Von Rio Tetras advice please

Is there anything special about the care of these little buggers?

I am now on my second batch of von rio tetras. I bought 8, only one survived quarantine. I want a school to go in with my electric blue rams and kuhlis. So that's where the lonely guy is now.

Well, I had some baby cichlids to trade in and they had a new batch of them that were a bit smaller at the lfs so I picked up 9 along with 6 angelfish about dime size to go into a 20 gallon long QT. That tank is fully cycled. Since Saturday, I have lost 4 tetras. I want at least 6 in the school so I cannot lose any more! All 6 angelfish are good. All seem healthy. I did notice they seemed to be getting pulled towards the internal filter, cascade 455, so I turned it down to lowest setting. Or maybe they were enjoying the spray bar, idk.
I also have a marineland penguin 200. On that tank.

Ammonia 0; nitrite 0; nitrate about 5; ph 7.4-7.6 (which is the same ph as lfs- I had him test his when a batch of rummy nose did the same thing, but 2nd batch survived and are thriving)

 

Von Rios are not a good choice to go with ramirezi, they don't like the warm temperatures. What is the temperature of the QT tank? That could be the cause of your problems.

Hyphessobrycon flammeus is threatened in the wild from pollution, existing native populations are limited. Those in the hobby are invariably commercially raised.

 

They prefer cooler water, and seem a bit prone to swim bladder issues. They are shy, and will stick to the bottom of the tank. But they are still nice fish, and provide bright spots of color, because they don't seem inclined to shoal or school, either.

 

Von Rios are not a good choice to go with ramirezi, they don't like the warm temperatures. What is the temperature of the QT tank? That could be the cause of your problems.

Hyphessobrycon flammeus is threatened in the wild from pollution, existing native populations are limited. Those in the hobby are invariably commercially raised.

I try to keep the tank around 78, but it is in a room that gets warmer during summer months so I have to keep a fan running and pointed at the tanks to keep the temps from getting too much over 80.

What is the preferred temperature? I may need to rethink which tank they should be in.......

They prefer cooler water, and seem a bit prone to swim bladder issues. They are shy, and will stick to the bottom of the tank. But they are still nice fish, and provide bright spots of color, because they don't seem inclined to shoal or school, either.

I know! They are awesome little fish! I have had a hard time finding info on them. What I did find, did not show a cooler temp requirement. Thankfully, we have a great forum where two members help me with that info!!

Poor things are getting too hot in a tank that gets up to 80 degrees during the afternoon hours! I won't be able to do anything about today until I get home from work. :-(

 

Range is 20 to 26C which is 68 to 78F. So if you can drop the temp a bit, you might have better luck with them.

 

Range is 20 to 26C which is 68 to 78F. So if you can drop the temp a bit, you might have better luck with them.

Thanks so much for the link! I came home to two more dead so I am left with three out of nine! The temp is 80.4 so I pointed the box fan more in that direction and opened the lid. No one turns those lights on so they only get morning sunlight until I get home to turn them on so that is not contributing heat. I am leaving it off.

All six angelfish are doing great so it's got to be the temperature. Grrrrrr...

Then my husband points to my 120 gallon and asks, is that normal to this:



This is one of my prized Ctenopoma's that I have had for 5 years and my favorite all time fish! They like to "lounge" in leaves, but have only done so in the long bamboo branches and never on their side. I opened the lid like I was about to feed and he gets up and swims to the top like "what's up?" Silly boy about gave me a heart attack!!

 

Angelfish like it toasty, though, so temperature could definitely be a factor. Homemade chillers keep popping up. I don't know anything about them, but if you decide to keep a temperate, as opposed to a tropical tank, maybe they would be worth looking in to?

That is one unusual looking fish!

 

Angelfish like it toasty, though, so temperature could definitely be a factor. Homemade chillers keep popping up. I don't know anything about them, but if you decide to keep a temperate, as opposed to a tropical tank, maybe they would be worth looking in to?

That is one unusual looking fish!

The temp is already down to 79.8 so the fan is working. It is close to 100 degrees this week here in north Georgia so it's challenging to keep the house cool, especially that room for some reason and that's with someone closing room darkening curtains around noon. I think I will ask my aunt to close them earlier, but my house plants need some sun. I have to think about rearranging fish to get lower temp compatible fish together in a separate tank. First, I have to get through quarantine.

Yeah, that is what I love about them. I love the oddball fish. The leopard spots are certainly different. They were tee tiny when I got them and had no idea they would grow so big! They are listed as max size 6" on sites I have researched. They are closer to 7", maybe 8".

77.8 so much better. I don't want it too low for my baby Angels so I set the heater to 76 and pulled the fan back a little to keep it from dropping too much overnight. Big temperature swings can be stressful too so I am being careful of that as well.

Whew! It's always something in this hobby!
I hope this helps the three left to survive. If so, I will pick up a few more before starting the levimasole treatment on that tank. I am also considering moving some feeder guppies out of a ten gallon and move the tetras there, but it gets warm too so idk. I would have to buy another fan for it........

