Serpae Tetras

[Grimley_Feindish]

I added 5 Serpae Tetras to my 33gl tank having read that they were hardy and
mostly peacful and I thought they'd make a nice change to the usual Neons.
The other occupants - 4 Corys - seem to be having a hard time of it though.
I've noticed bits missing from their fins and have watched as the tetras
harrass them at feeding time. One of them is worse than the others as it
seems to like to feed off of the bottom with the cats rather than with the
other tetras?

Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be establishing
a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to continue nipping?
Any opinions would be appreciated :)

--
Alan

[Harry Muscle]

Serpae Tetras are considered nippy, so this will probably continue. Next
time, do a bit more research before you buy a fish, it helps a lot in the
long run. :)

Harry

"Grimley_Feindish" > wrote in message
...
> I added 5 Serpae Tetras to my 33gl tank having read that they were hardy
and
> mostly peacful and I thought they'd make a nice change to the usual Neons.
> The other occupants - 4 Corys - seem to be having a hard time of it
though.
> I've noticed bits missing from their fins and have watched as the tetras
> harrass them at feeding time. One of them is worse than the others as it
> seems to like to feed off of the bottom with the cats rather than with the
> other tetras?
>
> Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
> reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
establishing
> a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to continue nipping?
> Any opinions would be appreciated :)
>
> --
> Alan
>
>

[RedForeman ©®]

> Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
> reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
> establishing a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to
> continue nipping? Any opinions would be appreciated :)

Serpae tetras are bad nippers, a friend thought he'd cycle a tank with them,
they killed each other in 4 days, cycled it one way or another... They
nipped 2 of the 4 to death, the other 2 eventually turned on themselves,
finished off each other a couple days later.... I'll personally never have
a tetra, except a neon....

--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
streetfighter!!! ==========================
2003 TRX450ES
1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
'98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
==========================
ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø


is that better??

[MarAzul]

"Grimley_Feindish" > wrote in message
...
> I added 5 Serpae Tetras to my 33gl tank having read that they were hardy
and
> mostly peacful and I thought they'd make a nice change to the usual Neons.
> The other occupants - 4 Corys - seem to be having a hard time of it
though.
> I've noticed bits missing from their fins and have watched as the tetras
> harrass them at feeding time. One of them is worse than the others as it
> seems to like to feed off of the bottom with the cats rather than with the
> other tetras?
>
> Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
> reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
establishing
> a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to continue nipping?
> Any opinions would be appreciated :)
>
> --
> Alan
>
>

I had 6 Serpaes in with my corys and had no problems at all. I don't know
how big yours are but that could make a difference. When I got mine they
were all smaller than or about the same size as the corys. The have since
grown out and gone into the big tank, but even when they were twice as big,
still didn't have any issues wih nipping..

Mar
-------------------------------------
"Did you find the gun?"
"Yeah.. it was in Buffy's underwear drawer. She has nice things."
"Show me."
"Well, I didnt take 'em but there were thongs and regular underpants..."
"Show me then gun!"

-Andrew and The First
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[James and Vikki Gilby]

I have to ditto MarAzul,
I have 5 Serpae Tetras that spent
their first 4 weeks together in a quarantine tank. Then I moved them to my
comminity tank, and I have had zero problems with them at all.


--Jim--

[NetMax]

"Grimley_Feindish" > wrote in message
...
> I added 5 Serpae Tetras to my 33gl tank having read that they were
hardy and
> mostly peacful and I thought they'd make a nice change to the usual
Neons.
> The other occupants - 4 Corys - seem to be having a hard time of it
though.
> I've noticed bits missing from their fins and have watched as the
tetras
> harrass them at feeding time. One of them is worse than the others as
it
> seems to like to feed off of the bottom with the cats rather than with
the
> other tetras?
>
> Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
> reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
establishing
> a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to continue
nipping?
> Any opinions would be appreciated :)
>
> --
> Alan

I'd suggest getting more Serpaes, and providing your Corys with a bit of
low plant cover. I keep Panda Corys in a tank of about 100 Serpaes.
I've never noticed any problems. Low plant cover (ie: Pygmy Chain Sword)
does help the Corys eat their bottom-feeder tablets unmolested (in other
tanks where the fish are more aggressive). It's not unusual to correct
bad behaviour by adding more of the same fish, provided they haven't
learned their bad habits too well. I had a tank of Cherry barbs which
were destroying Corys until I re-located everyone. Just my observations,
so ymmv.

