*Edit* Tetra's in general

[Fishyfanatic]

The first two schools of fish added to the 55 gal tank is supposed to be the True Rummynose Tetra's and the Cory's. I have been calling around everywhere trying to find a lfs that has the True Rummy's in stock but noone does. I finally found a place that gets them about once a month, but the owner/buyer said that they normally don't request the True Rummy's because they generally don't live very long because they are hard to keep. He said that people always bring them back dead because they die easily. Is this true? Am I going to be having a hard time trying to find these? And even if I do find them, are they really that sensitive or was the guy just trying to persuade me out of buying them and into buying something else from his store?

Also, when I was talking to one of the buyers of a different store, he said that he readily has the Asian rummynose Tetra's. Does anyone have any experience with these?

 

[GouramiFanatic]

This is only one situation so take it for what's it worth! One of the girls that I work with has a pair of True Rummynose Tetras. She originally got three a few months ago, but one died suddenly. The water was tested and nothing was out of whack so we don't know if anything caused the death or if it was just that fish's time.

After looking (although, not very hard) she finally found more at a lfs and bought one to replace the one that had died. She acclimated it properly, but the next morning it to had died. So she's back down to the original two now.

They are awesome looking fish and I was also considering getting some eventually for my aquarium at home. I'm interested in hearing more stories regarding them.

Sorry, I have never even heard of Asian Rummynose Tetras so I can't offer any info on them.

- Mandy

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Thanks Mandy. I had never heard of the Asians either until the guy at Pet Market Place said that they have them in stock all the time. I tried searching online but couldn't find a good picture of what they look like. If they look nothing like the True's, then they won't even be a consideration. I am wanting the True's because of the red/green/white coloration. I think they are absolutely beautiful. If they are some of the less hardy fish, then they will be added later on so as to establish the tank before hand. But that leaves me with just the Cory's and Pleco that can be added. The others need an established tank: Hatchets and Rams. That will be a non-interesting tank. One lone pleco that hides and a school of 6 Cory's. Talk about an empty looking tank. Anyone else have any suggestions or comments?

 

[Guest]

I know that Rummy Nose tetra's are supposed to be very very sensitive to water parameters and can die easily from shock when they are changed over. At my LFS they had just got some in and i bought 8. I was riding in the car on the way home and i took the bag out to look at thim (husband was driving) i like to admire my fish on my way home, and i noticed one floating.. dead already!!! i was like, wtf?!?! so we turned around and went back, they gave me a full refund and said they had just got them in and when they get the rummy nose, they always lose a lot when they first get them. So i haven't gone back to get more.. yet, but i really want to.

 

[severum mama]

If you can find rummies that are tank raised, I say go for it. Mine are and I haven't lost any of them (about 8 months later), but I see the wild caught ones dying left and right at my lfs. I'm going to try to find a link for you that explains the differences between true rummies and others- I think the true ones are h. bleheri, but there are others that look very similar that are h. rhodostomus. If I can find it I'll post it shortly.

 

[severum mama]

Ok, I found it, and it actually describes 3 species instead of 2.

http://www.characin.com/carey/articles/98/three_rummynose.html

Mine seem to be h. bleheri BTW.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The one that I was looking for was the Hemigrammus bleheri or even the Petitella georgia. The success rate doesn't look that high, I may replace them with something else and if sometime down the road I come across tank raised ones then I'll jump on it. I didn't want ot have to get something else, but the availability is an issue along with the fact that I don't want to buy 12 and have 4 survive. I'm taking a big enough chance on the German Blue Rams.

Thanks guys, I'll keep my eyes open looking for them. Can anyone suggest another tetra like fish in its place? Meaning with color but stays under 2 inches that would fit into the South American theme?

 

[severum mama]

Rummies won't stay under 2 inches, they will grow to about 2 inches. How about green fire tetras? They are really colorful and pretty, and also grow to about 2 inches. They don't have the tight schooling patterns that the rummies do, but are easier to keep. They might be hard to find though, I only see them here every once in a while. Here's some info:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1113
IMO this pic doesn't do them justice. Mine are brighter green and the orange-red color is much brighter.
I also like my glow light tetras a lot, they stay around 2 inches or a little under, and they are really hardy.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1583

 

[Fishyfanatic]

That's what I mean, around 2 inches. Not exactly 2 inches but pretty close to it. I just don't want suggestions for fish that will grow to be 6 inches.

I do like both of those suggestions. I've never seen them in stores before, but I am going to go check out a lfs tonight where I will be getting most of my fish from. I'll just see what they have available. They have ALOT of fish, each tank is a species only and they have it nicely decorated with backing, decor, gravel, all that. Even driftwood. I think that's partially why I like it so much, they make the tanks look pleasing.

