Red Eye Tetra Territorial Aggression

[gyillmard]

My red eye tetras have been with me for 2 1/2 years. All the authorities I have found say they are "peaceful shoaling community fish". Mine arent. They do, briefly, shoal if frightened but as soon as calm is restored they stake out a sword plant of their own and bite other red eyes that come near it. I ve tried increasing the shoal size and ratio of females without any effect. Ive achieved peace by allowing my plants to become a complete jungle. (So they cant see each other). One thing I have noticed is they all like lurking under a favourite large leaf, maybe instinctively to protect themselves from bird predation. Anyone else seen similiar behaviour? Gyillmard

 

[Lateral Line]

Shoaling up when insecure but spreading out doing their own thing is what tetras and many other "shoaling" fish do. The shoaling up is a defensive behaviour. I've never found Red-Eyed's to be particularly aggresive, but all tetras can be a bit, nature of the beast.