NetMax

[MarAzul]

"James and Vikki Gilby" > wrote in message
news:vPGec.706$Yf6.553@fed1read07...
> I have to ditto MarAzul,
> I have 5 Serpae Tetras that spent
> their first 4 weeks together in a quarantine tank. Then I moved them to
my
> comminity tank, and I have had zero problems with them at all.
>
>
> --Jim--



I don't know about you, but I actually had a problem with the little guys
being too shy. :)

Mar
-------------------------------------
"Did you find the gun?"
"Yeah.. it was in Buffy's underwear drawer. She has nice things."
"Show me."
"Well, I didnt take 'em but there were thongs and regular underpants..."
"Show me then gun!"

-Andrew and The First
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Grimley_Feindish]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Grimley_Feindish" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I added 5 Serpae Tetras to my 33gl tank having read that they were
> hardy and
> > mostly peacful and I thought they'd make a nice change to the usual
> Neons.
> > The other occupants - 4 Corys - seem to be having a hard time of it
> though.
> > I've noticed bits missing from their fins and have watched as the
> tetras
> > harrass them at feeding time. One of them is worse than the others as
> it
> > seems to like to feed off of the bottom with the cats rather than with
> the
> > other tetras?
> >
> > Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
> > reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
> establishing
> > a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to continue
> nipping?
> > Any opinions would be appreciated :)
> >
> > --
> > Alan
>
> I'd suggest getting more Serpaes, and providing your Corys with a bit of
> low plant cover. I keep Panda Corys in a tank of about 100 Serpaes.
> I've never noticed any problems. Low plant cover (ie: Pygmy Chain Sword)
> does help the Corys eat their bottom-feeder tablets unmolested (in other
> tanks where the fish are more aggressive). It's not unusual to correct
> bad behaviour by adding more of the same fish, provided they haven't
> learned their bad habits too well. I had a tank of Cherry barbs which
> were destroying Corys until I re-located everyone. Just my observations,
> so ymmv.
>

There's plenty of cover in the tank and having checked again last night and
this morning they don't seem to be any worse. I will be getting some more
fish at the weekend. Thanks for the advice :)

[Grimley_Feindish]

"Grimley_Feindish" > wrote in message
...
>
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
> .. .
> >
> > "Grimley_Feindish" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I added 5 Serpae Tetras to my 33gl tank having read that they were
> > hardy and
> > > mostly peacful and I thought they'd make a nice change to the usual
> > Neons.
> > > The other occupants - 4 Corys - seem to be having a hard time of it
> > though.
> > > I've noticed bits missing from their fins and have watched as the
> > tetras
> > > harrass them at feeding time. One of them is worse than the others as
> > it
> > > seems to like to feed off of the bottom with the cats rather than with
> > the
> > > other tetras?
> > >
> > > Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
> > > reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
> > establishing
> > > a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to continue
> > nipping?
> > > Any opinions would be appreciated :)
> > >
> > > --
> > > Alan
> >
> > I'd suggest getting more Serpaes, and providing your Corys with a bit of
> > low plant cover. I keep Panda Corys in a tank of about 100 Serpaes.
> > I've never noticed any problems. Low plant cover (ie: Pygmy Chain
Sword)
> > does help the Corys eat their bottom-feeder tablets unmolested (in other
> > tanks where the fish are more aggressive). It's not unusual to correct
> > bad behaviour by adding more of the same fish, provided they haven't
> > learned their bad habits too well. I had a tank of Cherry barbs which
> > were destroying Corys until I re-located everyone. Just my
observations,
> > so ymmv.
> >
>
> There's plenty of cover in the tank and having checked again last night
and
> this morning they don't seem to be any worse. I will be getting some more
> fish at the weekend. Thanks for the advice :)
>

As an update in case anyone is interested, the Serpae's appear to have
settled down a lot and are leaving the cory's alone. The main trouble maker
still likes to swim with them rather than his own but i haven't seem him
nipping anymore. They never bothered the Ancistrus though, maybe he was
quicker :)

[Dick]

On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:17:46 -0400, "RedForeman ©®"
> wrote:

>> Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
>> reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
>> establishing a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to
>> continue nipping? Any opinions would be appreciated :)
>
>Serpae tetras are bad nippers, a friend thought he'd cycle a tank with them,
>they killed each other in 4 days, cycled it one way or another... They
>nipped 2 of the 4 to death, the other 2 eventually turned on themselves,
>finished off each other a couple days later.... I'll personally never have
>a tetra, except a neon....

