Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Ruby tetras stuck to filter intake

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Ruby tetras stuck to filter intake

    So last night I bought my first "big" fish purchase... big meaning more than one lol. I bought 10 ruby tetras, a small koi angelfish, 3 green fire tetras, and 3 kuhli loaches (to be moved to another tank later if I can find them). I put them in a 30 gallon with 4 mollies (1M/3F), 6 guppies (all M), 2 flying fox, molly fry, and ghost shrimp.

    Last night one of the ruby tetras was swimming funny. He would float around and roll over. It looks like his pectoral fins were moving and his gills were moving and occasionally he would use his tail fin to take off across the tank. Later I went back to check on him and he was stuck to the intake pipe on my HOB filter. I figured maybe it was stress. All the other fish seemed fine.

    This morning I found two more stuck to the intake. Is it possible the mollies are picking on them? I don't see missing fins. Could it just be the stress? Could the intake snag them when they swim by?

    I only have one tropical tank so I didn't have any way to QT them.
    135 gal Fahaka Puffer
    150 gal Threadfin Acaras, Angels, Red Spotted Severum, Gold Severum, and a Silver Dollar
    185 gal Demasoni, Yellow Labs, Venustus, Rustys, Plecos, Clown Loaches, and Sharks

  • #2
    They do get stressed easily, and you may not have given them enough acclimation time. How long did you "float" them?

    Originally posted by BeefyG View Post
    So last night I bought my first "big" fish purchase... big meaning more than one lol. I bought 10 ruby tetras, a small koi angelfish, 3 green fire tetras, and 3 kuhli loaches (to be moved to another tank later if I can find them). I put them in a 30 gallon with 4 mollies (1M/3F), 6 guppies (all M), 2 flying fox, molly fry, and ghost shrimp.

    Last night one of the ruby tetras was swimming funny. He would float around and roll over. It looks like his pectoral fins were moving and his gills were moving and occasionally he would use his tail fin to take off across the tank. Later I went back to check on him and he was stuck to the intake pipe on my HOB filter. I figured maybe it was stress. All the other fish seemed fine.

    This morning I found two more stuck to the intake. Is it possible the mollies are picking on them? I don't see missing fins. Could it just be the stress? Could the intake snag them when they swim by?

    I only have one tropical tank so I didn't have any way to QT them.
    BEWARE Guard GUPPIES On Duty!

    Comment


    • #3
      it could be stress...but keep an eye on the angel and mollies....they are the most likely culprits
      HALA MADRID!!!!

      Comment


      • #4
        I floated them for about 30 minutes, added aquarium water and floated 15 minutes. I added the angelfish, loaches, and green fire tetras. At that time Top Chef came on so I didn't get to add the ruby tetras until the first commercial break.

        The angelfish is maybe 2 or 3 inches. I got him young so hopefully he would grow up with the tetras and leave them alone. One of the mollies is more feisty than the rest and I did see her kind of nip at the tetra that was just floating around but she seemed to leave him alone when she realized he was still alive.
        135 gal Fahaka Puffer
        150 gal Threadfin Acaras, Angels, Red Spotted Severum, Gold Severum, and a Silver Dollar
        185 gal Demasoni, Yellow Labs, Venustus, Rustys, Plecos, Clown Loaches, and Sharks

        Comment


        • #5
          They were doing ok last night... and then there was one... this morning the rest were stuck to the filter intake. Oh well, I hereby swear off tiny tetras. The green fire tetras are doing great.
          135 gal Fahaka Puffer
          150 gal Threadfin Acaras, Angels, Red Spotted Severum, Gold Severum, and a Silver Dollar
          185 gal Demasoni, Yellow Labs, Venustus, Rustys, Plecos, Clown Loaches, and Sharks

          Comment


          • #6
            :( Sorry to hear that.

            Could have just been that you got a bad batch. The erratic swimming you described makes it sound like they all were harboring something and the stress from moving gave it a foothold. :(
            "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks. At least my daughter didn't seem to notice. The last fish that I had that died went back to Petsmart because he was "too sleepy".
              135 gal Fahaka Puffer
              150 gal Threadfin Acaras, Angels, Red Spotted Severum, Gold Severum, and a Silver Dollar
              185 gal Demasoni, Yellow Labs, Venustus, Rustys, Plecos, Clown Loaches, and Sharks

              Comment


              • #8
                Petsmart fish should be quarantined in a seperate tank. Go to HAW and you won't have problems.
                200
                200
                200
                150
                135
                75
                55
                55

                Trophs & Petros ONLY

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by fshfrk View Post
                  Petsmart fish should be quarantined in a seperate tank. Go to HAW and you won't have problems.
                  Actually I haven't bought anything from Petsmart since I found HAW. I had bought a couple lyretail mollies from Petsmart and one of them tried to burrow under a decoration and got stuck? Or at least I found him in a shallow grave pinned half under. Had a similar thing happen with a Petco goldfish. If they aren't selling you sick fish, they're selling you dumb ones...

                  But the ruby tetras came from HAW. That's why I was so surprised.
                  135 gal Fahaka Puffer
                  150 gal Threadfin Acaras, Angels, Red Spotted Severum, Gold Severum, and a Silver Dollar
                  185 gal Demasoni, Yellow Labs, Venustus, Rustys, Plecos, Clown Loaches, and Sharks

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    How well established was the tank? You more than doubled the bio-load in one night. That could be an issue. Have you checked the chemistry of the tank?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by daviesri View Post
                      How well established was the tank? You more than doubled the bio-load in one night. That could be an issue. Have you checked the chemistry of the tank?
                      It has been running for almost two months now, but you do have a point. I hadn't considered how much bioload all the little tetras would be. To be honest, I've never checked the chemistry because I never had a problem before. I just usually add fish really really slowly... like one at a time.
                      135 gal Fahaka Puffer
                      150 gal Threadfin Acaras, Angels, Red Spotted Severum, Gold Severum, and a Silver Dollar
                      185 gal Demasoni, Yellow Labs, Venustus, Rustys, Plecos, Clown Loaches, and Sharks

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X