Head and Tail Light Fin

[CDNDavid]

Hello All,

Added my first fish to my new aquarium, 5 Head and tail light tetra's. Added them in the evening, next day when the light was on I noticed problems with the fins on 2, 1 looks really bad. At the store they were in their own tank with 50 other Head and tail lights. I plan to add 7-8 more to make 12.

This is the only fish in my tank, there is 1 thats a bit of a bully. Tank is 4 weeks old, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0.5, Nitrate 5.0

Is this fin nipping or is it fin rot? The worst one is swimming a little diagonal (head up) and likes to stay near the surface.

Thoughts?

 

[Bradders]

Hello - can we also have a full tank shot, please? And also what your current pH is in the tank?

Did they come this way when you viewed them in the shop, or has the deterioration/issue occur in transit or when in your aquarium?

 

[CDNDavid]

Hello - can we also have a full tank shot, please? And also what your current pH is in the tank?

Did they come this way when you viewed them in the shop, or has the deterioration/issue occur in transit or when in your aquyou can

There is a tank shot in my journal, UNS 60T Startup

Tank pH is 7.5, I tested the stores pH in the bag and it was 8.5. I slowly acclimatized them for about 4 hours adding small amounts of water until the pH was 7.8, then added them to my tank.

I dont remember seeing the issue at the store, but with there being 50 we where not able to choose which ones we wanted. We didnt notice the issue until the next day when we had better lighting. Have to wait until tonight to see if the problem worsens.

 

[Bradders]

When I usually see fin rot, it has white edges to it, where these ragged-looking fins look like damage. But that is just an initial assessment. However, the fish in the first picture looks in very bad shape overall sadly.

4-hours of acclimatisation (plus travel time) in a bag seems like a long time. Although the principle is well-meaning, the stress alone can cause issues worse than the effect of a 1pH drop. Fish are able to swim through rivers which have 1pH drops and do this without issue - they are more tolerant to thermo and pH change than people give them credit for. If this is damage rather than rot, then this could be a cause. But interested to see how they look today when the light is on and to see more piccys.