I sure hope my "Red Serpae Tetras" don't hear about nipping. I have
11 of them in two tanks, 3 in one and 8 in the other. Very peaceful.
Makes me wonder if we are talking the same fish. Mine are about an
inch long, shocking pink body with a black triangle starting mid body
with the apex ending near the tail. My guys won't even bite into a
large food flake, rather they look for small pieces.

[Dick]

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 04:43:18 -0500, Dick >
wrote:

>On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:17:46 -0400, "RedForeman ©®"
> wrote:
>
>>> Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
>>> reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
>>> establishing a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to
>>> continue nipping? Any opinions would be appreciated :)
>>
>>Serpae tetras are bad nippers, a friend thought he'd cycle a tank with them,
>>they killed each other in 4 days, cycled it one way or another... They
>>nipped 2 of the 4 to death, the other 2 eventually turned on themselves,
>>finished off each other a couple days later.... I'll personally never have
>>a tetra, except a neon....
>
>I sure hope my "Red Serpae Tetras" don't hear about nipping. I have
>11 of them in two tanks, 3 in one and 8 in the other. Very peaceful.
>Makes me wonder if we are talking the same fish. Mine are about an
>inch long, shocking pink body with a black triangle starting mid body
>with the apex ending near the tail. My guys won't even bite into a
>large food flake, rather they look for small pieces.

My mistake, I described "Harlequin Raspora Tetras." I do have 11 Red
Serpaes in two tanks, as well as the Harlequins. They are slightly
larger than the Harlequins and a little more aggressive feeders, but
again no "nippers." I am alert to fin damage to any of my fish and
look hard to find and isolate any nipper.

[RedForeman ©®]

>>> Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but
>>> I'm reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
>>> establishing a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to
>>> continue nipping? Any opinions would be appreciated :)
>>
>> Serpae tetras are bad nippers, a friend thought he'd cycle a tank
>> with them, they killed each other in 4 days, cycled it one way or
>> another... They nipped 2 of the 4 to death, the other 2 eventually
>> turned on themselves, finished off each other a couple days
>> later.... I'll personally never have a tetra, except a neon....
>
> I sure hope my "Red Serpae Tetras" don't hear about nipping. I have
> 11 of them in two tanks, 3 in one and 8 in the other. Very peaceful.
> Makes me wonder if we are talking the same fish. Mine are about an
> inch long, shocking pink body with a black triangle starting mid body
> with the apex ending near the tail. My guys won't even bite into a
> large food flake, rather they look for small pieces.

I've been corrected, they were buenos aires tetras.... not sure if a tetra
is a tetra is a tetra, evidently not....

--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
streetfighter!!! ==========================
2003 TRX450ES
1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
'98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
==========================
ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø


is that better??

[NetMax]

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message
...
> >>> Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but
> >>> I'm reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
> >>> establishing a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely
to
> >>> continue nipping? Any opinions would be appreciated :)
> >>
> >> Serpae tetras are bad nippers, a friend thought he'd cycle a tank
> >> with them, they killed each other in 4 days, cycled it one way or
> >> another... They nipped 2 of the 4 to death, the other 2 eventually
> >> turned on themselves, finished off each other a couple days
> >> later.... I'll personally never have a tetra, except a neon....
> >
> > I sure hope my "Red Serpae Tetras" don't hear about nipping. I have
> > 11 of them in two tanks, 3 in one and 8 in the other. Very peaceful.
> > Makes me wonder if we are talking the same fish. Mine are about an
> > inch long, shocking pink body with a black triangle starting mid body
> > with the apex ending near the tail. My guys won't even bite into a
> > large food flake, rather they look for small pieces.
>
> I've been corrected, they were buenos aires tetras.... not sure if a
tetra
> is a tetra is a tetra, evidently not....

Buenos Aires tetras are not your typical tetra at all. They are big,
very active, and would make short work of Neons or other tiny fish in the
right circumstances. I've used them as ditherfish with big cichlids,
until they started fitting in the Oscar's mouths ;~).