 

[severum mama]

Species only? That's cool! My lfs has their tanks decorated too, and some awesome display tanks, a couple saltwater and a heavily planted FW with like 4 species of rainbows and clown loaches, tanks are 80 gal corner bowfront that they set up to make a circle- sweet!!! Anyway, back on topic- maybe the lfs you're going to will special order for you, it's worth a try. I would be surprised if you didn't at least find glow light tetras at this place, they are very common around here and my lfs always has them. If you can't find them, what about black neons, or cardinals? Or, of course, neons, which I hadn't suggested because I was trying to come up with more unique options. If you like cardinals, watch out- they can also be very unforgiving and I've personally had terrible luck with them. Black neons would be more hardy from what I understand.

I wish you the best of luck with your German Blue rams. I'm not sure if I will get any more. I lost both of the blue rams I got, and one of the 2 gold rams. I think next time I would rather try apistogramma, that is, if I can ever find them around here. I've been looking for almost 2 years. I'd love to keep a. cactuoides or a. agassizi, have you checked out their pics on live aquaria?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Yup, they are species only. This is the same store that told me they have the Asian Rummynose Tetra's in stock. It is actually to their advantage because then they don't have to try and figure out which fish is which. Each section of the store is clearly marked what fish are which ie: Brackish, Malawi Cichlids, Tang Cichlids, Gourami's, and so on. I love the decor though. It makes them look like they actually care about their fish.

The corner bow fronts are also in this store too. They have a big circle and have big display tanks full of Africans and communities and South American and so on. I always want to buy out of them.

I'm looking for a tight schooling fish that will bring some color and character to the tank. Also something that is unique. And when I mean unique, I mean something that isn't in everyone's tank but is still available. I know, sounds odd.

I'm going to check around Live Aquaria this afternoon when I get a break. This pesky job. It always gets in the way of my fish hunting and AA surfing.

 

[greenmaji]

This pesky job. It always gets in the way of my fish hunting and AA surfing.

Well said!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Does anyone have experience with any of the following:

Silver Tip Tetras
Royal Black Emperor Tetras
Gold Neon Tetras
Red Tail Mirror Blue Tetras

I've done research so know all the basics, so I am just looking for actual experience. Or does anyone know of any other mid-level fish that would fare well in this tank? Future Tankmates: German Rams, Corys, Bristlenose Pleco, Hatchets. I am looking for a South American small fish (2 inches and under)

 

[severum mama]

Don't the emperor tetras get bigger than what you're looking for? I've never even seen gold neons or the red tail mirror blues around here, so of course they interest me. The pics of gold neons on liveaquaria are stunning.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The Royal Black Emporer tetra's reach approximately 2 inches in length. That's around what I am looking for. I've never seen the other Tetra's either, but then again I have never really looked for them before. I've always been stocking my tank with Africans and I never really took the time to look for Tetra's.

I was supposed to go tonight to the lfs and check out their stock, but I won't be going until tomorrow evening. I will make a list of what they have in stock that interests me and then bring it home and check out the profiles. I hope they have at least 1 of what I have on the list. Or maybe they have some more interesting ones that Live Aquaria doesn't have.

 

[krap101]

i like my purple emperors, they look real nice. personally i dont like the black ones as much

 

[aqh88]

Emperors(Nematobrycon palmeri) are a bit odd with their fat bellies and little tails. They swim sort of at an angel with their belly toward the substrate and their tails at an angle away from it. Amusing to watch compared to my graceful congo tetras with their more streamlined body and flowing fins. They also are not schooling fish. They spend their life in small groups, pairs, or even singly. They will not school at all and generally just scatter across the aquarium. Emperors can also be somewhat prone to illness. They easily catch anything that's going around. I originally bought 9 of these fish and lost all but 1 male and 1 female. When the lfs got in a new batch of emperors from a different source I decided to wait and see how they did. Again all but a very small number died. Surprisingly though they seem to survive poor water quality fairly well. Better than most rummies. But if they get anywhere near a fish with a bacterial, fungal, or parasitic infection you can count them gone. I've heard similar results from others. They also die quickly before showing much in the way of symptoms. This is one fish I would not suggest buying online. After even a short amount of time traveling they will turn pale white and often not survive. Once carefully acclimated as the last fish to a healthy tank they can be quite hardy considering water quality. A pair makes a nice addition to any tetra or planted tank but they are a hit or miss whether they'll stay healthy for the first week. I searched everywhere for emperors for over a year and then lost nearly all of them. Of course my next task is to get my remaining pair to spawn for me

 

[Fishyfanatic]

These fish will have to make a travel distance of about 2 hours in the car. So it looks like the emporers are out. They will be the first addition to the tank, but it will be cycled. The filter has been running on the 150 gal tank for over a month now.