Rummynose Tetra tattered and thin

[Animallover😍]

One of my 3 rummynose tetras is thin(he was like that when got him from the pet shop) and tattered. He was fine when he arrived, but now his fins are tattered and he doesn't come to the front of the tank to play with the 2 other tetras, he sits at the back hiding behind the driftwood. @itiwhetu said he might have what is called 'wasting away disease'.
Some pics...(he's the one on the right)

He's the one below

 

[itiwhetu]

I'm afraid that as far as I know there is nothing you can do to save him.

 

[Animallover😍]

ohh.. If he does have what you say he does then... Poor fishy..

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Sadly, a direct consequence of poor water conditions.

 

[Animallover😍]

Sadly, a direct consequence of poor water conditions.

He was already like that from the pet shop. The others are fine.

 

[Myraan]

I would guess it might be be too few tetras in too small a tank. When I read care guides I always used to wonder why tetras have comparitively massive tanks for such tiny fish. My guess is sometimes they need to avoid the rest of the shoal because of breeding and pecking order politics. I also wonder if they naturally spread out into hiding places when they sleep, and the neon stripes (on neons and related at least) is what they use to shoal up for safety when they are in the open looking for food. My cardinals do not seem to require the "swimming space" people say they need for swimming unless they have just been fed, I think it's because while they need to know they are in a shoal for safety, they also like personal space from time to time.

My guess is the other two have bullied it, and the stress is meaning it's eating less and is more sensitive to water pollution. Seriously Fish suggests a three foot tank for rummies. That seems a little extreme to me, but I have to admit Seriously Fish is more likely than me to be right about things like that. I have never kept rummies. If you only have three I suspect you only have a 5 gallon tank or so and were sensible enough to limit the stocking. I have read a minimum of 6 is needed in a shoal, and that they can't count more than 6, but in my limited experience tetras seem to get happier and healthier the more there are of them.

 

[Animallover😍]

I would guess it might be be too few tetras in too small a tank. When I read care guides I always used to wonder why tetras have comparitively massive tanks for such tiny fish. My guess is sometimes they need to avoid the rest of the shoal because of breeding and pecking order politics. I also wonder if they naturally spread out into hiding places when they sleep, and the neon stripes (on neons and related at least) is what they use to shoal up for safety when they are in the open looking for food. My cardinals do not seem to require the "swimming space" people say they need for swimming unless they have just been fed, I think it's because while they need to know they are in a shoal for safety, they also like personal space from time to time.

My guess is the other two have bullied it, and the stress is meaning it's eating less and is more sensitive to water pollution. Seriously Fish suggests a three foot tank for rummies. That seems a little extreme to me, but I have to admit Seriously Fish is more likely than me to be right about things like that. I have never kept rummies. If you only have three I suspect you only have a 5 gallon tank or so and were sensible enough to limit the stocking. I have read a minimum of 6 is needed in a shoal, and that they can't count more than 6, but in my limited experience tetras seem to get happier and healthier the more there are of them.

I got only 3 because this tank is not cycled(it's 10g) and I didn't want to risk an ammonia spike. As stated in my other thread, I will be moving them to the 55g when I get enough plants to control ammonia in there. I'm getting the next 3 fish when the ammonia reads 0 for a few days.
Right now it's about 0.15 ppm of ammonia.

 

[Myraan]

Oh ok. Maybe you just had bad luck with a runt one then. It might be safer to add in larger batches just in case I was right, but you are correct, you do no want to be adding too many in one go. I think stuff like this is why people will add the whole shoal of one species at a time. I've read that clown loaches (so maybe the other loaches too) have a strict pecking order with a lead female who won't accept outsiders, but I don't think that's an issue with tetras. Personally I like the look of various size tetras in a shoal, it looks more natural. Of course it's not more natural, in the wild they are "essentially annual" fish and probably all similar size.... but like I say, it looks more natural to me.

 

[Byron]

There are a few issues I need to mention here. The first is the condition of this one fish, I would suspect it is not bullying but more likely the fish itself. It might settle in and improve, or it might not. But with this species, which is Petitella bleheri [previously Hemigrammus bleheri but recently re-classified, the profile on Seriously Fish details this], even just three of them is unlikely to cause bullying.

But that brings me to the second issue, numbers. This species must have a larger group, at least 9 but more will always be better for the fish's wellbeing. I had a group of 21 the last time I had this species. This characin remains in a fairly tight shoal, far more than most other species. [Some of the rasboras are similar, the species in Trigonostigma for example also benefit from 9-12 minimum.] Paracheirodon axelrodi (cardinal tetra), P. simulans (green neon tetra) and P. innesi (neon tetra) are similar, which is not surprising when one realizes that the two genera (Paracheirodon and Petitella) are very closely related phylogenetically. The info on SF also goes into this.

Which brings me to the tank size...rummynose need a 3-foot tank minimum because they are swimmers. Not rough charging around the tank the way the active danio species do, but a much gentler yet still active swimming. The group remains together and swims from end to end of the tank. This space must be provided them, or they will be stressed.

All of which brings me to my final point...do not acquire this fish until you have the larger tank ready, and then get the entire group at once. Shoaling fish always settle in better the more there are. When the 55g is planted and functioning, acquire a group of 15-20 rummynose together. They will settle in much faster with fewer if any problems.