Angry Serpae Tetra

[RobberyinCSharp]

Hi,
I have a ten gallon tank with 2 Serpae tetra fish. Today, for no reason at all, one serpae started attacking the other! Chasing him and nipping at his fins! What on earth should i do?

 

[AnimalHouse36]

Try adding a lot more plants and hiding spots.

 

[Caprichoso]

You would need to add more to form a school. They are notorious fin nippers. You probably have 2 males. Add 3 females. Or, re-home the aggressive one and add more, keeping the male to female ratio 1-3. To be honest though, you would be much better off with a smaller, more peaceful tetra like the Ember or Green Fire tetra in a 10 gallon in my opinion.

Good luck

 

[Clarousel]

Add more to have a school definitely. These fellas are crazy nippers! Even in a school they would nip other fish and very severely I must add. If it doesn't get better, do re-home.

 

[apple king my betta]

sorry i dont know any thing about this but good luck

 

[Blubble37]

Add more to have a school definitely. These fellas are crazy nippers! Even in a school they would nip other fish and very severely I must add. If it doesn't get better, do re-home.

or put in a frying pan for ten minutes with some onion and sage. Then serve with rice over a glass of port. YUM!

 

[sarah40011]

i have a group of 6 and they are all fine together, def more into chasing each other than my other tetras but 6 seems to keep them all cool. am bumping them up to ten or so in their new home. from what i read its what they need to be chilled

 

[Blubble37]

the agression is spread around in bigger groups

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

But why is this so sudden? I never had this problem before!

 

[Blubble37]

perhaps its a teeenager - fish go through that phase as well! my goldies definitely did!

 

[Caprichoso]

But why is this so sudden? I never had this problem before!

Fish act differently when they reach maturity. Sometimes they are in competition over a female, territory, etc. This is why you can have normally aggressive fish together when they are young but they will rip each other apart when they get older.

 

[Blubble37]

+1 well said

 

[Tizer]

What other fish are in the tank?

You have a schooling fish thats very agressive, it will be fighting for dominance and while there is only one other of his own in the tank he will constantly have a go at it. It will probably start having a go at other fish too at some point. Serpae's are not beginners fish, a good number of them must be kept together for a healthy environment. As fish mature, their attitudes change, as previously mentioned.

If yuo have the room, you could introduce more but ideally you would return them to the shop, 10 gals isnt big enough.

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

I'm going to return them to the store. I woke up and 2 of my neon tetras had their tails nipped off!!!! My poor babies. My only balloon sailfin Molly is starting to show aggression as well. Sadly, he will be going back. I will only be adding NEON tetras, platies and guppies. I'm incredibly upset the LFS wrote "tropical community fish" as a label, as this is why I purchased them. This individual LFS gave my fish from other stores already in the tank ich! Now I have to treat that!!!! I'm so frustrated. I'm ready to give up being a fish owner

 

[Clarousel]

I'm going to return them to the store. I woke up and 2 of my neon tetras had their tails nipped off!!!! My poor babies. My only balloon sailfin Molly is starting to show aggression as well. Sadly, he will be going back. I will only be adding NEON tetras, platies and guppies. I'm incredibly upset the LFS wrote "tropical community fish" as a label, as this is why I purchased them. This individual LFS gave my fish from other stores already in the tank ich! Now I have to treat that!!!! I'm so frustrated. I'm ready to give up being a fish owner

Oh no They nipped my neons' tails too. Good choice to bring them back though Oh dear.. all the best with the ich as well. Don't give up! I had loads of trouble when I started out too but after you pass that you'll really have fun!