Rummy Nose Tetras

[TCfishies]

HI,

I'm new to fish keeping and so far only have "easy" fish. I've got 2 silver mollies and now 5 zebra danios (lost a few in a worm infestation)

I've got another round of worm treatment to go and I'm going to let things settle down a bit before getting more fish.

When I do I'd like to get Rummy Nose Tetras.

I've been reading about them in various places. Some people seem to think they can adapt to a range of ph, conditions. Others don't.

My tank is 7.5 ph and seems to stay stable. I don't really want to try to chemically adjust it.

Has anyone here sucessfully kept Rummy Nose Tetras at 7.5 ph??

My tank is about 90litres (600 x300 x 600 mm)

thanks

TC

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Rummy nose tetra come from a natural habitat where the water is soft and acidic. The ph range is 5.5 - 7.0.

However, captive bred fish can be in higher ph.
Mine are in ph 7.6.
They are unlikely to ever lay eggs or breed from what i understand.

If your LFS water has the same ph as yours then they will be fine.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Mine are in pH 7.4 and doing fine for over a year. TDS/GH are probably more important to manage than pH for them.

 

[TCfishies]

Mine are in pH 7.4 and doing fine for over a year. TDS/GH are probably more important to manage than pH for them.

Is that hardness? I don't know how to test for that.. My test deosn't do it...

Cheers

TC

 

[TCfishies]

OK

I went ahead and got some rummy nosed tetras. I thought I'd post a log of their progress in case anyone else is interested in trying to keep them in alkaline water.

Mine is is prob somewhere between 7.4-7.6, it seems to test highest on the low ph test, and lowest on the high, if you know what I mean! But it could even be 7.8 as I find it very hard to tell the diff between the 7.4 and 7.8 on the high ph chart.

Anyway.

after lots of internet research and (some actual books) I just bought 8.

Here's what happened!

I acclimatised them very slowly in the bag, by adding a dribble of tank water every 5mins. When the water level had doubled I put them (but not the water) in the tank. This took about 1 hour 45 mins.

When they were in the bag they were very motionless and their noses lost all the red. They looked very sad.

But within about 5 mins of being in the tank 7 out of the 8 had formed a little school and had red noses again. #8 was hiding and still pale.

After about 30 mins # 8 joined the rest. The were still very still, but moving around a little.

About 1/5 hours of being in the tank it was normal dinner time so I fed everyone, and I was very pleased that the new rummy nose were happy to eat! The didn't all come right up to the top, but did zip around in the middle and bottom looking for food!

This was like 10mins ago and they are back at the bottom in their wee shcool, but more active than before and interacting a bit with my 5 zebra danios. My 2 mollies are ignoring them and vice versa.

So far so good!

wish us luck!!

TC

 

[TCfishies]

update:

after 3.5-4 hours of being in the tank they are much more active and are swimming up to the middle of the tank and back to the bottom.

For a long while the zebras looked like they wanted to join the school, which surprised me. They didn't quite join in, but followed the rummy noses very closely! All except the dominant one who kept guarding her territory at the top!


It's prob to early to tell, but no major adverse effects from the ph so far!

 

[TCfishies]

Day 3:

The Rummy noses missed dinner yesterday and when I got home today a couple even came to the top of the tank to get food!

I (obviously) don't know what they get up to when I'm not around, but from what I can tell they are still mostly hanging out at the front of the tank. Don't seem too keen on exploring through the plants and drift wood like the mollies and danios.....

 

[TCfishies]

Day 4:


This morning, after feeding, some of the rummy nose went right to the back of the tank and into the plants looking for food. This is the first time I've seen this!

They seem to be settling in. As everyone (online and in books) says, it does seem to take them longer to get comfortable.

My mollies and zebra danios were settled in a matter of hours, not days.

Still have bright red noses! yay!

 

[seizethecupcake]

I'm glad they seem to be settling in

 

[TCfishies]

I'm glad they seem to be settling in

Yup, so far so good!

And I just noticed they go much higher (almost to the top of the tank) when the light is off. I guess they feel safer in the dark!

TC

 

[TCfishies]

Day 6:

Nothing new to report, so barring disaster I guess this is the end of the log, at least for a while.

All 8 Rummy Noses seem fine. 4 of the 5 zebra danios seem to want to join their little school!

everyone seems happy