Rumneynose swimming funny

[karancon]

Bought a single rumneynose and 2 days later he died. Noticed today he was swimming funny, got stuck in a plant, the first day he just hid in one spot, didn't eat. Water is testing fine. It's a new tank, store just sells fish, told me he was a hearty fish, and would be okay on his own. Any thoughts?

 

[Mifsud]

Swimming funny sounds like a swim bladder problem. Please tell us more about your tank

What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.

How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?

What kind of filter do you have?

How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?

When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?

Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?

What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently

 

[karancon]

Tank is a new 40 gallon. I'm running an aqua clear 50. I had 2 neons in the tank when I added the Romney and 4 other tetras. Rumney lasted 2 days, also down two neons as of this morning. My ph is 7.6, temp 76 nitrates and nitrites appear to be 0. I have two pieces of mopani wood, 2 ceramic caves, 3 live plants, 7 fabric plants and a gravel substrate. Water was added 3 weeks ago, after 48 hours I added 4 neons. Have not cleaned gravel yet, nothing to really clean. Have only replaced 6 gallons. Water was tested at fish store and was told it was high, they sold me something to bring pH down, each time I did it I lost a neon, so I stopped doing it. Well water has a high ph. Was not using pH balancer when new fish added. The 4 tetra I have now are active, but nippy with each other. Not sure what to do at this point.

 

[venymae]

And your ammonia? If it's only 3 weeks old I would doubt your cycle has completed. Also, 7.6pH isn't so bad. really a stable pH is going to be much easier on your fish, than a swinging pH. Most fish can adapt. I would read up on cycling. Tetras IMO can be very sensitive to bad water and die fast.
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[karancon]

Store told me neons were good to cycle. I'm not too concerned with pH, I had a 20 gallon before that was lost in a fire, and we never had any issues. We used goldfish to cycle. This time I've been reading on things and trying to do it "right" Should I see a spike in ammonia levels before they fall back? I have been feeding them flake food.

 

[Mifsud]

Yeah, ammonia will build up until nitrifying bacteria multiply enough to bring it down. There isn't much you can do if the cause is the beginning of the nitrogen cycle.

Goldfish are pretty robust, I'd think even more so than neons. I surmise the goldfish should endure the beginning of a nitrogen cycle better than neons.

 

[karancon]

I have a friend who is getting rid of their tank, she has 4 swordtails left, doesn't know what to do. I'm going to take them, along with some gravel, and cross my fingers. The mopani wood has a nice thick layer of fungus on it, I know it won't hurt fish, but will it disrupt cycle? Off to bed, will keep you posted. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Mifsud]

No, adding these objects to your tank will not disrupt the establishment of the nitrogen cycle.

It's good practice to sterilize objects, including gravel, before adding them to your tank. This reduces the chance of introducing an unwanted parasite or bacteria to your tank. Boiling is a great sterilization technique for inanimate objects, but for the plants a quick dip in bleach followed by rinsing from the tap is effective.

Mix no more than 1/4 cup of bleach with a gallon of tap water and use this solution to disinfect plants.

 

[Brookster123]

No, adding these objects to your tank will not disrupt the establishment of the nitrogen cycle. It's good practice to sterilize objects, including gravel, before adding them to your tank. This reduces the chance of introducing an unwanted parasite or bacteria to your tank. Boiling is a great sterilization technique for inanimate objects, but for the plants a quick dip in bleach followed by rinsing from the tap is effective. Mix no more than 1/4 cup of bleach with a gallon of tap water and use this solution to disinfect plants.

no no, if the tank you are accepting these items from is well established and healthy than all of this will contain a touch of beneficial bacteria that will help get your colony going! The gravel too! Tetras such as neons, rn more so, are not even close to hardy enough for a cycle, they also prefer groups of 5+. Based on the info your Lfs has given you I would ignore anything else they tell you as they do not seem to interested in the well being if your tank. Check out some of the info on here about cycling your tank.

 

[karancon]

It was Petco. Yesterday I had my water tested again and they said pH was at 8, but everything else looked good. Told me a 40 gallon should take about 7 weeks. I have 3 neons left, just going to wait it out

 

[Mifsud]

no no, if the tank you are accepting these items from is well established and healthy than all of this will contain a touch of beneficial bacteria that will help get your colony going! The gravel too! Tetras such as neons, rn more so, are not even close to hardy enough for a cycle, they also prefer groups of 5+. Based on the info your Lfs has given you I would ignore anything else they tell you as they do not seem to interested in the well being if your tank. Check out some of the info on here about cycling your tank.

Yes, if the tank you're taking objects from is healthy then the chance of disease wiping out your stock is low. It's a risk that may or may not be worth taking.

With that said, I would never move an object from a tank that I don't personally manage to another without sterilizing it first. This risk is not worth it to me.