The Nippers !

[BiGBlak]

Lol i was told but didnt believe that a tetra would do that well i kind of find it funny now . My serpae tetras are like a little gang in my 20 gallon chasing my two dwarf gouramis trying to nip their fins . They sneak up behind them and then snap . No damage yet but i plan for this to stop soon as the gouramis make the tank their home. Lol anyways just wanted to share that Serpaes are mean little tetras .

[Pleco380]

I have a single serpae and he schools with my other tetras. There's been a bit of fin nipping but it's been minimal.

[EmmanuelJB]

Yaa... Serpeas are known to be nippers. How many of them do you have? Usually they are less likely to be nippy in larger schools. I would recomend 6-8, than again, you don't have a ton of room with a 20 gallon.

@Pleco380: I would definatly recomend getting at least 5 more. Tetras are schooling fish, and do best with 6 or more of their own species. The bit of nipping to the other fish would likley be eliminated if you got more.

[Pleco380]

Yeah. I just don't want to overstock. He doesn't nip fins anymore. I guess I'm just lucky. I got him back when I didn't know they liked to school.

[EmmanuelJB]

@ Pleco380: Well what is in the tank with the tetra? Also how big is the tank? It would really be best if he had some of his own species.

[Pleco380]

It's in my signature in the 80 gallon. The tetras are 1 serpae, 1 pristella, 1 neon (used to be 4), 3 bleeding hearts, 4 bloodfin. But this isn't my thread.

[~Col~]

It's good to know that my serpae's aren't the only nippers. I thought mine were nipping because they'd schooled up with tiger barbs. Now I know!

[BiGBlak]

Yaa... Serpeas are known to be nippers. How many of them do you have? Usually they are less likely to be nippy in larger schools. I would recomend 6-8, than again, you don't have a ton of room with a 20 gallon.

@Pleco380: I would definatly recomend getting at least 5 more. Tetras are schooling fish, and do best with 6 or more of their own species. The bit of nipping to the other fish would likley be eliminated if you got more.
my stock in my 20 gallon so far is .
5 Serpae Tetras
5 Cardinal Tetras
2 Dwarf Gouramis( Flame , Powder Blue)
In the next few weeks i plant to add 1 each to the schools and then add like 4 cory cats of some sort. then im done.

[EmmanuelJB]

Are both gouramis male? If so, I am just warning you there may be some fighting.

[jclee]

If you have the tank planted, or at least decorated with a few visual barriers, you probably don't have to worry about the males fighting. I've bought pairs of males and they'll chase each other for a week or two until they've decided who's "the boss," and what part of the tank is "theirs," and then they've generally left each other alone. My tank is planted, though, so they've got niches to retreat to if they're frustrated with each other.

[Lady Hobbs]

Serpae's are noted to do that. I've had numerous types of tetra's and never had any of them be nippy. Nippers are not fun to have when other fish start to get all these fins ripped away.

[Sursion]

Add Black Skirt Tetra's to the mean tetra list.

[Lady Hobbs]

I didn't have a problem with them, either, but I had about 30 of them.

[ohmikeosh]

Add head and tail light tetras to that list....Once this ich is under control I am getting rid of 2 of them They are Bad little fish....lol...I have never seen such mean fish.

[Pleco380]

I've never had a mean tetra. Iv'e had head and tail light, red eye, neon, glowlight, serpae, pristella, bleeding heart, and bloodfin tetras.

[LeJohn23]

Sorry to grave dig, but had a question for you BB. Did you (or anyone else) end up adding the Dwarf Gouramies to the tank with the Serpaes? I plan to add 2 Dwarf Gouramies to my 55G community but didn't know if the Serpaes would target them since they are slower moving fish. I just introduced 6 Neons last night, that must not be more than 3/4 of an inch, and the Sepres gave them a rough time until today's feeding. One completely missing caudal fin and 3 others with banged up caudal fins. Now the Serpaes are back to swimming with the Cherry Barbs and messing with each other, and hopefully it stays that way.