I found some tall aquarium plants on Amazon, for 40 gallon fish tank. I will buy for my Tetra's.
I also had a different question. My Ammonia was high, so I did a 90 percent water change. This is for my Betta tanks. The ammonia is not as high. but it's 0.25 with the liquid test kit, and after, a big water change. My 40 gallon is cycled so no problems there. I'm just talking about my 6.5 gallons that my betta is in. My other betta tank, there is no ammonia. I did add some ammo lock for ammonia, on my betta tank, see if that helps any.

2 options:
If you have any Fritzyme #7 left and it's still under the use by date, add some to the betta tank and it will help cycle the aquarium faster. If non available, you need to keep watch on the level of ammonia and nitrite and do water changes to reduce them.

I forget if you have sponge filters or HOBs on the betta tanks so A) if you have sponge filters, take the one from the cycled betta tank and squeeze it out ( just a couple of squeezes) in the uncycled tank to help add more nitrifying bacteria. B) If you have HOBs, take a small amount of the filtering material and place in the filter for the uncycled tank ( or rinse the cartridge into the tank. ) Both of these methods will help add more bacteria to help finish off the cycling process.

 

[pettygil]

Yes I have Fritz 7

2 options:
If you have any Fritzyme #7 left and it's still under the use by date, add some to the betta tank and it will help cycle the aquarium faster. If non available, you need to keep watch on the level of ammonia and nitrite and do water changes to reduce them.

I forget if you have sponge filters or HOBs on the betta tanks so A) if you have sponge filters, take the one from the cycled betta tank and squeeze it out ( just a couple of squeezes) in the uncycled tank to help add more nitrifying bacteria. B) If you have HOBs, take a small amount of the filtering material and place in the filter for the uncycled tank ( or rinse the cartridge into the tank. ) Both of these methods will help add more bacteria to help finish off the cycling process.

I just used Fritzyme #7 Is not out of date. I added to fish tank. I also use the sponge from my other Betta Tank as well. I'll check tomorrow and see how things are going. Thanks for your help.

 

[Andy Sager]

I just used Fritzyme #7 Is not out of date. I added to fish tank. I also use the sponge from my other Betta Tank as well. I'll check tomorrow and see how things are going. Thanks for your help.

Just to confirm, I don't want you to replace the sponge from one tank to the other, just some squeezings from it is all you need as the bacteria will be in the "juice" you get from the sponge.

 

[pettygil]

Just to confirm, I don't want you to replace the sponge from one tank to the other, just some squeezings from it is all you need as the bacteria will be in the "juice" you get from the sponge.

Yes, that is what I did. I need to check my water again. For the ammonia test it looked yellow, but when I put on white background, it looked light green. That was with my liquid test kit.

 

[pettygil]

Here is test result from liquid test kit.

Here is test result from liquid test kit. It does look yellow, but off camera looks like light green. but maybe how the light hits it. I'm not sure.