Newbie tetra help

[Nerrad]

Hi all,
I begun fish keeping approx 4 month ago.
this is when I purchased a 10 gallon tank along with a few plants substrate decor filter heater etc.
After letting the tank cycle for 3 weeks I added just a couple of snails. I then left it another couple of weeks and tested the water.
All was good with ph etc so I purchased 6 glow light tetra.

the tetra responded very well to the new environment and I was very happy. 2 weeks later I added 6 more glow lights. Again they settled in well. After a further 2 weeks I added 6 black neon tetra as I had read from various sources that they would make good tank mates and like roughly the same parameters.

Again the took very well to the tank and they all got on well. Unfortunately I lost 1 black tetra for some unknown reason and all the rest are fine.
They have now been in the tank a further 2 weeks and I have noticed the largest black tetra stays at the top of the tank almost where I feed them from and if any of the other tetras go anywhere close it chases them off.
It seems to be making the other rish stay quite close to the bottom most of the time.

I check parameters often and have no other issues. All the fish do look ok and I can see no damage caused by the big one.
Any advice please

thanks
Daz

 

[FreshyFresh]

Welcome. How did you cycle your tank initially? Cycling typically takes double that time when done 100% correctly.

10g is a tiny tank. That's too many fish in it and are you doing regular water changes?

When you say your parameters are fine, what does that mean? Need to see ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings in PPM to verify that.

It's a lot of questions I know, but there's more to this hobby than most people are aware.

 

[Nerrad]

It was done from scratch with new filter etc. 3 weeks nothing in and 2 weeks with just 2 snails. Before introducing any fish in. Just used some chemical to add bacteria. I have kept a close eye on my readings since and has been stable.
Usually 50% water change each week so far
I use aqua drip test strips on the water that show 0 for nitrate,nitrite and. Chlorine with a ph of 6.8 and temperature is 80
Lights on approx 10 hours per day

 

[the loach]

Are they black tetras or black neons? That's a difference... is the one at the top breathing faster as the ones at the bottom?

 

[Nerrad]

They are neon blacks. It’s not gaspin at the top it just lurked around close to the top. No sign of distress or breathing issues at all.

 

[Nerrad]

The big one is in this pic. Seems to have come down from the top now

 

[Nerrad]

Starting to think it’s just asserting its authority as stays close to the feeding area. I always feed in same spot due to duckweed floating on top. Feed once a day usually at same time

 

[FreshyFresh]

If the tank was started new and just left running with a filter for 3 weeks with no source of ammonia added, it's not cycled.

 

[Nerrad]

Thanks for that freshly, however after approx 5 weeks I introduced the fish slowly and they have been absolutely fine all the time I have been checking parameters every other day to make sure.
they have all Been in there for quite some time now and this behaviour has only just started to happen so I’m quite confused.

 

[Nerrad]

If the tank was not cycled correctly as you suggest, I’m not sure that would be affecting the behaviour of 1 fish 4 month down the line. These fish have been living together peacefully for a while now.