Serpae Tetras - How Do I Stop The Fin Nipping?

By small one do you mean small species, or was it sold as "small pleco"? Small plecos become big plecos.

The fins will recover, but serpaes are nippy and you might always have a few tears here and there. If they're long finned variants (are there long finned serpae tetras?), then they'll always be a bit ragged.

It would definitely be worth getting more corys. The more you have, the more active they tend to be. A good tank upgrade might be a 29 gallon - room for a good community, but not too big to be unmanageable.
I posted pic above if you can tell me what species if it stays small or not.

I also posted a pic of the serpaes if you can see how their fins look.

Do you have any links to sites that tell larger tanks I would like to invest in a larger one but don't know any good sites to look at or what kind've prices they go for I had this tank for a long time.
 
cant help you as you are in the US. If you type fish tank into google loads will come up, or just go to your LFS. If you look at the brands like fluval, jewel, rena homepages etc then your lfs might be able to order you one in which you like. Other option is to go for custom built or DIY :)
 
definatley a common. I would take himm back asap before you get to attached lol. If you do want any then go fo ancistrus bristlnose, this is your best option but i would still go against having one.
 
definatley a common. I would take himm back asap before you get to attached lol. If you do want any then go fo ancistrus bristlnose, this is your best option but i would still go against having one.
Why should I take him back? He will get too big even in my tank? I thought fish grew to the size of their tank? I've had him for like 6 months now idk if they would take him back? I shouldn't have one you are saying? Doesn't my tank need one to keep the algae down?
 
The fish will stop growing but its organs wont, therfore when they get to big for 'the shell' of the fish it dies, this is referred to as being stunted. Ottos would be better, they get to 2" or the bristlenose 6"

you shouldnt be getting algae unless something is causing it, have a look at the algae guide in my sig. They dont eat all algaes anyway.
 
The fish will stop growing but its organs wont, therfore when they get to big for 'the shell' of the fish it dies, this is referred to as being stunted. Ottos would be better, they get to 2" or the bristlenose 6"

you shouldnt be getting algae unless something is causing it, have a look at the algae guide in my sig. They dont eat all algaes anyway.
How big of a tank do you recomend for keeping the fish I have then? I would like to upgrade anyways just not sure how big I need to go for my fish to be happy especially my pleco I dont want him to die.
 
he will be ok for now, it is just in the future. i would say 300l long tank, i had a 10" plec in a 180l. i had to take him back but it also depends on other stocking levels. At one point he will stop growing and grow outwards (width) they can get quite wide aswell!
 
Ok thanks. I will look around. Is ebay a decent place to find good deals on larger tanks like that? I'm not sure about shipping wouldnt want it breaking or knowing if I can trust it before I see it. Thanks for all your help though appreciate it. For now I will get some more serpaes and maybe 1 more cory so he has another friend. Might get rid of the gourami for now so its not to crowded.
 
ebay is great, it will be hard for shipping for that size tank unless it is a shop. Great for filters too. I got a eheim classic 2215 for £33 inc delivery, that does 350l
 
Ok thanks again I will have to keep a eye out in the local paper then probably so I will be able to pick up a large tank I figured it would be hard to ship something that big.
 
to home a common plec for life you would be looking at around 5ft (60") long tank and 2ft (24") wide (so it can turn around)

get rid of him now when he's small. most fish shops will take them back. If you still want a plec go for a bristle nose like arron suggested. Also they need more in their diet than just algae. Also like arron has mentioned a plec is not the answer to algae problems, they are pooing machines and this will only cause more algae.
 
to home a common plec for life you would be looking at around 5ft (60") long tank and 2ft (24") wide (so it can turn around)

get rid of him now when he's small. most fish shops will take them back. If you still want a plec go for a bristle nose like arron suggested. Also they need more in their diet than just algae. Also like arron has mentioned a plec is not the answer to algae problems, they are pooing machines and this will only cause more algae.
Dang I never knew haha. Yeah I will have to go to the fish shop soon then unless I can find myself a new tank. I really would like a bigger one cause I can't really do much with this tank it's too small I really would like to have a lot more fish. I just bought a home so we move in oct 1st so I should probably wait till then to get working on this stuff cause i'm going to get to get moving on getting everything packed here soon haha.
 

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