Intro and a bunch of questions (long)

Lt.Shinysides

Hello All,

I am new to this forum, and relatively new to fish tanks in general. I have a bunch of questions, but instead of bombarding the forums with a bunch of posts, I decided it might be best to ask them all in one place. I hope that is alright, and doesn't become too confusing.

BACKGROUND:

Currently my tank is a 45 Gallon tank with the following fish:

- 1 Flying Fox
- 6 Clown Loach
- 5 Bleeding Heart Tetras
- 4 Swordtails
- 1 Pleco
- 4 Dawson River Rainbow fish
- 8 Black Neon Tetras
- 7 Neon Tetras
- 1 Synodontis Petricola

- 4 Swordtail Fry

At last test the water quality had the following results:

- Ammonia - 0 ppm
- Nitrate - 20 - 50 ppm
- pH - 7.6 - 7.8
- Nitrite - 0 ppm


QUESTIONS:

1. Swordtail Breeding

Three of the Swordtails are female and two recently had babies. I transfered the ones that survived into another 10 Gal tank to grow. The second female aborted her babies after being in the breeder tank for over a week.

What is the best way to tell when the best time to move the female into the breeder tank is? I don't think they much like being in the breeder trap for days and days, but I also don't want to go around chasing a female who is about to give birth as it's probably unneeded stress.

1. a. Swordtail Fry

When the female had her babies I put them in a container long enough to get them to my 10 Gal tank (currently at my girlfriends house). In the few days they were in the container a white, almost oil looking substance formed on the top of the water. I tried to get most of it before I put the fry in the other tank, but it seems to have gotten in there and is now on the top of the 10 Gal.

Is this something I should be concerned about?

2. Neon Tetra disease

I was looking at my tank today and noticed that two of the neons had faded color on their tails, and black spots as well. I am assuming it is Neon Tetra Disease and have just put them in a quarantine tank to see what happens.

The question is, what are the chances of it infecting the other fish (can it infect non-tetras), and what can I do to minimize it?

That's about all for now. Feel free to ask any questions you might have in order to answer the questions better.

Thanks!

Jeff

Lupin

I don't advocate the use of breeding traps. They're just stressful enough to raise mortality rate on fry. I'd put her in the tank a week before she drops her fry. It's just guessing as depending on the water temperature, it is difficult to predict when she will really drop her fry.
What filtration are you using in the 10g?
Any pictures of these neons? Have you tried using flashlight at night and seen any of them swimming around restlessly? There's a sticky thread in Freshwater Emergencies and Diseases section explaining NTD further.:)

Welcome to Fishforum.com, Jeff.

Lt.Shinysides

Hey Lupin,

1.

Ya, I know the breeding trap is stressful, but the 10 Gal tank isn't here so it would probably be just as stressful if not worse to transport them half way across the city each time. I would get a tank for myself, but I simply don't have the space.

I opted for the breeder trap after I realized that the fry simply won't survive in the main tank as the last two times they are eaten within minutes.

The water is at a constant 80 degrees.

1.a.

The filtration for the 10 Gal is some Tetra Whisper power filter. The whole tank was a kit that I got at my local fish store.

2. No, I don't have any pics of the Neons, I just noticed them last night. They were swimming normally with the others, but they just looked odd. I read a bit about NTD a bit, and that's why I took them out until I could figure out better what to do with them, and if they were a risk to the others.

Update,

One of my bleeding heart tetras seems to have signs of fungus on his face and fins, so I am thinking of putting in some meds. Not sure what is causing the troubles as my water seems to be ok.

Lupin

I didn't realize you travel across the city just to put them in the 10g..
Are you sure it's fungus? How do those stuff on its face look? Fungus is a secondary infection that will not appear until wounds are left untreated.

Little-Fizz

What food do you feed the fry? I found when I had fry there was like a thin layer of like oil on the top of the water too. I figured it was the food, because I was using the liquid drops and they have yucky egg products in them. That would be my best guess for the oily substance on the surface of the water? I'm at a loss of what I should feed my fry, the liquid drops pollute the water to much and they don't bite at finely chrushed fish flakes. The last fry I had staved to death... I think.

Lt.Shinysides

Hey Little-Fizz

There is a product called "first bites" that I got at the store. It's a powder that is small enough for them to eat. I just dip a toothpick in the water then dip it in the powder and then back in the tank.

They seem to find it pretty good and they seem healthy.

Lt.Shinysides

I am pretty sure. The tail is also rotting away like fin rot would look and the fungus on his face looks like white cotton. I can't see any other visible injuries.

I tried to catch him to isolate him but he's way too fast, so I may have to medicate the whole tank.

Little-Fizz

Really? Sounds better then liquids, thanks I'm going to check it out this weekend.

Falina

With regards to the fry. If you heavily plant your tank you should have a few surviving and this removes any stress from the equation be it to the mother or the fry.

The rest of your questions seem to be covered.

Hope this helps. :)

Oh, and welcome!

Lt.Shinysides

Hey Falina,

I do have a pretty fair number of plants in the tank, but I think it's a matter of brains vs. brains. The fry simply aren't smart enough to avoid being eaten.

The last time they were born they decided to freely swim in open water despite the plants and the little home I made them out of a plant pot. Nothing is more frustrating then watching them casually dart in the open only to have a tetra of all things chomp them up in one bite.

Little-Fizz,

check it... http://www.aquariumfish.net/_adverti...bites_w100.jpg