Black Skirt Tetras Bullying!

[BelleAmour]

Hi everybody, I'm new to the board, and have a problem with some fish I recently bought. I bought 2 Black Skirt Tetras for my 20 gallon community tank, believing they were peaceful fish. But they are constantly biting each other and tearing through the tank! They are really disrupting what I was hoping to be a peacful tank. Unfortunately, I can't return them, I threw out the receipt because I never had any problems with fish before now. Would adding more of them be helpful, I hear sometimes that helps? or would it just escalate the problem? I would remove them from the tank, but the only other tank I have is for my guppies, and they pick at them as well! Thanks so much, it really is quite painful to watch these two

 

[Puffdaddy]

Yes they are a schooling fish so having numbers of 5 or more are beneficial and will help keep the aggression down.

 

[AndyOleszczuk]

I have 6 of them and they are fine. They like to play pass the algae wafer at feeding time !!! Brilliant fun to watch them swapping it between thereselves. Never any bullying or fighting with them.

 

[mark.w.jones]

What else is in the 20 gallons with them?

As mentioned above they are a schooling fish so need 5+ members to live happily. Having more will also spread aggression levels. However, you may not have space depending on your current stock which is why I ask my first question.

 

[loveyourfish]

Tetras are schooling fish...so it's a good idea you increas their population. But then again you need to consider the ammount of fish u have in the tank.

I guess the reason your fish is being bitten is because their coloration is obvious. Try increasing their population...they are schooling fish anyway.

Anyway what fish are disturbing them in the tank?