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Serpae tetras being nippy

peaches

peaches

Member
Joined
29 Dec 2008
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257
Location
Yorkshire - Gods own county
All is not happy in my lovely densely planted tank. I have 8 dwarf rainbows, 8 small cories, and recently bought 5 serpae tetra. They nip absolutely everything and frankly the corys are living in the plants at the back. At first they were ok, but 3 weeks down the line, they nip anything and everything. I suppose I have to rehome them. I was going to increase the 5 to 10, but honestly I cant see that adding another 5 is going to make them any less nippy. I am so upset they started nipping my rabbit snails too. There are lots of plants, its 125 litres and I have water lettuce with dangling roots so there are plenty of places to hide. If it was all the serpae nipping one serpae I would increase the numbers, but they arent nipping each other. I havent seen them nip a rainbowfish as they are bigger but 3 have small nicks in their tails and they didnt previously nip each other.

So, increase the school or get rid?
 
Really this is typical serpae tetra behaviour - go back to the shop where you bought these fish & ask for a solution ;)

It is possible that increasing numbers will settle them (it certainly helps to have multiple males & females in a group of at least 10) BUT they are more “active” fish that should be kept in a selected community
They also seem “better” in larger tanks - I’d suggest 100cm as a minimum length - though this may also be due to the larger groups that are then usually kept
They can be a stunning addition to the right tank

H. eques is notorious as an aggressive community inhabitant with a reputation for nipping the fins of tankmates although this behaviour tends to be most pronounced when insufficient numbers are purchased or space is limited.

A group of at least 8-10 specimens should be considered the minimum requirement since this increases the likelihood that the fish will be distracted by each other rather than their tankmates but will result in a more effective, natural-looking display.
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It’s always worthwhile checking with Matt over at Seriously Fish when contemplating fish purchases
(no matter what shop people might say)

This is an interesting article from Aquarium Glaser in regards domestic serpae tetra vs a wild group
- and really not that unusual to observe physical & behavioural differences between wild caught individuals & long time farmed fish
 
I've kept them several times, particularly in the early days. They along with Tiger barbs had a bad reputation for similar nippy behaviour. I never really experienced it that much with either. But then I always bought both by the dozen. The solution is probably to keep them in larger numbers; 10 and above. Then any such behaviour, if it occurs at all, is usually infraspecific.
 
Serpae Tetra...nice fish!
But very aggressive towards each other at times.... and other inhabitants!
I've housed them in a 4 foot aquarium in a heavily planted tank and the fin nipping behaviour wasn't as bad!

Actually had some offspring.....Hemel Tap Water!....;):):thumbup:
hoggie
 
hogan53 said:
I've housed them in a 4 foot aquarium in a heavily planted tank and the fin nipping behaviour wasn't as bad!
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I forgot that bit...mine were also kept in a 4 foot heavily planted tank...which may also have had some bearing on the matter ;)
 
Lee iley said:
What is Hemel tap water? Not heard of this before.

Cheers Lee.
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Hemel Hempstead...:lol:
Concrete extra hard...... London Style!

I've also had about 8/10 Tiger/Green barbs in a 4 foot aquarium.....absolutely stunning fish!
They never fin nipped anything...space and hiding places could be the answer...maybe!
hoggie​
 
hogan53 said:
Hemel Hempstead...:lol:
Concrete extra hard...... London Style!

I've also had about 8/10 Tiger/Green barbs in a 4 foot aquarium.....absolutely stunning fish!
They never fin nipped anything...space and hiding places could be the answer...maybe!
hoggie​
Click to expand...
Ah right lol silly me. Feel stupid now :confused:
 
I dont know if they are any worse today because I did a big water change and trimmed back some of the plants. You do get the impression that the rainbows are in charge, and when the food goes in the rainbows are there before the serpae, but if any sinking food is put in for catfish, they seem to think they come before the catfish. Five isnt a brilliant number and yes I didnt expect them to be so nippy. I foolishly thought they would be like all the other tetras I had had in the past, good community fish. They do a lot of fin flaring, and dont nip each other, but face up to each other like they are being territorial, almost.
 
Today they have been a whole lot better. Following yesterdays waterchange I lowered the temp slightly, just one degree. When I fed them, although I stopped using flake, today I used it. Flake went in on left and was siezed buy first the rainbows then the serpae, whilst they were interested in the flake I put some dried bloodworm on the right between the waterlettuce for the corys. This worked a treat, the serpae were so taken up with going for flake food they went no where near the corys who are still finding little bits of bloodworm between the water lettuce.

Previously I had used sinking tablet or cory wafers for the cory. What happened, everyone but the cory got some. This afternoon and evening I have been by the tank and wated two rabbit snails climb to the top unmolested. Although corys are used to sifting the floor for food, they have found they are less conspicuous sifting the water lettuce and are happy at that. Obviously Im still monitoring this very closely. I go past the fish shop every wednesday so they might still go back, but for colour against a fully planted tank, as fish, they really "pop".
 
They are lovely fish and it can be often a case of wrong tank situation, as said above, exchange for more sedate tetras deep bodied like Phantoms,Lemon maybe.bigger numbers as Alto says and bickering is often kept between the group as they vi for pecking order
 
They have stopped nipping the snails as they aren't interested in the courgette the snails have. The 8 rainbows have made it clear that they are the boss.
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Now there are only 4 they are less bother, but I have an option of rehoming if necessary. They are attractive fish and I'm starting to like them.
 
I’d still pick up more as they do have an interesting group dynamic :)
 
I have such a bad memory! 3 weeks ago I bought 10 serpae for a community tank. I forgot having them in 2018. They became very nippy...then I thought, i think this has happened before....fortunately they are very good at the shop I now use, I took them back, got male only guppies.
 
Easy mistake as many similar looking Tetras. Tiger Barbs are another one . I once got asked to re-home some because they were having a go at some fish in their mixed community tank. At least the shop was ok this time
 
Apparently another mistake people make with these is that they keep them too warm. Their range extends down into Argentina so theyre quite comfortable in a unheated tank. The warmer they’re kept the more aggressive they are. I also wouldn’t keep them with any long finned or slow species and not in a group smaller than 12.

Cheers
 
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