Green Fire Tetra

[steeler58]

Has anybody had any success keeping this fish? I've tried three times and failed three times. They come into the LFS and look strong and healthy, I take them home and they start wasting away and die.

Now I know I'm not an idiot after all this time, I've kept Cardinals and Rummy Noses's for years with no problems, but these guys who are closely related to Bloodfins (very hardy) won't survive in my Tanks. Yes I even tried different tanks when I had three.

They are an attractive fish, not in Cardinal and Neons class but still nicely colored.

Any suggestions?

[Zander]

What time frame are they dying in? 24 hours? A week? A month?

24 hours usually seems to be an acclimation issue or possibly a sick fish. A week tends to be a water parameters or fish aggression issue. A month is more likely a stress or lack of eating or something along those lines.

[steeler58]

Good old Zander! Thanks for responding. They start looking emacipated in about two weeks and linger about a month. They won't eat any of the frozen foods I offer either like bloodworms or brine shrimp.

Good to see you back on the forum. I had not seen you in awile.

[Zander]

Have you ever tried keeping them in a tank with nothing but them? At least for awhile to see if that makes a difference. Not saying it will, but it's something I would try.

Honestly don't know what else to suggest. Best guess is something is stressing them out, and the list of things that can stress out fish is pretty long.

I've not posted recently because since the server switch I can't post any threads. I keep getting told "403 Forbidden" when I post. It's been almost 2 weeks without being allowed to post threads and that is pretty frustrating. I have a thread I want to post but I can't.

[steeler58]

Yeah it's a real mystery. I see you-tube video's of them swimming in commuity taks and their always out fron and look healthy.

[cathydkkr]

Hi! I'm new to the board, and this post is a few months old, but I have had good luck with green fire tetras. I have a single species tank plus a rubber-lipped pleco and some shrimp.

Over time, I have made some changes to my tank and I've noticed some things work better than others. First off, they like a planted tank. The best layout is fairly short (2-4 inch) planted plants with some floating cover; they like to swim in the middle layer. I use hornwort as a floating plant. Also, I know stores recommend getting 6 fish but I'd suggest at least 8. They are very timid when their number drops below 7.

I've heard green fires are hardy with regards to water conditions. However, they're very sensitive to noise and vibration. I remember the first time the microwave timer went off (in the next room) while I was watching them. As soon as the sound went off, they leapt across the tank. Over time, they seem to grow accustomed to common sounds, but it takes a while.

They also *hate* to have the tank cleaned. They seem more comfortable with it since I added the floating plants. They don't mind water changes much, but they don't like the gravel vacuum or my hand in the tank for any reason. I added the rubber-lipped pleco, the red cherry shrimp and the ghost shrimp so I could minimize the intrusive cleaning (and that has helped a lot). Also, I have had a nitrate filter from the start, so my nitrate levels are always under 10 ppm and usually 0 ppm. They also panic when I turn off the tank light (it needs to be on all day for the live plants) but then I guess a lot of fish do that.

I did have two green fires "waste away" as yours did. I noticed it happened after I'd added liquid carbon for the plants (Seachem's Flourish Excel). In each case, the fish had gotten too close to the syringe. Now I put the supplement into two cups of tank water, wave my fingers near the surface (to keep them away) and then pour. I haven't lost one since. The wasting seemed to be related to damaged gills. Do you notice if yours have red gills when they get sick?

I *do* have very good water flow in my tank. This tetra, as well as the rubber-lipped pleco, both like fast-moving water. So I used a more powerful filter than required and also a powerhead that drives the nitrate filter. Together, these generate a pretty good water flow. I often see the green fires trying to swim "up-stream" in the flow of the filter.

Otherwise, I've had three jump out of the tank while I was (very gently) cleaning it. One landed in the fish net on the floor (talk about luck) and survived. I didn't realize the other two had jumped out until it was too late. The largest tetra once gorged herself on frozen bloodworms (a rare treat). She was literally ripping them out of the mouths of the other fish. By the time I realized she'd overeaten, it was too late. She died of constipation.

I currently have eleven green fires of varying ages and all are healthy. I noticed that when I replaced lost fish with new, young fish, the newcomers seemed to take the lead of the older fish and calmed down much more quickly than my original batch did.

They definitely need a lot of room to swim. I do not have anything rising up in the middle of my tank. I have a tiny 2" X 3" black enclosure (1-1/2" high) at the back of my tank where the pleco hides during the day and I've also put some smooth, flat riverstones in places over the substrate where nothing is growing (again for the pleco). The middle layer of the water is obstruction-free, so the green fires can get lots of exercise, which they seem to enjoy.

If you're still interested in this fish, let me know. One thing to find out is whether your LFS gets them from a local breeder or not. If they're being shipped in (or worse yet, wild-caught), I've heard the stress of travel can weaken them long-term, making them more susceptible to illness later. I know mine were bred locally.

[steeler58]

Hey Cathy, thanks for all the great information. It was a busy weekend and I missed your response. If I try them again I will take your advice on keeping them.