I lost one of my Serpae Tetras earlier this week and another doesn't look so good. And all of them have frayed or fins that don't look healthy. (My apologies if this is a lengthy post. There's a lot to describe, and I'm trying to get to the bottom of this before I add any new fish to my tank.)
Tank size: 10 gal
pH: 7.8
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
tank temp: 75 degrees F.
Tank inhabitants:
4 Serpae Tetras, 1 Black Skirt Tetra
Fish Symptoms:
As stated above, the fins on my fish are not looking good, (see attached photos) and one of them has almost lost his entire tail. I used to have 5 Serpaes but the smallest, and one of the oldest, died this week. When I pulled him from the tank he looked a bit ragged. I've noticed that the Black Skirt (#1) has not had a clean line to his fins for months, but I put that down to age. (What do I know?) If you look at the attached images, #5 is the most ragged, and also the second oldest - after the small one that died this week. His fins were always a bit rough but they were actually longer than the others and seemed healthy. Because of the length of his fins, I also thought he might have been a bit older. He and the other dead fish would hide behind the filter, only emerging to eat or be chased by the others.
Fish #s 2, 3, and 4 chase each other equally. I can't tell if any is more dominent than the others. They seem to leave the Black Skirt alone. The Black Skirt is definitely the most aggressive when it comes to feeding time. He's the only one that acutally feeds at the top of the tank, the others wait until the flakes float down in the water.
My question: are my fish sick, or getting sick, or are they attacking each other? The #5 is looking pretty bad, and the fact that he's hiding almost all the time and that his fins are all but gone worries me. #s 2, 3, and 4 are looking okay but note the start of fraying in the top fin of #4
I've read that smaller shoals - and even singles of schooling fish - can become aggressive. If they are starting to get nippy, and I added more of each would they start to play nice with each other?
Volume and Frequency of water changes:
50% once a week.
Chemical Additives:
Aqueon Water Conditioner - used to remove the chlorine from the tap when I change the water. Although my wife just had a chlorine filter added to our shower - to make our hair smooth and silky - so I used that this morning when I did my water change. I'm curious to see if it effects my pH level.
Microbe-Lift Special Blend - recommended by the girl at the LFS that I like and trust. All her fish look great and are healthy - she swears by this stuff so I add 10ml with every water change.
API Aquarium Salt - also recommended by LFS. I add on table spoon with the water change, she says it helps reduce stress.
AP Crystal Clear drops - this is the most recent thing I've started to use. My water was so murky and green I could barely see the fish. It certainly worked - within minutes my water was "Crystal" clear. You're supposed to add 1 drop per gallon. I've also done this with the water changes.
Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
Two weeks ago I tried to add a Zebra snail to snack on the algae growing on the rocks. I got him (and the crystal clear) at a different, LFS that's a bit closer to my home. The sales guy said: "Snails are easy, no acclimation needed, just put him 'foot down' in the tank." He never moved and after a week I gave him a sniff and realized he was dead. He was pulled from the glass in the store so at one point he was alive.
Before that I had restocked the tank with 4 new fish over a month ago after a hard holiday where I lost 5 fish (half the tank) due to lack of care from the person I asked to feed them. (sigh) So I added 2 new Serpae and 2 Black Skirts. The Serpae survived, the Black Skirts died within a few days.
I also added some new River Rocks I picked up after a trip to a lake in Arizona after the holidays. They were boiled in water with some bleach - than sat in a water treated bucket for a week before I added them to the tank.
Exposure to chemicals:
None. Other than what is listed above.
Tank size: 10 gal
pH: 7.8
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm
nitrate: 0 ppm
tank temp: 75 degrees F.
Tank inhabitants:
4 Serpae Tetras, 1 Black Skirt Tetra
Fish Symptoms:
As stated above, the fins on my fish are not looking good, (see attached photos) and one of them has almost lost his entire tail. I used to have 5 Serpaes but the smallest, and one of the oldest, died this week. When I pulled him from the tank he looked a bit ragged. I've noticed that the Black Skirt (#1) has not had a clean line to his fins for months, but I put that down to age. (What do I know?) If you look at the attached images, #5 is the most ragged, and also the second oldest - after the small one that died this week. His fins were always a bit rough but they were actually longer than the others and seemed healthy. Because of the length of his fins, I also thought he might have been a bit older. He and the other dead fish would hide behind the filter, only emerging to eat or be chased by the others.
Fish #s 2, 3, and 4 chase each other equally. I can't tell if any is more dominent than the others. They seem to leave the Black Skirt alone. The Black Skirt is definitely the most aggressive when it comes to feeding time. He's the only one that acutally feeds at the top of the tank, the others wait until the flakes float down in the water.
My question: are my fish sick, or getting sick, or are they attacking each other? The #5 is looking pretty bad, and the fact that he's hiding almost all the time and that his fins are all but gone worries me. #s 2, 3, and 4 are looking okay but note the start of fraying in the top fin of #4
I've read that smaller shoals - and even singles of schooling fish - can become aggressive. If they are starting to get nippy, and I added more of each would they start to play nice with each other?
Volume and Frequency of water changes:
50% once a week.
Chemical Additives:
Aqueon Water Conditioner - used to remove the chlorine from the tap when I change the water. Although my wife just had a chlorine filter added to our shower - to make our hair smooth and silky - so I used that this morning when I did my water change. I'm curious to see if it effects my pH level.
Microbe-Lift Special Blend - recommended by the girl at the LFS that I like and trust. All her fish look great and are healthy - she swears by this stuff so I add 10ml with every water change.
API Aquarium Salt - also recommended by LFS. I add on table spoon with the water change, she says it helps reduce stress.
AP Crystal Clear drops - this is the most recent thing I've started to use. My water was so murky and green I could barely see the fish. It certainly worked - within minutes my water was "Crystal" clear. You're supposed to add 1 drop per gallon. I've also done this with the water changes.
Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
Two weeks ago I tried to add a Zebra snail to snack on the algae growing on the rocks. I got him (and the crystal clear) at a different, LFS that's a bit closer to my home. The sales guy said: "Snails are easy, no acclimation needed, just put him 'foot down' in the tank." He never moved and after a week I gave him a sniff and realized he was dead. He was pulled from the glass in the store so at one point he was alive.
Before that I had restocked the tank with 4 new fish over a month ago after a hard holiday where I lost 5 fish (half the tank) due to lack of care from the person I asked to feed them. (sigh) So I added 2 new Serpae and 2 Black Skirts. The Serpae survived, the Black Skirts died within a few days.
I also added some new River Rocks I picked up after a trip to a lake in Arizona after the holidays. They were boiled in water with some bleach - than sat in a water treated bucket for a week before I added them to the tank.
Exposure to chemicals:
None. Other than what is listed above.
/freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/finrot.htm
