The march of the Tetras

[Mooselet]

so I moved my Betta is a pretty ten gallon tank along side 2 albino cries and 4 tetras.
By the end of the night, one tetra was swimmin verticle! When I poked him, he swam upside down.
Uh oh, swim bladder problems. So I put him in his own encloser and sure enough he was a goner the next morning (looked like his bladder expanded out of his body...) I was also missing another, whom floated to the surface when I put in 4 new tetras (he was also missing an eye). So 2 died overnight and I added 4 more.

I left the bag in the water for a little over half an hour because I was cooking dinner, and all of the levels are fine, filtration is good, betta and cories are happy.

But all my tetras right now seem to be hacing problems swimming horizontal. I'm not sure if they're 'drinking' air or just not able to sink. When I poke the glass they swim away fine, but end up near the top again. They were ok at the pet store, too, all schooled together in the corner.

Should I just not buy tetras from that store anymore cuz they end up defective, or what? I'm fine with 2 cories and a betta (in which my cories are sleeping right now) and my betta was my first fish, but I'm upset I spent... let' see... 8x5.. 40$ on tetras to have them not last a day.

 

[Mooselet]

I moved my 6 tetras into an empty 1g tank to see if they'll be ok later on.

They're actually not floating vertically anymore right now?

 

[Bettafanatic]

It might just be that store. I'd get the tetras somewhere else. There might also be something wrong with the water. What are your parameters?

 

[Mooselet]

I'm thinking it's just the store, honestly. At one point there were banned from carrying dogs and some lizards for poor maintenance... The guy I was talking to was helpful, but he wasn't there today.

I don't know my parameters. I do have a water neutralizer kit. It's made for bettas, so maybe the teras don't like it? (Nutrafin Betta plus). I was going to get test strips today but I completely forgot, but the fish lady ( i was talking to a fish dude yesturday) said if I have the betta plus I'd be ok (the store workers aren't too bright if they're teens). But I really want some because my friends tap water spiked the other day and wiped out most of her fish. Random spike, sort of scary. I'm glad our filtration centre is one of the best in the world.

My tetras seem ok in their own little space, though, and now I can feed them... but.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Definitely go to another store. If they can't even keep dogs and cats, which are some of the easiest pets, they probably can't keep fish either. If there's no LFS near you try ordering online. Do you have a water test kit? It's important to always know your parameters. Betta water conditioner is the same as normal water conditioner but the dosing is for smaller tanks, about 1-5 gallons. It should be fine.

 

[Mooselet]

Well overnight all the tetras either sank or floated to the top to die. I wonder what's going on with them.

I'll go get a water test kit. My cories and Betts are still 100%

 

[Hholly]

Maybe it's neon tetra disease?

 

[Mooselet]

I went back to the store and found the guy who I was talking to the day I bought my cories and the first batch of Tetras. He said bring back the bodies and some of my water and he'll test my water, tell me how to treat it if anything is wrong and replace fish up to the amount I paid for, rather than any 5$ fish (Maybe I'll get more cories!)
He was off at 5 so I'll have to go back tomorrow. He's part of Ecas (East Coast Aquarium Society), and the way he talks he seems to know a lot about fish (unlike the girl who sold me my last 4 tetras).

He said this morning he picked off 2 dead ones, and when I was leaving I noticed 2 dead ones, too. I think the batch they received recently is defective. There is still a happy school hiding under the Tetra sticker on the tank, though.

We'll find out tomorrow. In the mean time, I still giggle at my cories. I think I might like them more than my Betta now, haha. Sorry, Ponyo!

 

[Bettafanatic]

Probably just a bad batch. That was really nice of the guy to do that for you. Most lfs workers wouldn't. I understand about your love for cories. I used to hate mine the first couple of weeks I had them, since they didn't do anything and were jumpy as hell, but now I couldn't imagine my tank without them. My betta will always be my favorite though lol.

 

[Mooselet]

Oh I almost forgot.

I had my water testes at Riverscapes today and my water was 100% perfect. So we think it's just a bad batch. He gave me lots of water stuff; tap water conditioner, bacteria to get it moving and grooving, test strips, etc. Let's hope I can expand soon. Riverscapes has a whole bunch of different cats and PC has a new batch of albino/brozes!