Arrghh, about ot lose my first fish...

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Hi,

Got five neons yesterday afternoon and this morning it's pretty much
cetain one is going to die... :(

They were doing fine in their new home, but one got sucked by the
filter... Took me 20 minutes to find they guy...

And well he was not in good shape... I have him in the tank inside the
fish net, but he just lays there motionless and only moves when I touch
him...

Darn one fish killed in the first day that sucks... :(

[Elaine T]

wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Got five neons yesterday afternoon and this morning it's pretty much
> cetain one is going to die... :(
>
> They were doing fine in their new home, but one got sucked by the
> filter... Took me 20 minutes to find they guy...
>
> And well he was not in good shape... I have him in the tank inside the
> fish net, but he just lays there motionless and only moves when I touch
> him...
>
> Darn one fish killed in the first day that sucks... :(
>
Not your fault. When you buy neons, you should expect losses. They're
not of very sturdy stock these days from being bred en masse in fish
farms for decades.

If your tank is cycled, the closely related cardinal tetra is often
easer to keep they're wild-caught with better genetics - just make sure
the fish store has already acclimated them to your local tap water.
Cardinals even have more red on them and grow a bit larger than neonw.

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><

[Dan White]

"Elaine T" > wrote in message
. com...
> wrote:
>
> If your tank is cycled, the closely related cardinal tetra is often
> easer to keep they're wild-caught with better genetics - just make sure
> the fish store has already acclimated them to your local tap water.
> Cardinals even have more red on them and grow a bit larger than neonw.
>

Definitely get the cardinals. I always preferred then to neons. I got 6
early on, not even sure if the tank was cycled yet. They all lived and are
now as large as the black neon tetras.

dwhite

[Richard Sexton]

>If your tank is cycled, the closely related cardinal tetra is often
>easer to keep they're wild-caught with better genetics - just make sure
>the fish store has already acclimated them to your local tap water.
>Cardinals even have more red on them and grow a bit larger than neonw.

Cardnals are unbelievably sensitive to ammonia.

When I lived in LA I had (among others) a set of 15 gal tanks
as killfish grow out tanks. They had maybe 30-50 fish,
fairly small each. And one plant each. One tank had a large
pot with some Hygrophilia growing in it I'd always cut back;
after a while it looked like a small tree. I would root feed
it by sticking some plant fertilizer tabs into the substrate;
they contained ammonia. Never hurt my fish even though the
water was alkaline (ammonia is more toxic in alkaline
water than acidic water).

When I moved I took all this stuff in to Jim Bellisimo
in Manchester (Jim's Exotic Fish) and he liked the Hygrophilia
so much he put it in one of his tanks at home, a 50 gallon
tank with two dozen cardinals he had for over a year.

Within 6 hours they had all died.


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[Lisa]

That prompts me to ask: will cardinals work with a juvenile angel
(about nickel-sized body, maybe 1-in.)? Or will (1) he eat them or (2)
they will nip at him? I have one juvie angel, but am hesitant to add
the cardinals.

Thanks!

- Lisa

[Dan White]

"Lisa" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> That prompts me to ask: will cardinals work with a juvenile angel
> (about nickel-sized body, maybe 1-in.)? Or will (1) he eat them or (2)
> they will nip at him? I have one juvie angel, but am hesitant to add
> the cardinals.
>
> Thanks!

I'm no expert but I have two quarter sized angels in the tank with 6 cards
and they completely ignore each other. Of course the cards are longer than
the angels! I did have cards and two very large angels in a 29 gal years
ago and I don't recall any problems. I've read in this forum that your
chances are better if the cards are in the tank before the angels are
introduced.

dwhite

[Lisa]

Whoops - then I might be too late. The angel is already there! But, I
might venture a school of cards for academic interest. The angel *is*
quite small. . . . Like the rest of us, though, I HATE to lose fish!
Maybe I'll see what's available at the LFWS. Hmmmm. . . .

- Thanks,

- Lisa

[Dan White]

"Lisa" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Whoops - then I might be too late. The angel is already there! But, I
> might venture a school of cards for academic interest. The angel *is*
> quite small. . . . Like the rest of us, though, I HATE to lose fish!
> Maybe I'll see what's available at the LFWS. Hmmmm. . . .
>
> - Thanks,
>

You might start a new thread or google cardinals and angels. I'm no
expert... what I already told you is about all I know. I do remember the
last time there was a big thread on this was that there was a lot of
disagreement. It seems the final verdict in my mind was "it depends" --
meaning that they might be fine depending on the tank size, plants, whether
the angels consider the cards fish or food (relative size, plus who was
there first), etc.

I'd just put a couple in and see what happens.

dwhite

[Elaine T]

Lisa wrote:
> That prompts me to ask: will cardinals work with a juvenile angel
> (about nickel-sized body, maybe 1-in.)? Or will (1) he eat them or (2)
> they will nip at him? I have one juvie angel, but am hesitant to add
> the cardinals.
>
> Thanks!
>
> - Lisa
>
I've put medium-sized cardinals in with an angel that size and not had
any problems. I never lost any cardinals to that angel even when it
grew up. However, the cardinals had a LOT of plants to hide in if they
needed.

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><

[Elaine T]

Richard Sexton wrote:
>>If your tank is cycled, the closely related cardinal tetra is often
>>easer to keep they're wild-caught with better genetics - just make sure
>>the fish store has already acclimated them to your local tap water.
>>Cardinals even have more red on them and grow a bit larger than neonw.
>
>
> Cardnals are unbelievably sensitive to ammonia.
>
> When I lived in LA I had (among others) a set of 15 gal tanks
> as killfish grow out tanks. They had maybe 30-50 fish,
> fairly small each. And one plant each. One tank had a large
> pot with some Hygrophilia growing in it I'd always cut back;
> after a while it looked like a small tree. I would root feed
> it by sticking some plant fertilizer tabs into the substrate;
> they contained ammonia. Never hurt my fish even though the
> water was alkaline (ammonia is more toxic in alkaline
> water than acidic water).
>
> When I moved I took all this stuff in to Jim Bellisimo
> in Manchester (Jim's Exotic Fish) and he liked the Hygrophilia
> so much he put it in one of his tanks at home, a 50 gallon
> tank with two dozen cardinals he had for over a year.
>
> Within 6 hours they had all died.
>
>
Aw, geez! That's a heartbreaker. I think they're so sensitive to
ammonia because they're usually wild-caught. That's why I said "cycled
tank" above. I'd never try to cycle with cardinals, and they do great
in planted tanks where the plants suck up any ammonia. Ever try
wild-caught altums or discus? Same problems with ammonia plus TDS
issues plus parasites plus...

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><