New tetras.. 2 died

[Lamie]

I recently bought 10 black phantom tetras 5 female and 5 male for my aquarium. In 24 hours one female had died. About 5 days later another one a male also died. They will open and close their mouths occasionally while swimming and the male had its mouth wide open when I found it dead in the floating plants. I noticed that they also swam off on their own before dying. I was watching the fish today and one was sitting behind the filter away from the water flow. And now I notice that there is a different one also swimming on its own. I am worried there is something wrong with the setup as I lose fish almost every week since I started this tank. There is some dry leaves I found in the garden in the tank and driftwood. I was wondering when you wipe down the sides what do I use?. And should I wipe the sides down before changing the water so to pick up anything that is on there?

 

[Lamie]

I've been reading the forum and the advice would be to do a 75% water change every day for a week

 

[itiwhetu]

What are your water parameters please? Black Phantoms are hardy fish, and it takes a lot to kill one.

 

[itiwhetu]

A photo of your tank would help also?

 

[Naughts]

There are tools you can buy for cleaning glass (magnets, sponge pads on sticks etc.) I just use a used piece of filter floss and rinse it out each time. Before/ during the weekly water change is a good as you suggested.

Be careful with garden leaves, they should not be exposed to pollution or pesticides and should not have mould, fungus, bird poo etc. on them. English Oak and beech are safe for aquariums.

 

[Colin_T]

How long has the tank been set up for?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?
Has the filter cycled (developed the good bacteria that keeps the water clean)?
Any other fish in the tank besides the black phantoms?
Pictures and video of the fish?

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Basic first aid for fish, do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

 

[Lamie]

How long has the tank been set up for?
What is the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH of the water?
Has the filter cycled (developed the good bacteria that keeps the water clean)?
Any other fish in the tank besides the black phantoms?
Pictures and video of the fish?

---------------------
Basic first aid for fish, do a big water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Tank setup since sep 2020

Ammonia 0-0.1
Nitrite. 0
Nitrate 0.4
PH. Low reading 7.4 high reading 7.4

Yes I would think filter has cycled

Just black phantoms

 

[itiwhetu]

Your fish look pale, that is most probably because of the light. Black Phantoms like dark spaces and low light.

 

[Lynnzer]

Your fish look pale, that is most probably because of the light. Black Phantoms like dark spaces and low light.

Agreed. I have 8. I had them in a tank that was really cluttered with plants and poor layout. I re-did the tank, aquascaped it as best I could, added new wood pieces, added new plants along with keeping some of the old, and the fish love it. They do like the nooks and crannies I provided such as areas underneath the new wood with plants surrounding them.
The only thing is that being on the dark side, they become hard to find as they seek the shelter of the new setup.
But they are lovely fish. Just hope to induce some breeding, free range rather than separated.

 

[Lamie]

Agreed. I have 8. I had them in a tank that was really cluttered with plants and poor layout. I re-did the tank, aquascaped it as best I could, added new wood pieces, added new plants along with keeping some of the old, and the fish love it. They do like the nooks and crannies I provided such as areas underneath the new wood with plants surrounding them.
The only thing is that being on the dark side, they become hard to find as they seek the shelter of the new setup.
But they are lovely fish. Just hope to induce some breeding, free range rather than separated.

Your fish look pale, that is most probably because of the light. Black Phantoms like dark spaces and low light.

Maybe if I add some more floating wisteria they will like it better. Could I cut down the amount of time the lights are on because I just got a second light and it would be a waste not to use it now? That light made the danios look pale in photos as well

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Lighting can be very contentious

Manufacturers seem to assume that the brighter is the better

But where in the world do you get cloudless skies each and every day and no obstruction tween ground or water and the sun?

Nowhere.

My lights are not the ones that came with my aquarium, they are infinitely adjustable and my fish are the most active and colourful when the lights are on their lowest intensity....think along the lines of a cloudy day...yes there is light but its not harsh light, its not piercing light that you cannot escape from (even floating plants do not cut the intensity of the light, they only offer shade from it)

My light is a 78cm long Nicrew RGB MCR, cost me less than 35 quid. My fish don't get spooked or stressed when the lights go on and when the white light is on its cloudy day bright, so the activity levels are high, they are not getting spooked by their own shadows or the shadows of their scaping. The colours of the fish is vibrant, they don't hide away from the bright light as they did when I initially used the factory fitted light. I also do not have my light directly above them. It is sitting on the glass brace at the back and angled 45 degrees down....think cloudy day through the trees, no direct light, just soft lighting.

 

[itiwhetu]

My lighting is all natural apart from a little LED over the amazon sword plant and I'm not sure that is needed either.

 

[Lamie]

My lighting is all natural

My lighting is all natural apart from a little LED over the amazon sword plant and I'm not sure that is needed either.
View attachment 158023

apart from a little LED over the amazon sword plant and I'm not sure that is needed either.

I love it!

 

[Lamie]

Lighting can be very contentious

Manufacturers seem to assume that the brighter is the better

But where in the world do you get cloudless skies each and every day and no obstruction tween ground or water and the sun?

Nowhere.

My lights are not the ones that came with my aquarium, they are infinitely adjustable and my fish are the most active and colourful when the lights are on their lowest intensity....think along the lines of a cloudy day...yes there is light but its not harsh light, its not piercing light that you cannot escape from (even floating plants do not cut the intensity of the light, they only offer shade from it)

My light is a 78cm long Nicrew RGB MCR, cost me less than 35 quid. My fish don't get spooked or stressed when the lights go on and when the white light is on its cloudy day bright, so the activity levels are high, they are not getting spooked by their own shadows or the shadows of their scaping. The colours of the fish is vibrant, they don't hide away from the bright light as they did when I initially used the factory fitted light. I also do not have my light directly above them. It is sitting on the glass brace at the back and angled 45 degrees down....think cloudy day through the trees, no direct light, just soft lighting.

I can't do any adjustments to the light but I could put the lights on on 3 days a week. Maybe the fish will feel more secure then?

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I can't do any adjustments to the light but I could put the lights on on 3 days a week. Maybe the fish will feel more secure then?

Before I changed over to my Nicrew lighting, I had the standard non-dimmable lighting.

So I bought some of this and superglued it loosely onto the hood over the light bar (making sure there was enough room to remove the bar for replacement purposes). I cut the film longer then the light bar by an inch or two so that the brightness didn't glare at each end.

210 0.6 Neutral Density Lighting Gel

Rosco E-Colour+ 210 0.6 Neutral Density Lighting Gel from Rosco's comprehensive system of colour filters for film, theatre and video production.

stagedepot.co.uk

It is a really cheap and easy way to make a bright light, a cloudy day light without losing the lighting effect completely

There are loads of shade and intensity choices but the greys are probably the best for the right effect

Lighting Gels / Lighting Filter Colours | Stage Depot

Range of lighting gel to buy online, manufactured from the finest polymeric materials, for modern studio and theatre lighting

stagedepot.co.uk

There should be a theatrical supplies company in NZ or you can use eBay or Amazon who also have stockists available....if you want to give the film a try intead of spending alot of money replacing the light unit