Rummy nose tetras dying help wanted

[Mississippi fish guy]

Last Saturday I bought 10 rummy nose tetras from the pet store. None were colored up at the time and I could see that it looked like some had a scratch or infection, possibly both. The next day began to color up but two were missing. By Monday there were only five. I bought 4 more and now there are 6 with one during a couple hours ago. The only symptoms are not schooling with the rest, an occasional white patch that looks similar to what some had at the pet store, swimming upwards or spinning, and swimming as if there is ammonia (because there was). After a roughly 75% water two appeared to be dying but now one seems to have recovered but not sure. This tetra is not showing any symptoms other than the white spot.
nitrate and nitrite 0

ammonia was about 0.5 ppm yesterday after the water change it is 0

Kh 0

gh 80

I’m not good at reading the test strips but my api test kit (which expires in October) said the ph was about 8-8.2.

this is the test strip the parameters were the same before and after the water change except for ammonia.

I can give more info if needed.

 

[Colu]

It's possible the stress of being transported to a new tank coupled with ammonia was to much its also  possible with lose of colour and white patche that there's a bacterial component what i would do is test daily and do a large water change and add a double dose of prime when ever you get a reading of ammonia I would consider doing a course of maracyn2 in food feeding a small amount twice a day for 7 days that less likely to harm your benefial bacterial when used in food and it's shrimp and snails safe @Mississippi fish guy

[Mississippi fish guy]

 I don’t have prime or maracyn2. I will get some soon as I can. Do I need to test the gh and kh daily because my api test kit doesn’t cover those? Thanks for the help.

[Tony s]

On 8/21/2024 at 7:30 PM, Mississippi fish guy said:

Do I need to test the gh and kh daily because my api test kit doesn’t cover those?

If the test strip shown is from your tap. You’re in excellent shape for rummies. The hardness really shouldn’t fluctuate , if it’s from the tap. Rummies come from a soft water environment. Although they can be raised in harder conditions as well. Most fish will adapt to various levels of hardness. Consistency is the key.  and nothing in the treatment plan is going to alter those numbers 
 

[Colu]

On 8/22/2024 at 3:52 AM, Tony s said:

If the test strip shown is from your tap. You’re in excellent shape for rummies. The hardness really shouldn’t fluctuate , if it’s from the tap. Rummies come from a soft water environment. Although they can be raised in harder conditions as well. Most fish will adapt to various levels of hardness. Consistency is the key.  and nothing in the treatment plan is going to alter those numbers 
 

With  zero KH you can get swing's in the pH I have zero KH unless I  add crushed coral or crushed oyster shell to my tank my pH can drop to 4.5 after 24hr @Mississippi fish guy you don't need to test daily for KH and GH just test daily for ammonia nitrite nitrate 

[Mississippi fish guy]

On 8/22/2024 at 5:42 AM, Colu said:

With  zero KH you can get swing's in the pH I have zero KH unless I  add crushed coral or crushed oyster shell to my tank my pH can drop to 4.5 after 24hr @Mississippi fish guy you don't need to test daily for KH and GH just test daily for ammonia nitrite nitrate 

Thanks.  I have had the test kit for a few years and I normally use the regular ph test and it always reads 7.6 since that is the highest it goes but yesterday I used the high range ph and it read around 8-8.2

Will rummy nose or other South American fish be fine with that?

[Tony s]

On 8/22/2024 at 10:37 AM, Mississippi fish guy said:

Will rummy nose or other South American fish be fine with that?

Short answer to that is it depends. Most fish are very adaptable to ph. Most of the country has high ph. We still keep fish just fine. Fry may fall apart under higher gh and kh, but adults are usually just fine. Some examples of more sensitive fish- discus, apistos, german rams, some dwarf species as well. Most things are going to be fine.

Just looking at your test strip above. It looks like your gh is zero (blue)and your kh (green) is 80-120 which is more than enough to keep your ph stable. And explains the higher ph. so you end up with very soft water with a good buffer. Honestly, that’s pretty ideal 

[gabdewulf]

They will live in a range of PH. Rain/snow melt/etc. changes the natural ph even in large bodies of water.

 

You can add a piece of certain woods, crushed coral, or almond leaf can help stabilize the water.

[Tony s]

Well, ideal for South American anyway. Guppies and snails would be different and require higher gh as well