Hi I'm very new to keeping fish I originally went to get a gold fish for my kids ended up with a 64L aquarium I started off with 6 harlequin rasbosa and after 1 day they all died so I took a sample of my tank to the shop and they said my water was all perfect including oxygen etc so they give me 5 black phantom tetras as a replacement they all seemed to be doing fine then today after 3 days 1 of thr females has gone and hidden in the log ornament and hasn't come out all day she seems to be sad laid near enough on the bottom no dead she doesn't look ill but then I noticed the other stay in the same place don't seem to wander they swim against the current all day and none of them seem to be eating anything I'm very confused and sad I don't want to loose these fish too as sad as that sounds I really don't know what I'm doing wrong
Do black phantom tetras get lonely
- Thread starter Rachelmac
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A few things.
Tetras in general are social fish. They do better in groups. They will make the best of things, but they will be happier in larger numbers. Having said that i have 3 black phantoms left from my original school of 8, and those 3 seem just fine. They hang out together and keep themselves to themselves at the back of the tank. They arent as active as they once where, but they arent as young as they once where either. Personally i would prefer to see at least 5 or 6 of any one kind of tetra.
Could you give us a little background on your tank. Are you aware of the nitrogen cycle? Do you know how to cycle a tank? If yes, what did you do? Did the store tell you what your water parameters are, or just say they are fine? If you know your parameters can you give us them. Dont just take the word of a fish store saying everything is fine. A significant amount of traffic on this forum starts with bad advice from a fish store.
Just trying to avoid issues down the line.
Tetras in general are social fish. They do better in groups. They will make the best of things, but they will be happier in larger numbers. Having said that i have 3 black phantoms left from my original school of 8, and those 3 seem just fine. They hang out together and keep themselves to themselves at the back of the tank. They arent as active as they once where, but they arent as young as they once where either. Personally i would prefer to see at least 5 or 6 of any one kind of tetra.
Could you give us a little background on your tank. Are you aware of the nitrogen cycle? Do you know how to cycle a tank? If yes, what did you do? Did the store tell you what your water parameters are, or just say they are fine? If you know your parameters can you give us them. Dont just take the word of a fish store saying everything is fine. A significant amount of traffic on this forum starts with bad advice from a fish store.
Just trying to avoid issues down the line.
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Hi thanks for the reply, they seemed to be moving about a bit more since I posted last night but the female one doesn't move from that log she did a bit last night ate a bit of food then back in the log very strange! Ha I did move the filter so the water was further up more towards the water line,
I am a complete novice at this so I don't know what they said my readings were in the shop but I purchased the ammonia rest strips and the other one which displays a lot of things like pH ect and I did one this morning and it said no ammonia and the other things I thi k there's about 6 of them all displayed within normal ranges I will donit again tonight when I get in and I will let you know as I really don't want to be hurting the fish, I haven't done a water change yet it's been 4 days and the readings have been normal plus my hover thing hasn't arrived I think it comes tomorrow, now the pet store said to do 25% water change but iv been reading do 50% with new tank what would you suggest? Do you use luke warm water to put back into the tank? Mines at 26 degrees at the min,
Thanks
I am a complete novice at this so I don't know what they said my readings were in the shop but I purchased the ammonia rest strips and the other one which displays a lot of things like pH ect and I did one this morning and it said no ammonia and the other things I thi k there's about 6 of them all displayed within normal ranges I will donit again tonight when I get in and I will let you know as I really don't want to be hurting the fish, I haven't done a water change yet it's been 4 days and the readings have been normal plus my hover thing hasn't arrived I think it comes tomorrow, now the pet store said to do 25% water change but iv been reading do 50% with new tank what would you suggest? Do you use luke warm water to put back into the tank? Mines at 26 degrees at the min,
Thanks
Your target should be to keep ammonia + nitrite combined below 0.5ppm through water changes. When your cycle establishes they will stay 0 on their own. After that i would change some water weekly. 30% weekly would normally be fine. If you are heavily stocked 50%.
Test strips arent considered very accurate, if you wanted to make an investment a liquid test kit like API freshwater master test kit will be more accurate, covers what you need, and long run more cost effective than strips.
Just temperature match water going in with whats in the tank. You can go to the trouble of using a thermometer, but by touch is accurate enough. Make sure to add a water conditioner whenever you add tap water to your tank.
Test strips arent considered very accurate, if you wanted to make an investment a liquid test kit like API freshwater master test kit will be more accurate, covers what you need, and long run more cost effective than strips.
Just temperature match water going in with whats in the tank. You can go to the trouble of using a thermometer, but by touch is accurate enough. Make sure to add a water conditioner whenever you add tap water to your tank.
Il have a look into water testing kit, I was thinking I'd have to do that at some point, do u add the tap safe to the water your replacing or to the whole tank?
Also to pick ur brains more I'm thinking once I'm sorted with my cycle I was going to stock my tank more I was thinking angel fish and gourami are these good tank mates for my black phantoms? Iv heard very mixed reviews
Also to pick ur brains more I'm thinking once I'm sorted with my cycle I was going to stock my tank more I was thinking angel fish and gourami are these good tank mates for my black phantoms? Iv heard very mixed reviews
64 litres isnt a big enough tank for angelfish. They get quite big and territorial. There are some smaller species of gourami that would be ok in that size tank. You might get away with some dwarf cichlids in that size tank, but i think a small gourami would be your best bet as a centrepiece fish for your size tank.
As to when to add water conditioner, its personal preference. Either add enough to treat the whole tank before refilling or treat each bucket individually. Convenience of just treating once over the cost savings of treating the smaller volume of each bucket individually. I do the whole tank where im adding more than a single bucket full, treat the bucket where the bucket full is all that im changing.
As to when to add water conditioner, its personal preference. Either add enough to treat the whole tank before refilling or treat each bucket individually. Convenience of just treating once over the cost savings of treating the smaller volume of each bucket individually. I do the whole tank where im adding more than a single bucket full, treat the bucket where the bucket full is all that im changing.
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