aggression in tetra community (new tank)

redbucket

AC Members
Dec 1, 2004
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This is the maybe-troubling behavior I've noticed: I have 6 glow light tetra and I've noticed them nipping at eachother's fins pretty frequently in the past couple days. It started happening only when they were being fed, but now short darting chases and nipping are pretty regular.

Here's the background/possible causes:

I have no experience in fish keeping -- I bought a 10g set-up at walmart on a whim. I read and followed all the little booklets that came with it, but of course there was no mention of cycling, among other important things I've learned since then (it's been only about 5 days since I added fish). So, I let my tank run with treated tap water for a couple days and put in 6 glow light tetra and two apple snails.

Since I've learned about cycling (past three days), I've been doing a 10% water change daily w/ bottled drinking water. I've also added a product called Cycle which is suppose to shorten the cycling process to around three weeks (it contains the benificial bacteria), and following the advice of the LFS I've doubled the suggested amount of it. I've also added "ammonia absorbing crystal" rocks, tho I'm skeptical of their usefulness. The pH is still high (8.0), I've added pH-minus. The hardness of the water is above normal (200). The continued water changes should help both of these I assume. Nitrite and Nitrate are both at 0 according to Mardel test strips. I have not tested for ammonia.

So here are the actual questions:

Is this type of aggression normal?
If not, and it is due to the stress of cycling and all the crap I've added, what can I do to help?

Thanks!
 
I would not muck with the pH. Stable is better than fluctuations and adding chemicals. 8 is acceptable.

The ammonia crystals are most likely zeolite-they do work-not a gimmick. It is normal this early in the process to not have nitrite and nitrate. Ammonia is the first critical one to test for, then Nitrite. These substances are what kill and stress the fish in a new tank.

Tetras often chase and nip-if the fins are intact I would not worry about it.
 
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