neon chasing others

[Briarmoor]

I have been watching some Neon behavior developing over the last few days. There is one in the tank that is biggest, about an inch long. It is chasing a smaller, rounder neon. The next biggest neon is chasing this fish too, but not at the same time. None of the fish seem to have anything wrong with them, their color is really nice. The chasing stops when I feed them. The biggest neon also chases the second biggest that chases the smaller one. The other 2 (there are 5 total) seem to stay out of it and out of the area when it goes on. The ones chasing and being chased can go all around the perimeter of the tank zipping around, not the peaceful schooling they did when they got here. The rounder bellied one is going under the heater area, but the chasers find it there. Should I be worried about all this? And what is going on? I think the all activity is getting on the gouramis nerves.

Tank conditions are good today, I am wondering if the tank is finally cycled? Ammonia is almost 0 now, just a touch of green on the test strip, but I have done several water changes lately. Nitrates are under 40 and nitrite is not "white" but close, maybe .25. I am happy about the better water conditions. pH is still higher, around 7.4 but the fish don't seem to mind. Total hardness is around 100 as is KH.

Pam in TN

 

[Hels]

Hi,

Sounds pretty normal as far as i know, probably got a bit of a power struggle going on, if you can I’d say try and get some more neons as tetras normally feel better the larger the group, the dominant ones should pick on the smaller ones less

as for them not shoaling as much, i think they only shoal when they are frightened (i.e. when new to a tank) so they may have just settled in

hope this helps

 

[Briarmoor]

Hi,

Sounds pretty normal as far as i know, probably got a bit of a power struggle going on, if you can I’d say try and get some more neons as tetras normally feel better the larger the group, the dominant ones should pick on the smaller ones less

Thanks. How many? I started with 8, but lost 3 early on. I think my tank is almost cycled. I was going to wait until my 55 gallon was cycled to move the gourami and add anything else to the 10. I am overstocked right now with 3 corys, 1 otto (needs a buddy too), 1 gold gourami, and 5 neons. But if the chasing is going to stress everyone out, should I just add a few more neons? Or let them fight it out until I get the gourami moved to add anything? The chasing just started a few days ago. Can you tell the difference between males and females and if so, is there a better mix I could do? Appreciate your help.

Pam in TN

 

[Hels]

Hi

I would probably say...although I don’t know much about corys..... that if its only temporary and its not going to be long until you make those changes, as long as your waters good and you can keep checking it.... then a few more neons isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference..... unless anyone else knows better??? As for numbers 8+ if possible, at the moment I have 12 neons

as for sexing them.....although the ratios don’t matter too much, as male neons aren’t drivers like livebearer males....they shouldn’t harass your females too much...

Females can have a more rounded belly...and I believe the line of blue on the males is straighter then on the female (which is more rounded).... though it’s probably more hard to tell if they are pretty young....

 

[lilfishie]

I have a neon like that and it just happens to be the biggest female