Fish in the coal mine?

[Geoff kuiken]

Hello everyone, We've all heard the term canary in the coal mine and I’m curious if people do this but with their aquariums with specific fish?  What are the signs?  Is it even worth having these fish?  I’m curious to know peoples ideas and implications to this.

[Art Aquariums Anime]

Corey has mentioned that the red on rummy nose tetra will be less vibrant if conditions are not as good but I have not kept them myself to test it out.

[Geoff kuiken]

2 minutes ago, Art Aquariums Anime said:

Corey has mentioned that the red on rummy nose tetra will be less vibrant if conditions are not as good but I have not kept them myself to test it out.

Well I currently have 8 in my tank so if that’s true this is very convenient 

[Art Aquariums Anime]

Yes. It looks like you will be able to find out yourself first hand.

[Art Aquariums Anime]

I know that some folks don't trust Wikipedia however the last paragraph in in the aquarium maintenance section comments on this as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rummy-nose_tetra

[Emika_B]

This was one reason I got rummies and I did notice the red faded while they were in quarantine.  Now that they’re in the main tank, they have nice red noses.  That said, they’re just fun to watch dash from side to side.  The smaller dwarf neon rainbows think they’re pretty cool, too, as they are almost always schooling with the rummies.

[Geoff kuiken]

7 hours ago, Emika_B said:

This was one reason I got rummies and I did notice the red faded while they were in quarantine.  Now that they’re in the main tank, they have nice red noses.  That said, they’re just fun to watch dash from side to side.  The smaller dwarf neon rainbows think they’re pretty cool, too, as they are almost always schooling with the rummies.

My single guppy actually schools with my rummynose.  I have noticed when I first turn the light on their noses aren’t the brightest.  Few minutes and they colour up right away.  This I assumed is natural though. 

[stowcenter93]

Chocolate Gouramis will really fade and lose their dark bodies and the stripes will be less prominent when stressed.

[NanoNano]

My "canaries" aren't fish,  but snails.  Red Racer Nerites to be exact.  My experience has been that Nerites are particularly picky about water quality and oxygenation.  If I see them "parked" at or above the waterline,  I know it's time to get out the test strips to see what is going on.  Unfortunately,  Nerites can prolifically lay eggs around a tank that are extremely difficult to remove,  so my early warning system comes with some downside.

[Stealth Aquatics]

On 5/19/2021 at 2:47 AM, Emika_B said:

This was one reason I got rummies and I did notice the red faded while they were in quarantine.  Now that they’re in the main tank, they have nice red noses.  That said, they’re just fun to watch dash from side to side.  The smaller dwarf neon rainbows think they’re pretty cool, too, as they are almost always schooling with the rummies.

I love my rummynose tetras. They are by far my favorite tetra, with cardinals a distant second.