Evil Fish

[Questions?]

no, no, no, no. even if it is temporary he will most likely die. dont get anymorefish. tetras are very actvive, and so anymore and you would be overcrowded(not overstocked) and some fish will start to die

 

[mbpted]

no, no, no, no. even if it is temporary he will most likely die. dont get anymorefish. tetras are very actvive, and so anymore and you would be overcrowded(not overstocked) and some fish will start to die

Okay - bad strategy.

Do I have any other options?

 

[Aquascaper]

A simple trick which has worked for me many times in the past......change your decor just before you add the new fish.

This 'breaks' the territorial response as the territory has changed and the existing fish will be more concerned with staking a claim somewhere than chasing every new addition to defend its existing territory.

I'm not saying this is the answer to your problems but something worth trying

 

[Questions?]

that would work, ive done that a few times with my fish and it works

 

[mbpted]

A simple trick which has worked for me many times in the past......change your decor just before you add the new fish.

This 'breaks' the territorial response as the territory has changed and the existing fish will be more concerned with staking a claim somewhere than chasing every new addition to defend its existing territory.

I'm not saying this is the answer to your problems but something worth trying

Would you replace the decor - in my case, several medium sized river rocks, some clear glass balls, and a bunch of plastic plants - with new ornaments, or simply rearrange what I have so that the configuration is different?

 

[Aquascaper]

Just rearranging it is enough.

What I used to do is move everything around before adding the new fish then gradually, over the next few weeks, put everything back to normal how it was before. Admittedly I didn't have any real plants so that would cause issues if someone did moving rocks, wood, etc. will be enough anyway.

 

[Cherie_]

A lot of good advice on here, some worth trying but I think it's best to leave well enough alone, meaning he's ok alone (with the skirt tetras). There are in fact exceptions to the general schooling rule, I have a neon tetra who is much happier alone because the others attack him (the opposite reason of yours). And like you said at first, he's survived your learning curve so he is definately one of the fittest and why you should keep him! I have the utmost respect for my survivor fish (of my beginner mistakes).
Sounds to me like he's telling the other black Tetras: "I'm the fittest and I'll prove it to you".
So leave him alone
It's normal to be "toughened" when you're a survivor of hard times - so yeah, he's a bully now (and probably why he survived), just see him as your Tough-tetra

 

[mbpted]

Just rearranging it is enough.

What I used to do is move everything around before adding the new fish then gradually, over the next few weeks, put everything back to normal how it was before. Admittedly I didn't have any real plants so that would cause issues if someone did moving rocks, wood, etc. will be enough anyway.

I like this plan.

A lot of good advice on here, some worth trying but I think it's best to leave well enough alone, meaning he's ok alone (with the skirt tetras). There are in fact exceptions to the general schooling rule, I have a neon tetra who is much happier alone because the others attack him (the opposite reason of yours). And like you said at first, he's survived your learning curve so he is definately one of the fittest and why you should keep him! I have the utmost respect for my survivor fish (of my beginner mistakes).
Sounds to me like he's telling the other black Tetras: "I'm the fittest and I'll prove it to you".
So leave him alone
It's normal to be "toughened" when you're a survivor of hard times - so yeah, he's a bully now (and probably why he survived), just see him as your Tough-tetra

When I'm ready to try again, I'll see if he gets along with any other species besides the skirt tetras. The girl at the LFS may have some ideas on this.

Thanks again for all the help.