I heard Red Serpae Tetras nip fins

[zenryoku]

Fin nippers or not.

I just added 1 red serpae to compliment 6 black phantom tetras. My 29-gallon tank is 2 weeks into the cycling process. I have read that serpaes tend to be fin nippers. I have heard two different opinions. The first is that they will be less aggressive in smaller groups. The second opinion is that a larger group will limit their aggression to within their species. In theory I would like to have a small school of each phantoms and serpae.

[cocoa_pleco]

large groups limit agression always

[Chrona]

As with my Buenos Aires tetras, I don't think larger groups limit aggression. They still chased just as much, but they chase each other, which saved the other fish in the tank. Because they are semi-aggressive to start with, they have a much better time coping with the extra chasing.

[Nautilus291]

Ya in a larger group they will leave the other fish alone and stick with themselves.

[cocoa_pleco]

large groups keep em occupied

[zenryoku]

I have one red serpae with my black phantoms. There is some chasing, which goes both ways, but no signs of fin nipping. Actually, sometimes I think that the serpae gets bullied more then he does the bullying. Sometimes I come out and find him swiming around with my phantoms. I plan on adding a few more serpae in a week or so. Meanwhile, he seems healthy and active.

[cocoa_pleco]

good. My honey gourami isnt getting bullied by my bloodfins anymore.
The glowlights keep em occupied enough

[zenryoku]

All they had at the fish store were some red serpae with chewed up fins. So I went with some gold serpae. I added two, I noticed after I bought them that one has a messed up eye. Other then that he seems healthy and happy, so I named him the one eyed wonder. My old serpae started chasing them around as soon as I added them. I hope that they get fiesty back once they aclimate themselves to my tank.

[Severus]

Im sure they will. They are the new guys though and need some time

[sergo]

i have a group of 10 and they seem pretty self involed until feeding time and then it becomes a free for all and everyone is an enemy. although they get after my female bettas just a little bit, not enought for me to be concerned with yet.

[zenryoku]

My old guy decided to get a bit more aggressive. I noticed that he has started nipping at my poor phantoms. I hope that when y new serpae get acclimated they will keep him busy. Or else all serpae will have to go,

[Severus]

Im sure a few more of his own kind will occupy him nicely. Let us know how it goes

[zenryoku]

I will give them a week...see if it gets worse. Is there anything that I can do to help their fins heal faster?

[Chrona]

Melafix speeds regrowth rates while preventing bacterial infections.

[zenryoku]

awesome, i will prolly have to wait untill my tank finishes cycling.

[zenryoku]

So Far my phantoms do not look any worse. May even look a little bit better. This means that my serpae may be simmering down a bit. I will give them untill Tuesday, if they are still aggresive towards my phantoms I will take them back.

[zenryoku]

Sadly my lil serpae are leaving tomorrow. I have decided that they are just now what I need for in my tank. My phantoms look tons better, but I don't want any future problems. I also wish to add my betta to that tank as well. And I am worried that they will tear his fins up.

I will miss those lil guys. They are so much fun. Whenever I would feed my weather loach a sinking wafer they would ataack it as it sinks all the way down. They looked like little sharks going after that huge wafer. It was pretty funny to see two of them attached to each end of the wafer trying to make off with it. I will also miss the one eyed wonder. I hope that someone else will give him as much love as I have. And to the red guy, he was the leader of the pack and the trouble maker...