# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Characins >  Tetras dying...

## andygan

My tetras are dying almost everyday...At least 2 tetras a day, the most was 6 to 7 die. Every morning when I get up, I'll have to pick all the dead bodies up. 
Can someone please tell me why is this happening? :Sad:

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## BFG

Wat are your water parameter? Planted or bare tank? More info pls!

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## scang7

how long has your tank been set up? could it be still cycling?

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## Allen_1971

Andy,

pls go to this thread and try and fill in as much info as you can, then cut and paste the info back to this thread.

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## andygan

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean by water parameter? My tank is not really planted but only with some normal plants that doesn't require much CO2...
My tank is about 2 weeks old...
Allen, the questions in your thread are not really understood by me...There are many terms that I don't understand. Very sorry about that. 
My tank is a 3 X 1.5 X 1.5...Water temperature is set to 28C as I bought a heater to cure white spots... That's about all I can understand. :Wink:

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## budak

In a newly setup tank, there is insufficient bacteria to convert waste matter (fish poo etc) into nitrates (which are absorbed by plants or removed through water changes. So, ammonia and nitrites, which are toxic to fishes, accumulate. Generally, you shouldn't add more than 3-4 hardy fish until 2-3 weeks after a tank is setup. During that time, a good filtration system and regular water changes should be in place. 

I strongly suggest that you buy a good beginner's guide book that explains what is needed to have healthy tanks. AQUARIUM FISH by Ulrich Schliewen (Barron's Series) is a good title, and should be available in MPHs, Borders or Kinokuniya. 

You can also look through the hundreds of old posts in the forum to read the experiences of other hobbyists.

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## andygan

Thanks a lot! :Smile:

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## kenny_G

hi andy,

-wat is ur fish load(num of fish)? 
-how often do you change water?
-how often do you feed ur fish? overfeeding is very common for beginner.

if you cant tell us more details of ur tank, it is almost impossible for us to determine where the problems lies.

ken

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## loupgarou

aiyoh. just search web for the nitrogen cycle

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## Allen_1971

andy...

even if you don't understand, please fill in the form... whatever you don't know leave blank. and if its not applicable, put N/A.

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## andygan

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 3ft X 1.5 X 1.5
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : N/A
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : Normal lights from shop.
No. of Hours your light is on: Irregular
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : N/A
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) N/A: 
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): N/A
Substrate Used : N/A
How Thick is your base fert : No Fert. 
How thick is your gravel : Abt 2 to 3 cm
Liquid Fertilizers Used : N/A
Frequency of fertilization : N/A
Tank Temperature : 28C (Heater)
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : Canister
Filter media used : N/A
How long has your tank been set up : Only 2 weeks+


Chemical Properties (Fill what you can) 
--------------------------------------- 

Carbonate Hardness (kh): N/A
Total Hardness (gH): N/A
PH : N/A
NH4 (ppm): N/A
NO2 (ppm): N/A
NO3 (ppm): N/A
PO4 (ppm): N/A
Fe (ppm): N/A

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants) 
I have 7 pleco, 5 Guorami, 6 Rams, 5 Patries and 8 tetras.

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## budak

Can't help you much, if you have no idea of your water quality, but with your fish population and newly setup tank, toxicity from ammonia, nitrite (most likely) or nitrate are the likeliest causes, mainly because your there is insufficient bacteria to convert waste down to nitrates and you don't seem to have any plants to absorb the nitrates. 

And DITCH the heater, no matter what people at the LFS say, it's a totally useless thing here in the tropics, unless the tank is in a freezing air-con room. Again, strongly suggest you invest in a good book like the one recommended above (it has a picture of a brown discus on the cover) that explains what's required for setting up healthy tanks, do water changes (at least 1/2 once or twice weekly), and get test kits to NH3/NH4, NO2 and NO3 to ascertain that their levels.

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## elmike

Hi folks

This is not to side-step earlier responses but my experience tells me that tetras (neon) are rather sensitive to water conditions. 

Consider this: Sometime ago I bought 5 tetras and 2 rummy noses. Within a week, all the tetras met their maker while the r noses thrived to this day. Same water, same tank (1 ft), but different fates. 

mike

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## Allen_1971

Andy,

have you been experiencing less deaths lately? Assuming your filter has been running for about 2 weeks now, and you haven't cleaned it, then the main part of cycling is more or less done... Just continue to do water changes weekly and see how it goes.

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## andygan

Thanks a lot guys!
To Allen: Yes,there are lesser death already. So far so good for now. Anyway, I juz added 4 more Rams. :Razz:  
Is it ok?

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## PeterGwee

Rams are not easy to keep...they are especially sensitive to poor water conditions. I would stop adding live stock to the tank until the bacteria colony has build up..try to check for presence of nitrate.

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## bclee

Peter, do you mean check for nitrite rather than nitrate?

Andy, your tank is not fully cycled. STOP adding new fishes. Otherwise, more fish will die. Test for nitrite. Make sure it continually stay at zero before you add more fish.

BC

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## budak

Andy,
Find out what's the problem with the water and do the tests before you add more fishes. Or they will just DIE eventually.

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## vinz

Andy,

The key here is too understand the Nitrogen-cycle... very important if you intent to your keep fishes alive and healthy. Search the web for nitrogen cycle... lots of info around. www.thekrib.com is a good place.

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## toledosun

Know how you feel, lost my entire load of tetras when I first started. Have a suggestion. Are you using an airstone? If not, give it a try because if nothing else, at least it'll areate the water and hopefully, remove excess CO2.

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## PeterGwee

BC...I ask him to check for nitrate because it indicates that the nitrogen cycle is more or less complete once nitrate is detected...if not better be careful and do more water changes.

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## bclee

Not true. Nitrate will already be there during the NO2 spike phase. You will never know from NO3 level whether tank has cycled.

BC

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## PeterGwee

Mmmmmmmmm....oops..my wrong. Guess I should update my info more often (some are actually wrong!) [ :Grin: ]

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## bclee

Peter, we are all learning here. No harm done.

BC :Wink:

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## andygan

Do I really need an airstone? I already have 2 filters liao.
One canister and one overhead filter. Is it enough?
Please advise me. Thanks!

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## budak

andy, the airstone suggestion is more of a stop-gap, in case it's low oxygen that's killing the fish. But if you can't find out what is the water problem or do not attempt to learn about keeping fish healthy, i dun think we can help much beyond this.

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