NetMax

> --
> RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
> streetfighter!!! ==========================
> 2003 TRX450ES
> 1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
> '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
> ==========================
> ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø
>
>
> is that better??
>
>

[RedForeman ©®]

>> I've been corrected, they were buenos aires tetras.... not sure if a
>> tetra is a tetra is a tetra, evidently not....
>
> Buenos Aires tetras are not your typical tetra at all. They are big,
> very active, and would make short work of Neons or other tiny fish in
> the right circumstances. I've used them as ditherfish with big
> cichlids, until they started fitting in the Oscar's mouths ;~).

That doesn't surprise me, they were big, albinos too, and yellow for an
albino... who knows... these he got were the cycle fish, *(I didn't tell
him)* so they may have had other issues too, stress, etc..

--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
streetfighter!!! ==========================
2003 TRX450ES
1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
'98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
==========================
ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø


is that better??

[Andy Hill]

Dick > wrote:
>My mistake, I described "Harlequin Raspora Tetras." I do have 11 Red
>Serpaes in two tanks, as well as the Harlequins. They are slightly
>larger than the Harlequins and a little more aggressive feeders, but
>again no "nippers." I am alert to fin damage to any of my fish and
>look hard to find and isolate any nipper.
>
"Slightly" larger? Man, what are you feeding your Harlequins? My Serpaes are
nearly twice the size of my Harlequins. Neither are nippers, although the
Serpaes tend to exhibit a lot of 'tude with each other (watching a couple of
Serpae males "flashing" each other can be pretty darn entertaining).

[Dick]

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 15:11:54 -0600, Andy Hill >
wrote:

>Dick > wrote:
>>My mistake, I described "Harlequin Raspora Tetras." I do have 11 Red
>>Serpaes in two tanks, as well as the Harlequins. They are slightly
>>larger than the Harlequins and a little more aggressive feeders, but
>>again no "nippers." I am alert to fin damage to any of my fish and
>>look hard to find and isolate any nipper.
>>
>"Slightly" larger? Man, what are you feeding your Harlequins? My Serpaes are
>nearly twice the size of my Harlequins. Neither are nippers, although the
>Serpaes tend to exhibit a lot of 'tude with each other (watching a couple of
>Serpae males "flashing" each other can be pretty darn entertaining).

Now that you mention it, they are much larger. I also have a lot of
Bleeding Heart Tetras, they are larger yet. So how about starting
with Harlequins an inch and a half, Serpaes inch and a half and
Bleeding Hearts 2 inches? In any case I sure missed how much larger
the Serpaes are compared to the Harlequins.

My favorites are the Red Serpaes. They are all nice to have in a
community tank. The Bleeding Hearts live down among the plants most
of the time then dash up to grab a bite of food and back down into the
plants. The Serpaes swim just above the plants and the Harlequins
swim more in the middle of the tank.

[Grimley_Feindish]

"MarAzul" > wrote in message
news:6cAec.190$dZ1.117@fed1read04...
>
> "Grimley_Feindish" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I added 5 Serpae Tetras to my 33gl tank having read that they were hardy
> and
> > mostly peacful and I thought they'd make a nice change to the usual
Neons.
> > The other occupants - 4 Corys - seem to be having a hard time of it
> though.
> > I've noticed bits missing from their fins and have watched as the tetras
> > harrass them at feeding time. One of them is worse than the others as it
> > seems to like to feed off of the bottom with the cats rather than with
the
> > other tetras?
> >
> > Some comments I've read say that they can be nippy when hungry but I'm
> > reluctant to feed more and risk overfeeding. Could this just be
> establishing
> > a pecking order in the tank or are the tetras likely to continue
nipping?
> > Any opinions would be appreciated :)
> >
> > --
> > Alan
> >
> >
>
> I had 6 Serpaes in with my corys and had no problems at all. I don't know
> how big yours are but that could make a difference. When I got mine they
> were all smaller than or about the same size as the corys. The have since
> grown out and gone into the big tank, but even when they were twice as
big,
> still didn't have any issues wih nipping..
>
> Mar
> -------------------------------------
> "Did you find the gun?"
> "Yeah.. it was in Buffy's underwear drawer. She has nice things."
> "Show me."
> "Well, I didnt take 'em but there were thongs and regular underpants..."
> "Show me then gun!"
>
> -Andrew and The First
> -Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I've since added 5 Black Neon's and, although a bit smaller than the
Serpae's they seem to have settled them down. They all seem to get along
well although feeding time is a bit of a frenzy as they are all quick and
aggressive feeders. Seeing a game of chase the bloodowrm is quite
entertaining :) The Corys have been left alone for a while now.


--
Alan