just venting

[sepetrose]

Guys, I'm sad and frustrated. I keep loosing fish.

I have a 40 gallon breeder that I cycled (fishless) carefully, then slowly stocked with 5 serpae tetras and a dwarf gourami to start. The serpaes were nipping at the gourami so I increased the school to 10 serpae and they confined their nipping to each other. Those Originals have done great, no problems. They're fat and happy and colorful.

But I later added 10 rummy nose tetras (from a different aquarium shop than the Originals). I acclimated them really slowly- drip over 2 hours. Five died off one by one with no apparent cause within the first two weeks. Parameters all good and stable, no sign of disease or infection. A few months after the 5 rummies died and things seemed stable, I added 8 sterbai cory cats. A few days later 4 of the remaining rummies died of Ich. None of the other fish showed a sign of Ich, though I did treat the whole tank with Ich-X. As soon as I finish treating for Ich, the cories start dying. Now I'm down to 2.

So now I have 10 apparently bullet-proof serpae and a gourami. I have one lone rummy and two cories who I fully expect to find dead any morning.

I think I'm going to just not do or change anything for about 4 or 5 months. At that point... I don't know? Try to give the Rummy a school again? Will he be ok for 5 months alone?

Parameters:
ammonia: 0
nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10
pH 7.5
hard water - chicago tap, treated
Temp 77
Two Aqueon 30 external filters
airstone
Fine sand substrate
fake plants
Prime conditioner
feed variety of flakes, sinking pelets, frozen daphnia and bloodworms, veggie disks, peas.

 

[mambee]

I find rummies difficult to acclimate, but they live for 6-7 years once they survive the initial acclimation process. The high pH and hardness are rough on them. Also, the rummies have very small mouths and sometimes are already in a weakened state when you buy them. A couple of suggestions: add lots of driftwood as this will help lower the pH a bit. Also, I'm convinced that live plants are vital to a healthy aquarium. Try tying some anubias or Java fern to pieces of driftwood. They don't need much light to thrive.

 

[GuppyGuy333]

I have heard how some corys are just more sensitive and weaker than others. Panda corys I think are notorious for their die off in new aquariums.

I agree with mambee in that I think plants offer a lot more than just aesthetic benefits. they offer hiding spots which make fish more comfortable. my neon tetras love them.

It does seem like you are adding a lot of fish all at once which might cause slight ammonia spiking. Even though you have a relatively big tank you are adding a lot of bioload which your bacteria might not be able to keep up with right away. I added five neon tetras at a time to my school until i reached fifteen and had 0 die off. I also add Stability whenever I add new fish and i think a similar bacteria booster could help as well.

it's also possible your fish were sick with something (other than the ich) that you just couldn't see. I recommend Tetra lifeguard. it treats a bunch of different things (its cheaper at petco than it is at petsmart or at least where I am). I think when adding fish to a tank you should medicate preemptively instead of re-actively. This is why many people suggest quarantine tanks. Its also possible they were stressed (which is understandable) and that lowered their immune system threshold and something as little as a small bacteria infection could have killed them. They may normally may have been able to fight the infection but due to stress it was just too much.

Good luck!!! And don't feel disheartened....we've all lost fish.