Chunky Bites In Phantom Fins

[jollysue]

I have a 100 usg community tank. One of the shoals is 6 or so Black Phantoms. The other day the sickle part of the dorsal on one of the ladies was chomped in half. (I know, she probably didn't really have a sickle. ) Tuesday morning a nice looking boy had half his tail fin gone--one lobe. He is in terrible disdress. Most of the larger fish have been there ages. The one I am wondering about, who is getting very large, is a Queen/Botia Dario. I think she might be 4+ inches. Would they bite? I just can't imagine it's the emperors, although they might be large enough. The girl might survive, but the boy can't swim with any certainty at all. He just spirals.

 

[Lateral Line]

Dario is normally quite a placid Botia. They certainly have a hirearchy amongst themselves which can involve a bit of nipping, but they don't really do any harm. They are gregarious of course, I assume you have a group. The kind of damage you describe doesn't really say Botia at all.

Being front toothed, a bite from even a small tetra can do quite a lot of damage, most can and will nip if the fancy takes them. Silver Tips can be quite aggressive. I don't know the common name "Two Spot", but almost without exception, tetras are schooling fish abd can be unpredictable if kept singly or in very small groups.

 

[jollysue]

Thanks for answering LL

I suppose you are right. I just had not seen this Tetra aggression since the Great Hi Fin Serpae War well over a year ago.

I will try to watch for the culprit. I have had the Two Spot for a long time, and it's never shown any aggression. (I believe it is one of the species that gets dyed.) It tends to hang out with the medium sized bleeding hearts. I suppose I have about fifty usg of Tetras, ranging from the little green neons to the Emperors. All but 2 (the Two Spot and the last remaining serpae) are in groups of 6 plus--the Phantoms may have dropped to 5 now. Since both damaged fish are Phantoms, I expect it is from that area. The rosies, who are reaching their maturity and phantoms tend to hang together blending into the smaller of the bleeding hearts. My Community Tetra and my Community Frontosa Rift are probably the most interesting to watch. Something is always going on.

The loach dance goes on 24/7 with 3 Botia dario and 2 Botia straita. They must carry on in shifts, because it never stops. They have claimed a corner of the tank for themselves. A silver tip got lost in the activity this morning. It was bumped and jostled, even though the loaches paused occasionally to avoid it. I wasn't sure it would make it out. Finally it found it's bearings and got clear--dazed, no doubt. There are 3 more straita in the sorority tank. I will eventually try to get the two groups together.

The clown has gone with 4 other wild caught clowns to the Tanganyikan Rift tank. I was told it would do well there, but I worry about the higher ph. He seems happy, and I see them out and about when the lights are dim. They are about 6". I thought I had seen two of the original clowns still, but only one showed up to be transfered.

Thank you again. I just wanted to check if the queens were more aggressive.