Argh.... lost one of my Serpae Tetras

[mrramsey]

Hi All~

I lost one of my Serpae Tetras last night. Not sure why. I immediately tested my water this morning and all is good there (ammo - 0, trites - 0, trates - 0, pH - 7.8) The rest of the fish are all actively swimming around and behaving normally.

I did notice this fish yesterday hanging low at the bottom away from the rest of the fish.

What else should I check for??

[Stlouisfish]

Does this tank normally have 0 nitrates? Usually that signals an uncycled tank - some tanks have low nitrates or none - just wondering.

How long have those tetras been in the tank?

[mrramsey]

Been in there for several weeks. I have the same bb since the tank was initially established a year ago. Unless some how I destroyed the bb when I rescaped. How can I Tell for sure?

[Goes to 11!]

Does this tank normally have 0 nitrates?

+1 Just what I was going to ask.

Typically 0 Trates are only seen in HEAVILY planted LIGHTLY stocked tanks. Otherwise they generally indicate a tank that is not cycled.

What is your Trate reading normally?

EDIT: You will just have to keep an eye on your parameters for a week or two. Did you QT these fish before they joined your tank?

[Stlouisfish]

The only way you could have destroyed the BB is by tossing the media (and replacing it with new media) in your filter instead of just rinsing the old stuff in tank water - most of it lives in there - we all clean substrate and decorations sometimes but that probably wouldn't make you lose your cycle.

Perhaps this fish was being bullied by another fish?

[mrramsey]

Other than when I first cycled a year ago it has always been 0. Do you think I should follow the steps to cycle again just to be safe?

[Stlouisfish]

Do you have a lot of plants in there sucking up your nitrates maybe?

I know it's possible to have 0 nitrates - that doesn't mean your tank isn't cycled. How long has this tank been running?

[mrramsey]

Perhaps this fish was being bullied by another fish?

Possible I guess... There are a couple of alpha males in there. However should I be concerned that my nitrates are always 0?

I do have quite a few plants...but not a heavily planted tank. Tank has been running for a year except for the rescape then I broke it down. I kept the same filter and stuff whth the fish in a temp tank during this process.

[Stlouisfish]

I wouldn't be concerned if your other fish are doing ok. As long as your other parameters stay good and you are doing regular water changes, substrate vacuums, etc., consider yourself lucky!

I would keep an eye on fish behavior though - perhaps there's stuff going on overnight that you don't know about.

[mrramsey]

Oh and I am running a AC70 with no carbon and a Rena XP3 with 1-1/2 trays of bio media.

So if everything seeded properly there should be ample bio filtration.

I am doing weekly 10% -15%WC's .