fin nippers

sallymondryk

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Jul 11, 2004
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hi. i am relatively new to keeping fish and am having a problem. i have 4 neon tetras, 2 zebra tetras, 1 molly ( who has her tail fin bitten) 4 guppies ( one of which is also missing some of its tail)and two algae eaters ( dont know what kind, pet shop sold tham to me when i asked for tank cleaners.) Up until today i also had a red honey gourami. I was blaming him for the fin nipping, however when i found him tonight he had had his tail completely bitten off and was unable to swim. So obviously its not him. has anyone any ideas which of the other fish could be causing this????
 
Not a 100% sure but i beleive it to be the tetras, they are very nippy, but saying that i have kept all sorts of tetras in with, fighters, guppies e.t.c and had no probs.
 
Tetras are infamous tail nippers. I'd put my money on the the zebra tetras. I try to keep my tetras far far away from my long finned fish. Or I don't keep tetras at all because I have Sailfin mollies and fancy tail guppies. They would certainly be all torn up if I had tetras in with them. Just my personal experience. Tetras will harm fish with longer fins. They are just fin nippers and there is nothing that can be done about that

Lakota
 
From what i've read, many tetra species will be very nippy when kept in groups that are too small. I believe a minimum of 6 is reccomended for Neons and most others.

So it's probably the Neons.

I know that Serpae Tetras can be pretty nippy towards other fish if there aren't enough of them too keep each other in line. I have 5 in my 33Gal and they're fine with the rest of the fish, but have a definite pecking order among themselves.
 
Tetras can be very nippy, I completely agree, but never underestimate the algae eater... If you have a 'Chinese algae eater', they grow more territorial with age and have been known to beat the heck out of tiny tankmates.
Honeys really tend to do well with small, sweet tempered tankmates like kuhlis, cory cats, etc. they like slow moving water and calm surroundings. I'm so sorry yours was terrorized, I do hope you find the culprit!
 
I don't think it is the neons. I'd put my money on the zebra tetras or the algae eater(s) if they are Chinese algae eaters.
 
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