Sorry I'm not sure if this is the best place to put this, seeing as I don't think my fish had a disease, but as they are dead it could be a possibility. . .
Well here is my problem:
I just bought a new tank lrecently, and I used eco complete substrate and planted very heavily with fast growing plants. I then (the day after it was set up) bought 3 phantom tetras to start cycling the tank. (I also bought bio spira on the same day) so I don't think I did anything wrong there (but please tell me if I did, I didn't think putting 3 fish in the same tank was a problem but maybe I rushed it?). I would test the water, but I don't have a test kit yet, but it is a big priority, and as soon as I have some spending money I will buy them. I have some reason to think that the reason they died wasn't because of poor water quality, because the first few days they were acting very normal, and actively swimming and very healthy looking, but then last night the female phantom tetra was at the surface by the filter, moving her mouth really fast and not swimming, just kind of sitting there. And then she died last night, along with one of the males. The third phantom male is still alive and actively swimming in the tank (he is the only fish in there now
) but his color is pale (his fins aren't black like they should be, they are gray and kinda faded). I think that maybe the two males were bullying the female and that's why she died? But that doesn't explain the death of the second fish then? Maybe the other male bullied him too?
The only problem I can possibly pin their deaths on is the fact that I didn't acclimate them long enough, only about 10-15 minutes. I now realize I should have done that much longer with the drip method, but I didn't, and when they came out of the bag, they weren't swimming too well, but then later that day they were acting completely healthy with bright colors and chasing each other around. And if that is the reason they died, why didn't they die right after the acclimation?
I realize that you guys probably can't help me until I get my water tested, but maybe you can pinpoint it to something? Because I don't understand it...again maybe I rushed, but I thought the bioload (in addition to biospira and plants) could handle three small fish? Should I have only bought one?
Well here is my problem:
I just bought a new tank lrecently, and I used eco complete substrate and planted very heavily with fast growing plants. I then (the day after it was set up) bought 3 phantom tetras to start cycling the tank. (I also bought bio spira on the same day) so I don't think I did anything wrong there (but please tell me if I did, I didn't think putting 3 fish in the same tank was a problem but maybe I rushed it?). I would test the water, but I don't have a test kit yet, but it is a big priority, and as soon as I have some spending money I will buy them. I have some reason to think that the reason they died wasn't because of poor water quality, because the first few days they were acting very normal, and actively swimming and very healthy looking, but then last night the female phantom tetra was at the surface by the filter, moving her mouth really fast and not swimming, just kind of sitting there. And then she died last night, along with one of the males. The third phantom male is still alive and actively swimming in the tank (he is the only fish in there now
) but his color is pale (his fins aren't black like they should be, they are gray and kinda faded). I think that maybe the two males were bullying the female and that's why she died? But that doesn't explain the death of the second fish then? Maybe the other male bullied him too? The only problem I can possibly pin their deaths on is the fact that I didn't acclimate them long enough, only about 10-15 minutes. I now realize I should have done that much longer with the drip method, but I didn't, and when they came out of the bag, they weren't swimming too well, but then later that day they were acting completely healthy with bright colors and chasing each other around. And if that is the reason they died, why didn't they die right after the acclimation?
I realize that you guys probably can't help me until I get my water tested, but maybe you can pinpoint it to something? Because I don't understand it...again maybe I rushed, but I thought the bioload (in addition to biospira and plants) could handle three small fish? Should I have only bought one?
