I have a ten gallon tank that contains five serpae tetra, an algae eater fish, and small catfish. I have all artificial plants, a large rainbow rock and a clay pot that my catfish hides in. I am interested in keeping two or so larger fish in this tank, but I have had problems with my tetras fin-nipping in the past. A few months ago I tried adding two angelfish and the serpae made their lives miserable by constantly picking on them. Unsurprisingly, the angels both died a few weeks later. My question is could I keep two dwarf gouramis with these tetras and, if not, what fish could I keep with these tetras that they wouldn't attack? Has anyone else had problems like this with serpae tetras in the past?
Serpae Tetra Compatibility Problems
- Thread starter qwyley
- Start date
from my experience with serpaes, I would say there is nothing that you could add to the tank that they wouldn't nip the fins of. They are more agressive than most tetras and only in tanks bigger than 29 gallons do they show diminished fin nipping. Even in 29 gallons I wouldn't put fish with long trailing fins with them.
The other consideration is that 10 gallons is small and thus more unstable because of that. I wouldn't add any more fish to that tank even if the fish you had were peaceful. Space wise a 20 gallon is slightly cramped for one angelfish, two is asking for trouble unless you have a even bigger tank.
The other consideration is that 10 gallons is small and thus more unstable because of that. I wouldn't add any more fish to that tank even if the fish you had were peaceful. Space wise a 20 gallon is slightly cramped for one angelfish, two is asking for trouble unless you have a even bigger tank.
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I can tell you from experiance that the serpae will kill gourami as well. I would say not to add anything unless you get a bigger tank. Having more room and if you change the group dynamic by adding another serpae might make them peacefull.
Mine were brutal so I added 2 more and got a couple dannios to distract them. Now they are peacefull and don't mess with any of the other fish. In a 10 though they are going to be feeling a bit cramped and might stay aggressive no matter what you do.
Mine were brutal so I added 2 more and got a couple dannios to distract them. Now they are peacefull and don't mess with any of the other fish. In a 10 though they are going to be feeling a bit cramped and might stay aggressive no matter what you do.
