Should I buy more fish

[Lamie]

I have a 70 litre warm water tank with some floating plants and some java fern. I have 8 black phantom tetras and 2 peppered Cory's. I had ten tetras but two have gone and I recently bought 3 peppered Cory's but 1 has died. Should I get 2 more black phantoms and 1 more peppered Cory or will all the fish be fine just like they are now?

 

[BigJfish12]

If fish are dying there could be something wrong with your water parameters, if you put them on here Myers will be able to help regarding that. But in regards to your question I think the number of tetras you have should be fine but I would add more corys as the minimum recommended number is six.

 

[GaryE]

It isn't a huge tank, but if you are ready to do the requisite 25-30% or more weekly water changes, you could add more Corys. Both your chosen species are good around 24c, so don't make the mistake of keeping them too warm.

You can watch the black phantoms to make sure they don't spar too much. With 8, you may be okay. "May" is the key word. But the Corys are very social fish too, and I would direct my attention to them. There's no set in stone ideal number, but I like to keep them at six and up.

That would be a fine looking tank.

 

[Lamie]

If fish are dying there could be something wrong with your water parameters, if you put them on here Myers will be able to help regarding that. But in regards to your question I think the number of tetras you have should be fine but I would add more corys as the minimum recommended number is six.

I'm so used to losing fish now. I still find it sad but I expect it now. I have never been able to find out what it is.

 

[Lamie]

It isn't a huge tank, but if you are ready to do the requisite 25-30% or more weekly water changes, you could add more Corys. Both your chosen species are good around 24c, so don't make the mistake of keeping them too warm.

You can watch the black phantoms to make sure they don't spar too much. With 8, you may be okay. "May" is the key word. But the Corys are very social fish too, and I would direct my attention to them. There's no set in stone ideal number, but I like to keep them at six and up.

That would be a fine looking tank.

I like the Cory's. They are so cute. I would love to get some more and I think I would do the weekly water changes. Over the summer the tank has been getting hot around 26c -27c. I can't control that it's the room that's hot.

 

[Lamie]

Two tetras just disappeared this last time. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

 

[Colin_T]

If you lose a fish, do not add anything new to the tank for at least one month. This provides time for any disease/s to show up (if there is a disease there) and gives the remaining fish a chance to recover from any diseases they may have.

If you add a fish to a tank that has problems, you will probably make it worse.

 

[Lamie]

If you lose a fish, do not add anything new to the tank for at least one month. This provides time for any disease/s to show up (if there is a disease there) and gives the remaining fish a chance to recover from any diseases they may have.

If you add a fish to a tank that has problems, you will probably make it worse.

Ok

 

[GaryE]

I could not agree with Colin more on this one. It's unfortunately normal to lose some newly bought fish, even from the best stores. Travel through the supply chain is really hard on them. But disease can also come in, and waiting is part of this game. It usually pays off.
If you're in a hurry, bad things happen.

 

[Lamie]

Is it ok to watch the fish at night with a flashlight? Do they mind it?

 

[Colin_T]

Is it ok to watch the fish at night with a flashlight? Do they mind it?

It depends on if they are asleep. It's preferable not to shine a torch (flashlight) on the fish after the lights have been turned off. If you do want to observe your fish after dark, have the room light on before the tank light goes off and then watch them that way. Or have a light on outside the room and watch them.

 

[Sir Guppy]

I like the Cory's. They are so cute. I would love to get some more and I think I would do the weekly water changes. Over the summer the tank has been getting hot around 26c -27c. I can't control that it's the room that's hot.

There are cooling systems you can get for an aquarium, although they are expensive.

 

[Sir Guppy]

Actually never mind about them being expensive. I just found some online for around 20$ CA.
Should have checked before saying that.

 

[Seisage]

Actually never mind about them being expensive. I just found some online for around 20$ CA.
Should have checked before saying that.

No, you were correct initially. It's just a matter of there being two different kinds of cooling systems. The cheap kind are just fans that blow across the surface of the water. They work through evaporative cooling since the air movement will increase evap rates and the process of evaporation removes heat from the system. This will only cool the water by a few degrees though. The really expensive kinds are the fancy ones that use actual refrigerant. They pull the water from the tank, cool it, and then return it.

Regarding the topic of the thread, it probably is some sort of disease going through your population, although I'd also recommend finding a different source of fish once the one month period is up. Some shops just have consistently bad fish, and if you keep purchasing from them, you'll just keep running into the same problems.

 

[Lamie]

No, you were correct initially. It's just a matter of there being two different kinds of cooling systems. The cheap kind are just fans that blow across the surface of the water. They work through evaporative cooling since the air movement will increase evap rates and the process of evaporation removes heat from the system. This will only cool the water by a few degrees though. The really expensive kinds are the fancy ones that use actual refrigerant. They pull the water from the tank, cool it, and then return it.

Regarding the topic of the thread, it probably is some sort of disease going through your population, although I'd also recommend finding a different source of fish once the one month period is up. Some shops just have consistently bad fish, and if you keep purchasing from them, you'll just keep running into the same problems.

I agree. I think it's a disease. Do you know what sort of disease or how would I find out?