Actually down to 76.4 this morning. I don't want to cause harm to the Angels so I bumped the heater up a bit and turned fan up and pointed more air flow in that direction. All 9 fish were still alive. Fingers crossed they still are when I get home this evening!

 

Lost one more that was swimming near the top with no color. I put him in a fish bowl with some Melafix and an air stone. He had what looked like a bruise on his side and could not swim straight. Not long after, he was dead.

Any ideas what I am dealing with? Do you think the baby Angels are being aggressive towards them? Or just a bad stock?

All six Angels are doing good. The last two tetras look good and spunky, but the others did as well. I am worried that they have a disease that will affect the Angels. Considering moving them to another tank, but I will have to rearrange some fish to do so. Ugh! I hate this!

EDIT:
I think it's definitely an injury so I moved the last two tetras in with some baby feeder guppies that has already been through quarantine. Guess they get to do it again










BTW it hit 100 degrees here today. We are melting.....

 

Last two tetras still alive and the lfs replaced 5. I rearranged and put them in my 2nd fry tank that stays a little cooler. No aceI cichlid fry for about 40 days..... :-/

Angelfish are doing good and are now the only residents in the 20 gallon QT.

Edit: almost noon next day and all 7 tetras are alive and looking healthy. Yay!
I also started levimasole treatment on Angels to get them moving along in qt process, but did not want to do anything on tetras until they settled in and fully acclimated to the new environment. I usually give it a week after putting new fish in qt.

 

Grrrrrrrrrr! Can anyone help me figure out how to keep these guys alive? I am at a loss.

1st couple days all 7 tetras doing great. Then one died Sunday. I noticed it had a white belly so I went ahead and started the levimasole and Melafix treatment.

I come home today and count 6 appearingly healthy fish so yay! BUT, when I went to feed them a little later, I found another one dead!

I have never had this kind of difficulty getting a batch of fish through quarantine. I just did a 50% water change before adding meds in Sunday. The tank was populated with a batch of 11 baby guppies and fry before that so it has been and still is cycled. All parameters are great. The temperature in this tank stays below 78.

Here is the latest victim:




Any idea if the white in the belly area is normal or a symptom?

 

Two theories : the supplier is distributing weak fish.
Or, and potentially related to theory the first,

They can't handle all the prophylactic medicating.

Suggestion: keep the water uber clean and stable. Leave out the medications, especially the melaflex, which depending on the website consulted, does more harm than good.

If you still have issues, I would wait until the temperatures cool down and try a different supplier (maybe road trip to the moderately large city or try online.)

 

Two theories : the supplier is distributing weak fish.
Or, and potentially related to theory the first,

They can't handle all the prophylactic medicating.

Suggestion: keep the water uber clean and stable. Leave out the medications, especially the melaflex, which depending on the website consulted, does more harm than good.

If you still have issues, I would wait until the temperatures cool down and try a different supplier (maybe road trip to the moderately large city or try online.)

Thanks for your advice!
I did not start medicating until they kept dying. I had planned on waiting and observing first, but the white belly made me think parasites.

The only prophylactic treatment that I ALWAYS do with new fish in quarantine is levimasole for internal parasites. After an infestation of camallanus woke me up to the necessity of QT and treating with levimasole because internal parasites may not be detectable for months and by then the entire stock can be infected. Any other meds are only used if symptoms are detected.

I did a large water change today and added carbon back to remove meds and I have been doing pwc every 2-3 days. I plan to follow your advice and keep up the water changes and cleaning sponge filters and media in tank water along with that.

The temp in the current tank is staying below 79 and mostly around 76-77. That is why I am perplexed.

Good news is that I have not lost any more. Still 5 healthy looking fish as if lights out tonight. I hope they all make it. If so, I would at least have 6 in a school.

 

I have multiple types of tetras. Of all of them, Von Rios were the most difficult to acclimate. They just seem to have a failure to thrive gene or something. I poked around various websites, and found out it wasn't just me, they are just sensitive fish, prone to swim bladder issues and other maladies. The good news is like otocinclus, once you get them past the 30 day window, you're probably okay.

 

I have multiple types of tetras. Of all of them, Von Rios were the most difficult to acclimate. They just seem to have a failure to thrive gene or something. I poked around various websites, and found out it wasn't just me, they are just sensitive fish, prone to swim bladder issues and other maladies. The good news is like otocinclus, once you get them past the 30 day window, you're probably okay.

Thanks for sharing! I felt like I was a newbie again not knowing what I was doing, lol.

I hope I can get these five past that point to put in with the lone survivor from the first batch. It has been frustrating for sure.

 

Still 5 alive this evening.

 

Still 5 alive. I am starting to get hopeful!

 

Still five alive!!

 

Still five!!

 

Maybe you are over the hump. Here's hoping.

 

Maybe you are over the hump. Here's hoping.

Thanks! I am more hopeful each day I see five little fishes swimming around.

 

Five little fishes graduated from quarantine and went into a tank for them, peppered cories, and otos today.