help... i don’t know what to do...

[UnknownFishies]

So I have a 30 gallon with Black Skirt tetras and Serpae tetras and 3 dwarf gouramis. Now the guy at the fish store said they would go well but turned out to be wrong as 3 of my black skirt tetras have had their fins decimated by the Serpaes. A couple of weeks ago one of the Serpaes was murdered by one of my fish(I don’t know which ones). So I set up my 5 gallon as a temporary tank just for the 3 black skirts to recover and not get bullied. I am aware that a 5 gal is way too small. Was this the right move? Should I get rid of the Serpaes? Or should I rehome all of the black skirts and get something else. Note: I have not put the black skirts in the temporary 5 gal.
If it’s helpful I can post pics of damage to see if the need actual help (if there is such a thing) or if they defiantly need to be rehomed and not just put in a temporary tank.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Will the fish shop take back the serpaes? Personally I would not want to keep aggressive fish. I have skirt tetras and they can be a bit territorial but they are not what I'd call aggressive. A 30 gallon tank could make a nice community tank with peaceful fish. I would not want anything aggressive in it as it limits the other fish you could keep. I think gouramis are kind of skittish and shy so they won't fare well with an aggressive species for very long either.

 

[UnknownFishies]

I will ask the fish shop tomorrow.

 

[JemZ]

Serpae tetras can be incredibly aggressive as you have experienced. I had one which tried to starve one of my other fish by scaring it away when it was feeding time. I would try to take the serpaes back. The fish shop may or may not give you a store credit or money in return for the fish, so don't expect either, but if they do, it is an added bonus.

 

[UnknownFishies]

Thank you for your help. I’ll talk to my mom about taking them back so hopefully all goes well and my black skirts recover