Julienlore

I've been cycling my tank for 4 weeks now. I used a filter sponge from an established tank and went for a fishless cycle (this is after the store told me to use fish to cycle the tank and 2 of them died...).

After about 3.5 weeks, my Ammonia and Nitrites had both spiked and dropped to zero. My tank was "cycled" according to my tests and the store's tests.

So I went and bought 3 Columbian Tetras and introduced them to the tank. They are at the top of the water or the bottom. Two of them are panting. I introduced them slowly and had the light off for the first day. What could be causing this stress? The Columbian Tetra that was in the tank before these three (from before) is perfectly fine...bullying the other 3 it seems (some concern?).

I did a water change, tested the water and checked the temperature. Everything is where it should be.

Is this normal?

Julien

sirdarksol

Try isolating the bully for a bit. He might be the reason for the stress. If you give the others a chance to get used to the tank, the four of them may just "school up". This works with livebearers sometimes, wouldn't hurt to try with the tetras.
I just bought some mollies and introduced them to a new tank, and they were doing exactly what you described. They've become very accustomed already, and it's only been 36 hours. The only difference that is immediately obvious is that there were no established residents (not counting the shrimp) of my tank.
You said that Ammonia and Nitrites are at zero, that's perfect. What are the nitrates at? pH (unlikely to be an issue, but we want to check everything)? Water Temp?

It's possible that you've got a really good setup, but the water at the fish store had a lot of nitrates in it, and your fish are trying to acclimate to a massive water quality change.

Keep us posted, everyone around here will try to help as best as we can. Good luck.

Kevin

i would definently isolate the bully for awhile...and make sure you have plenty of areas for the new guys to hide in

SDMatt

I'm curious...

Would a breeding net work for isolating the bully for 48 hours or so? -or- would it be too small.

-SDMatt

COBettaCouple

more hiding places would be good as well as rearranging the tank. then reacclimate the bullying fish and see if the 'attitude adjustment' worked.

sirdarksol

It would be unpleasant for the fish if you did it for 48 hours.
Could one of you folks who's had success isolating livebearers tell us how long you've done so?

COBettaCouple

maybe an hour or so. but we'd put the troublemaker in a large bowl, cover it enough so they'd not jump out and during the 'time out' we'd rearrange the tank & all, then reintroduce the bullying fish.

sirdarksol

Excellent, thank you. I'm guessing that will come in handy for me, too, as I just started a Molly tank.