# rummy nose tetras



## Alexk3954 (Jan 2, 2006)

I was thinking about getting a school of rummynose tetras and was wandering about their coloration. At my lfs, the ones in the show tank look great with lots of red, but the ones for sale have not too much red, or none at all, which is shocking to me because the tanks are in great condition and everything is well taken care of. Will they get better looking once I buy them, or are they just bad specimens?


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

Chances are they will color up much better at home. Fish show poorly in most stores.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Rummynose Tetras stress very easily and show this in their head color along with the body color. Just make sure that the LFS have these fish in their tank at least a week before you buy them. Longer the LFS has them the better their color will be.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I agree, they don't take well to stress at all, but on the other hand, they also adapt to a new tank fairly well, if it's to their liking.
I've brought some home that looked like plain white/grey fish while they were in the bag, but it only took seconds before they fully colored up in my tank.

The ones in your store may also be young, compared to the ones in the show tank, so that may make a difference.


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## Alexk3954 (Jan 2, 2006)

i was thinking about getting a black ghost knife. do you think he would eat rummy noses? I heard they have to find food through an electrical organ so it seems like it would be hard for it to catch them.


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## Error (Apr 16, 2004)

Having mixed small tetras and black ghost knives, I can tell you that it will work if you keep the ghost fed well.

I fed mine bloodworms and I never saw him go after anyone.


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## Alexk3954 (Jan 2, 2006)

how would you suggest that I keep the knife fed well? also, do you think it would go after small SAE's. BTW, i haven't seen mine in a few days, do you think a small bala shark, redline shark, or huge pleco would have eaten them? i somehow doubt it because i have similar size otos that are doing fine. are SAE's usually shy?


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

My SAE's are always out front zipping around. They are definately a schooling fish and always hang out together. I suppose a single fish might be shy if there are big fish around. I really doubt one would get himself eaten by a pleco though. It seems like I've heard that they are sometimes not incredibly hardy when transferring to a new setup. Take a close look. You don't want to miss a dead one somewhere.


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## Error (Apr 16, 2004)

Alexk3954 said:


> how would you suggest that I keep the knife fed well?
> 
> 
> > Well, to begin with, they're nocturnal. Even though mine would come out if I fed during the day, they generally don't like light all that much.
> ...


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## david lim (Mar 30, 2004)

Make sure your sae hasn't jumped out. If you're pumping CO2 into the tank an sae takes time to equilibrate to CO2 enriched water since they are used to O2 rich. 

How large is your tank? You have some fish that will get fairly large including the future purchase of the Black Ghost Knife.

I used to perform research on knife fish's electric organ discharges (EOD). I personally wouldn't recommend that you purchase it unless you have a suitably large tank for all of the fish to be able to make territories or escape from eachother when need be.


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## Alexk3954 (Jan 2, 2006)

its a 125 gal. tank, and I have others that i can move fish to in case there are problems


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