After my tank cycled I added six congo tetras, half of the 12 I plan to have. I thought this would be easier on the bio-filter to add them in two batches, but now I wonder about the stress of two episodes of working out the dominance of the school-maybe I should have gotten all at once.
They stayed hidden for several days, but last night they were out in force. I think at least five of them are male, based on the flanges on their tail fins, and they spent the evening in a spectacular show. One would flare his fins at another, either the other would turn away or flare back. Then there might be a circling dance that once or twice escalated to actual fighting for a brief period-maybe 10 or 15 seconds, and once I saw a scale float away. Most of the time one would back down. Sometimes they would race side by the side the length of the tank and if one could get ahead of the other it would force the slower one to turn. Sometimes there would be body slams. Periodically one would dash around the tank by himself, turning on his tail and making abrupt perfect right angle turns-as if to demonstrate its fitness. Then he would glide back to the school as if nothing had occured.
There isn't much size differnce between them, but there's enough to tell them apart. The biggest, with the most flanges on his tail mostly challenged the next smaller. The smallest of all-perhaps a female or less mature male, with the plainest tail, usually stayed out of it. The next two smallest challenged each other, while the one in the middle interacted with both the largest two and the next smaller two.
I expect once they work out their pecking order I'll see less of this behavior? But they'll have to go through it all over again when I get the next batch.
So now I wonder if I should do it sooner rather than later. How much stress is all this posturing causing, and then to have to do it again in a month when the school size doubles will add stress again. I hope I get some females in the next batch-but it looked like all males in the tank at the shop. Or maybe I'm wrong about how to sex them.
I added the 6 last saturday and the water tests are all staying at 0. Should I go get the rest tomorrow or wait a couple weeks as I'd originally planned?
Ellen
75 gallon
8 zebra danios
6 congo tetras
They stayed hidden for several days, but last night they were out in force. I think at least five of them are male, based on the flanges on their tail fins, and they spent the evening in a spectacular show. One would flare his fins at another, either the other would turn away or flare back. Then there might be a circling dance that once or twice escalated to actual fighting for a brief period-maybe 10 or 15 seconds, and once I saw a scale float away. Most of the time one would back down. Sometimes they would race side by the side the length of the tank and if one could get ahead of the other it would force the slower one to turn. Sometimes there would be body slams. Periodically one would dash around the tank by himself, turning on his tail and making abrupt perfect right angle turns-as if to demonstrate its fitness. Then he would glide back to the school as if nothing had occured.
There isn't much size differnce between them, but there's enough to tell them apart. The biggest, with the most flanges on his tail mostly challenged the next smaller. The smallest of all-perhaps a female or less mature male, with the plainest tail, usually stayed out of it. The next two smallest challenged each other, while the one in the middle interacted with both the largest two and the next smaller two.
I expect once they work out their pecking order I'll see less of this behavior? But they'll have to go through it all over again when I get the next batch.
So now I wonder if I should do it sooner rather than later. How much stress is all this posturing causing, and then to have to do it again in a month when the school size doubles will add stress again. I hope I get some females in the next batch-but it looked like all males in the tank at the shop. Or maybe I'm wrong about how to sex them.
I added the 6 last saturday and the water tests are all staying at 0. Should I go get the rest tomorrow or wait a couple weeks as I'd originally planned?
Ellen
75 gallon
8 zebra danios
6 congo tetras
