I have four young emperor tetra, and three adult fire tetra. I noticed this evening that one of the emperor tetra keeps floating on its own at the top of the tank. Every now and again, it joins the others but then splits off again. Should I be concerned / am I worried unnecessarily? Thanks.
Tetra isolating itself
- Thread starter rebeledd
- Start date
It could just be the “outcast” of the group. I have one like this in my Neon Tetra group.
I recommend getting a couple more Emperor Tetras. They prefer to be in groups of 6 or more.
I recommend getting a couple more Emperor Tetras. They prefer to be in groups of 6 or more.
snailaquarium
Fish Herder
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2019
- Messages
- 1,188
- Reaction score
- 493
He's perfectly fine, he's just been watching the news... 
No problem! It’s completely normal nothing to worry about.Thanks for the speedy response
Did you remove the bb from your old filter, and transfer it to the new one? Do so, or you will loose your cycle.
Sounds good. As long as you got a little bit in the new filter.Yes I did
I don't mean to scare or worry you, but this in my view is not normal. The isolation fish may have some health problem, but these are usually very difficult to ID as external symptoms may be absent or misleading. The sheltering in an upper corner can be from aggression, water issues, or internal protozoan.
Which brings me to aggression. Tetras are shoaling fish that live in large groups, and they must have adequate sized groups of their own species in an aquarium. Emperor Tetras (species is Nematobrycon palmeri) can get a bit feisty, so this is a species I would never suggest be fewer than 7-8, and preferably 9-10. They can develop quite an hierarchy, I've had to get rid of them for just this issue. Getting a few more if you want to keep this species would be strongly advised. However, don't expect that to "cure" the isolated fish, it will likely not recover regardless of what is the issue.
Which species are "fire tetra?" If by chance it is Aphyocharax rathbuni, which I have seen under this common name, you may have more trouble, as all species in this genus are feisty to say the least. It too needs a much larger group, but its fin nipping may become an issue regardless so think this through. I've no idea what other fish you have or intend, nor the tank size.
Which brings me to aggression. Tetras are shoaling fish that live in large groups, and they must have adequate sized groups of their own species in an aquarium. Emperor Tetras (species is Nematobrycon palmeri) can get a bit feisty, so this is a species I would never suggest be fewer than 7-8, and preferably 9-10. They can develop quite an hierarchy, I've had to get rid of them for just this issue. Getting a few more if you want to keep this species would be strongly advised. However, don't expect that to "cure" the isolated fish, it will likely not recover regardless of what is the issue.
Which species are "fire tetra?" If by chance it is Aphyocharax rathbuni, which I have seen under this common name, you may have more trouble, as all species in this genus are feisty to say the least. It too needs a much larger group, but its fin nipping may become an issue regardless so think this through. I've no idea what other fish you have or intend, nor the tank size.
Retired Viking
Fish Connoisseur
You may want to consider adding Tetra SafeStart plus to be safe. Most tetra need 6 or more in their shoals, I have several shoals in my 55 gallon tetra tank, the biggest is 14 glow light tetras.
Impossible to say. In the case of the OP's fish, it is clearly showing signs of high stress and that can be aggression or disease.
Similar threads
Most reactions
-
325 -
222 -
182 -
161 -
142 -
138 -
134 -
127 -
117 -
94 -
80 -
76 -
75 -
69 -
65