penguin tetras

[mostanks]

i got about 10 of these fish the other night and they all swam/schooled together fine for a while,the next morning they are all paired up and chasing each other(2 at a time just nipping and chasing each other )next thing ya know i'm down to 7 and they are all schooling again i don't get it...why are they doing this?

 

[leroy]

U might have had alot of males and they were fighting and the stonger ones killed the others.

 

[mostanks]

so this is normal??can they be sexed easily?

thanks

 

[Tropicalfishfn]

I was thinkong about getting those fish. get alot of femalkes and get 2 males then it is all good

 

[mostanks]

how can i tell m/f

 

[LesGerber]

its hard to explain but here goes
look at the anal fin of the fish, the males will have an extention that isnt there with the females.....I looks like an extra part of the anal fin


Hope this makes sence


Les

 

[teknikz]

drop ur credit card into the tank......u'll soon see which are the females as they'll all be flockin round the card...hahaha....just like real women

Tek

 

[jumpman]

Risky one teknikz!!

Mostanks,

I've had penguins for nearly a year. Originally had 10, now 8, but I believe the 2 died of natural causes, one quite recently. Mine did the same, schooled for first few days, then fought for territories constantly.

Breaking up line of sight with tall plants helps, so each male can have his own bit. I just got a load originally and ended up with about half males. They school when lights go out and during feeding, but then after a few minutes go back to their territories. i find that the most dominant male (usually one that has largest fins, darkest stripe) gets the front middle of the tank - or where I feed them.

There is the odd squabble over the front, but some bogwood and a heavily planted tank keep them fairly quiet. The clowns in my tank love to join in their scraps though, just for a laugh!

I have found them to be very hardy, and have used them to cycle my last two tanks after a few days only

 

[mostanks]

bad news,when i got home yesterday i found all but 1 of the penguin tetras dead(started w/10 first-then 3 died-then 6 a day later)the only common thing the dead ones have is that their bellies seemed very full,could i have overfed them?i had them for about 3 days and fed them
first day-spirulina and cichlid flake mix
second day-frrozen baby brine shrimp
third day-tetra color pellets


water-ph 7.5(may be a little lower)
temp-82
ammo zilch

 

[teknikz]

hmmmm.....what about nitrite???

i found nitrite in my tank was very high even tho ammonia was nil

i also only feed my fish every other day....sometimes i leave it for 2 whole days then feed them on the 3rd....and i only give them enuff to consume in 2-4 minutes.....u got to feed them like they would feed in the wild.....quite sparingly...they'd have to fight for food.....plus remember fish will eat and eat and eat whether they are hungry or not

hope this helps

Tek

 

[Tanked]

mostanks, sorry to hear about your loss. what you fed them was fine, but how much is the question I have?a lso with new fish it would probably be a good I dea to wean them onto such a healthy alternating diet. the stores sure don't feed them like that and all of the good food may have added to stress of moving homes. I usually feed mine very little flake for the first few days and then get them on to good stuff like brine shrimp and fresh veggies.

 

[Graeme]

Sorry!

 

[BIANCA]

I had this problem with my silver tipped tetras. I started out with 6 and they just attacked eachother constantly. Well one got sucked up into the filter intake (my fault ) and I went and bought 5 more -for a total of 10 for those of you who slept in math class...
After i got more they seemed to cool down, but 2 just wouldnt give up. So i tossed the 2 in a 1 gallon tank for a week and they havent acted up since. Although....one has now abandoned the school and is now schoaling with my two 8" balas can someone say identity crisis?

 

[mostanks]

tek-i havn't tested the nitrites,i will though,but i'm positive i overfed them now.

tanked-reason i feed the variety that i do is for my A.sajica and C.compressiceps trying to add a lil muscle

i'll pick up a few more this weekend,they make great dithers.