i am at a loss right now.
back in june i started my hobby of fish keeping. i started with 2 dyed tetras in a bowl. little did i know they would need more than that. they survived quite well for 3 weeks before i moved them into a 2 1/2 gallon tank with 2 small plants and a little rock formation. again they were fine for another 3 weeks until i got a 10 gallon tank. they have been doing perfectly well with my 2 upside down catfishes, 1 new long finned gold skirt tetra, and 2 nonpainted glass fish. i added 1/2 teaspoon of salt because i read glass fish need the salt, but i didnt want to shock my other fish. so far everyone has been doing perfectly well.
until...
i got cory's. 2 cute little albino/bronze cories. acclimated and everything, perfectly fine little darlings. except they can't have salt. didn't know that. so i did a water change today like normal, excluding the salt.
but now my tetras have been acting up. they arent gasping at the surface of the water, but just swimming along with their mouths slightly open, just at the surface.
and now one of my upsidedown catfish has come out of hiding in the middle of the day, and just upside down with his belly against the glass, and he's a little paler than usual. both my upside down cats usually stayed more or less hidden thruout the day, and it just seems odd...although they did come out yesterday evening when i added the cory's. i didn't think adding cory's would make them braver since they're a different species
the cory's seem fine, as do the glass fish even with the lowered salt.
so my questions:
1) what might be the cause of my three tetras trolling along the top of the water, even though they aren't gasping?
2) upside down catfish, why do they change color? is it because of stress?
3) what happens to glass fish when they don't have salt? i read they get a cloudy substance around them that has to be removed by hand.
4) how much salt is too much for cory's? how long before they show signs of problems with the salt? and if there is a problem, what do they do? what are the symptoms?
if i'm doing anything wrong, someone please let me know
back in june i started my hobby of fish keeping. i started with 2 dyed tetras in a bowl. little did i know they would need more than that. they survived quite well for 3 weeks before i moved them into a 2 1/2 gallon tank with 2 small plants and a little rock formation. again they were fine for another 3 weeks until i got a 10 gallon tank. they have been doing perfectly well with my 2 upside down catfishes, 1 new long finned gold skirt tetra, and 2 nonpainted glass fish. i added 1/2 teaspoon of salt because i read glass fish need the salt, but i didnt want to shock my other fish. so far everyone has been doing perfectly well.
until...
i got cory's. 2 cute little albino/bronze cories. acclimated and everything, perfectly fine little darlings. except they can't have salt. didn't know that. so i did a water change today like normal, excluding the salt.
but now my tetras have been acting up. they arent gasping at the surface of the water, but just swimming along with their mouths slightly open, just at the surface.
and now one of my upsidedown catfish has come out of hiding in the middle of the day, and just upside down with his belly against the glass, and he's a little paler than usual. both my upside down cats usually stayed more or less hidden thruout the day, and it just seems odd...although they did come out yesterday evening when i added the cory's. i didn't think adding cory's would make them braver since they're a different species
the cory's seem fine, as do the glass fish even with the lowered salt.
so my questions:
1) what might be the cause of my three tetras trolling along the top of the water, even though they aren't gasping?
2) upside down catfish, why do they change color? is it because of stress?
3) what happens to glass fish when they don't have salt? i read they get a cloudy substance around them that has to be removed by hand.
4) how much salt is too much for cory's? how long before they show signs of problems with the salt? and if there is a problem, what do they do? what are the symptoms?
if i'm doing anything wrong, someone please let me know
Corydoras are freshwater fish not brackish,please don`t add salt.
