Xmas Moss & Cardinal Tetras: PROBLEM, PROBLEM, PROBLEM!

[raytan12]

I bought 30 cardinal tetras last week... this week only left with 20. went away on friday and back today... surprise to see missing tetras. all my remaining tetras' tail fins are either gone or half gone, seems like shredded. not sure of the reason... i have a puffer and 5 bumblebee gobies. now... can only see a goby and my puffer not in sight...what's wrong with my cardinals?they're so ex and yet a couple of days after i put them into the tank... their tail fins are disappearing. what's the cause of it? anything to prevent this?

next my xmas looks ugly... thin and growing downwards...they look like wire...just like a branch without leaves. what;s the cause of it? too much heat? some parts turning brown. from what i see, xmas moss fronds looks furry, mine have nothing, looks like only the branch. what can i do? help help help

[hwchoy]

aiyah, must pay more attention to this forum... it has been repeated a donkey times, puffer nips fins. There.

How long have you had your xmas moss? if your temperature is low, then chances are they just need to get established, suddenly you'll see new shoots sprouting. If temperature is high, well, wish yourself some luck as they may still grow. My tank is 28-30 and my xmas moss finally started growing after 2 months!

[Simon]

yes, I clearly agree with choy on the tail-nipping.. if the tank is too small, then yr fishes cant flee.. as for the xmoss, it gotta be the temp

[MECH]

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On 6/10/2002 12:09:32 AM
My tank is 28-30 and my xmas moss finally started growing after 2 months!
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hahahaa

[sherchoo]

With big tanks, puffer will still nip you fish tails. They look absoltuely inocent till it gets close ebuf to pounce on your tail....

[raytan12]

Found the problem with me cardinals...it's the idiotic Puffer fish.
Over the week, this is what has happened:
1) I did a rescaping. reason: xmas moss not growing well, believe that some rotting.[]
2) did a rescape, use hairgrass, a plant (don know what name): about 4-5in tall, long thin green leaves. also got mini mini riccia (think from taiwan type), got all from serangoon north (petmart and riccia from aquarium opp petmart, near bird shop)
3) now i have these questions:
a)what are the conditions for hairgrass to cover the entire ground?
b) How long will it take for the haigrass to cover the ground? i plant them quite closely together, about 1cm apart.
4) i'm growing the riccia in another mini tank, cos i see my shrimps eating them. the riccia quite ex man,a 4x4in cost $15. cultivating them first and get the mass of riccia then grow them in my main tank. i see some tiny organisms, very small one insect-like organisms jumping around... will these harm my plants?

Btw, this is my 2nd rescaping...not so successful with some plants.
1st rescape: remove glosso, found BBA. plant alot of normal riccia
2nd rescape: remove xmas moss (background), remove riccia (creating quite a mess) , plant in hairgrass...
It's really experimenting to see that kind of plants can survive well in my tank. my lighting is 3.6W per gallon, Enuf?

Please advise. Thanks alot guys!
(you guys are really great, learnt alot!) []

[raytan12]

Oh yes, something tragic to add in.
remember? i got about 30 cardinals, guess what i'm left with now.... only 6 of them. oh dear! thankfully they're recovering.
I lost about 10 of them to the puffer.
Also, lost another 10 of them after i did my rescaping. don really know what's the cause. []
here's what happened:
after i done my rescape, i checked the PH, KH, etc. everything is fine. i sprayed some antibacterial disinfectant in my room. add in my fish, some of my cardinals forgot how to swim...i'm not sure is it due to the spray that some particles might have gone into the water. didn't spray near my tank. (think so that it's due to the spray) remove all my fish, change 80% of the water...unfortunately, those cardinals can't be saved even i gave them CPR... hehehehehhee[]