New Flame Tetra.

[Aqua Andy]

Hi,

I have recently bought my first fish - Flame Tetra's and they have been in my tank for almost a day now. I was expecting them to school/shoal/group but they are all spread out individually around the tank and a few chase the others around when they get close.

As I'm a total Newbie I'm not sure if they are being aggressive / territorial or if this is normal in the early stages of acclimatizing to a new environment?

They were all huddled together in the bag they were supplied in when I was acclimatizing them to my tank.

I have also bought some Corydoras Sterbai and they are constantly together.

Is this behavior concerning or normal?

As always your feedback and advice will be much appreciated.


Andy

 

[freddyk]

I haven't kept these ones specifically, but many tetra's show some aggression and get 'nippy' toward each other, so I wouldn't worry. That they are spread out is also a good sign, it means they're comfortable.

 

[Aqua Andy]

Thanks freddyk.

Thats reasuring to know.


Andy

 

[Lateral Line]

Schooling/shoaling is a defensive behaviour. It is rarely observed in small crowded tanks. Large tanks with a lot of open water will often be better to see schooling as the fish feel more threatened.

A group of tetras, (many fish in fact), when moved to a new environment will chase each other about to establish the "pecking order" in the new quarters. It rarely causes any damage. I assume you have a reasonable sized group, say 6 fish or more. Less can become problematic where the least dominant fish gets picked on and can be damaged or killed.

Otherwise, what you have described is quite normal.

 

[Grouchy]

My girlfriend and I saw these labeled as Orange Von Rio tetras at the local Petsmart. She liked them. I wanted to dig up more information on them before bringing them home. After googling for about an hour I think these fish would do well in my 55 gallon community tank.

 

[Aqua Andy]

What I have observed so far is that one of the Tetra has assumed an Alpha status in the tank and a couple of the tetra are not only being aggressive to other Tetra but also to my juvenile Cory.

 

[qwikimpss]

I have 6 of these in my 29 gallon tank and theyre almost never schooling around the tank like my neons. They do get a bit rowdy with eachother but i wouldn't worry about it, they dont seem to do any damage. Their beauty easily makes up for all this IMO.

 

[qwikimpss]

I have 6 of these in my 29 gallon tank and theyre almost never schooling around the tank like my neons. They do get a bit rowdy with eachother but i wouldn't worry about it, they dont seem to do any damage. Their beauty easily makes up for all this IMO.

 

[Aqua Andy]

One of my Flame Tetra has very sadly died.