How to be successful with Rummynose Tetras?

[Zodiac007]

I'm going to buy 10 rummynose tetras ( bhleri ) for my 75 gallon heavily planted tank. I heard that they can be hard to acclimate and keep alive.

Can anyone that has kept rummynose tetras successfully give me some tips on how to acclimate them and how to keep them alive and healthy?

They are quite expensive, so I don't want to lose any.

Thank you.

[Red]

drip acclimate them, take your time. Make sure there eating, and can get food.

[Northernguy]

I think Wild Turkey did a DIY drip acclimation thread a little while back.
They are nice fish!thumbs2: Pics when you get it done please!
Here it is.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Jaster]

I have 9 of them in my 80 gallon and I love them. Great active fish that stays in a nice tight school. It looks so cool when they move around. I didn't do the drip method, I used the water change method but I do think the dip would be better. If you don't have a way to do the drip, place your bag in the tank and let the temp even out first. This takes about 20-30 minutes. What I did was add a cup of water from the tank to the bag and I let it sit for 30 minutes. Then I took out a cup of water from the bag and replaced it with another cup of water from the tank. again sit for 30 minutes. keep doing this until the levels in the bag match the levels in the tank. Keep a close eye on them and watch for any negative reactions. Also, do this with your tank lights off. it gets them to relax a bit. The key, no matter how you acclimate, is take your time and do the acclimation slowly.
You will probably notice that their noses will turn a soft pink color. It means they are a bit spooked or something is wrong. The color should return once they've calmed down a bit. With in a hour of getting mine into the QT tank their noses returned to normal color.
Hope that helps!

[DrNic]

Slow acclimation is always best for almost any fish. For all my fish I use the 'Two buckets and a Rock' drip acclimation method. I take a small 5 quart painters bucket and put a rock in the bottom then put the fish from the store into the bucket. This bucket then goes into a larger 5 gallon bucket. I drip acclimate into the small bucket until the 5 gallon bucket is full then VERY carefully move the fish into the tank. It might sound kind of complicated but it works great. I've just had too many times when the water volume in the back wasn't sufficient for swimming space in a large bucket causing problems with the acclimation.

Once the tetras are in the tank, be careful how much water you change when you do water changes. Initially I would do ~30% max. You can probably go higher than that later if you needed to but as I've found out the hard way most tetras can be REALLY touchy about large sudden water changes.

[Little Embers]

I have had them before also and never had a problem with them. In a lot of cases with rummynoses, I have learnt that the focus needs to be on the way the are transported from the LFS to home also (this can really stress them apparently). It is best to get them home as quickly as possible and while being transported, keep them in darkness and at least sheild them from light.

As already mentioned with the acclimitisation, do it slowly. I always take twice as long to acclimate rummy's than other fish. Mine had bright red noses after a couple of hours in the tank as well. They are lovely fish, just sensitive at the start.

[kennedpa]

I have 8 in my 3ft tank and all have been around for 4 years now. No fuss fish, happy to keep to themselves and love a planted tank. PH neutral, temp 30C. Feed - bloodworm, flake. Enjoy them, they look great in the tank

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Great fish. I have a school of 9 in my 46 gal with my Discus. They are great fish and make a beautiful addition to a planted tank.

They are a great benchmark for water quality as well. As water quality decreases, their noses will fade, once you do a water change, it returns to normal.

[Wild Turkey]

Great fish. I have a school of 9 in my 46 gal with my Discus. They are great fish and make a beautiful addition to a planted tank.

They are a great benchmark for water quality as well. As water quality decreases, their noses will fade, once you do a water change, it returns to normal.

Major agree! Great fish. They will feign death a lot during acclimation, dont fret about it.