Silvertip Tetra Gender?

[GoTetra]

Hello everyone. Just became an owner of 5 beautiful Silvertip Tetras and just joined AC.

They are very active and rowdy. A whole lot of fun to watch them zip around the tank. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a lively group of Tetras.

It appears that none of my 5 Silvertips have yet reached maturity. Current size is about 1.25 inches. Color is yellow-gold with a hint of copper depending of the lighting during the day. However still unable to tell whether they are male or female.

I understand that a mature male Silvertips will turn copper in color. When does a male Silvertip reach this maturation point?

Any other tips or what to look for in distinguishing the gender of my Silvertips would be greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas!

 

[fishorama]

:welcome: to AC! Silver tips are like most tetras, the females are chubbier, the males a bit more colorful & slender. I had them a while ago & the males seemed to fight a lot sometimes taking small bites out of each others fins, IME not as peaceful as some tetras. You should be able to tell after you've had them a few weeks of feeding & watching, females are more food oriented, males more territorial & bossy but it's subtle.

 

[GoTetra]

It appears that more time will be needed to make a definite determination.

All 5 Silvertips are eating very well (mixed flakes and blood worms) and at times territorial when not schooling. They all have a similar body shape at the moment.

One change...Two Silvertips have started to take on a darker cooper color around the edges and fins. This is the only indicator at the moment that there may be at least two males in the group.

I guess only time will tell.

Thanks.

 

[jm1212]

yep, you're going to need more time...after a while though, you will see that some of the tetras will be noticeably 'rounder' and a big bigger than the others in the school, and chances are they will be the females.

 

[GoTetra]

Confrontation with Algae

Thanks jm1212 for the confirmation.

In addition...

Yesterday, I noticed that the water smelled like rotting plants, despite 30% water changes every 5 days. The threat was not ammonia, but appeared to be from blue-green algae.

I immediately removed the broad leaf plants which did not seemed to be thriving in the aquarium; each of the leaves was decaying quickly after budding.

Also, pulled out any roots coming out of the gravel or growing on the stems of other plants.

While doing so, I found some greenish black muck on few plants, which looked like the culprit, the blue-green algae that was giving off the rotting plant/modly smell.

Then, wiped the inside of the aquarium glass to rid the small round green algae spots that were starting to became visible.

Lastly, did about a 40% water change.

What do you know...the Silvertips are zipping around like they are supposed to.

Poor Silvertips, due to their amateur owner...just glad that the problem was identified early and resolved.

Few lessons learned when something is wrong in the aquarium.

1. Silvertips tend to be active swimmers and playful fish. While they do display some territorial behavior, if they are not their normal active selves (chasing each other around, showing off by flicking their fins, exploring, etc), then there is something wrong.

2. While water changes may reduce the ammonia problem, sometimes there may be a problem not apparent to the eye, such as the blue-green algae.

Thanks.

 

[chris521957]

Algae in your tank could be down to too much light and/or overfeeding. How long do you have your lights on each day?. Also the more plants you have, the less algae you should have as the plants will contest for the nutrients in the water, which the algae need to grow. As for the Silvertips, i had a group of 5 but had to get rid of them as they were constantly chasing my cardinals and generally harrassing my other fish. The tank is now much calmer. They are easy to sex as the males are a copper/reddish colour and the females tend to be more silvery, and this was noticable at under 1" in mine. My mistake was seeing the fish in the lfs and not doing any research on them before i bought. Good luck with yours. I hope yours dont get as agressive as mine as they are really nice looking little fish.

 

[GoTetra]

Lucky Purchase

Chris thanks for the info on the algae.

I did have to remove some additional plants that had blue-green algae muck on them. The algae only seemed to affect the stem plants with thin skinny leafs where water circulation was not as good through the thick brushy areas. Had to get rid of them.

Lighting appears to be adequate.

I would have to agree that perhaps my Silvertips are overfed just a tad...mixed flakes in the AM and bloodworms in the PM. Just love watching them circling the tank when I open the lid to feed them. I will have to be more reserved and control myself.

My 5 Silvertips have settled quite nicely. They are still active, but no hostile behavior toward each other or the 5 juvenile White Clouds. They do chase each other at times, but no harm and looks like they are just playing.

Lucky for you that your Silvertips had such distinguishing colors at 1". At the moment, only thing for certain is that there is one male Silvertip in my tank, due to its red copper color (only recently) and is not as focused on eating so much like the others. The other four are still gold/yellow. Still waiting for them to mature, either turn red copper (male) or round out their bodies (female).

Similar story on getting the Silvertips at the LFS. While I was determining which tetra to buy at the LFS, I found these 5 Silvertips at about $3, and I am so happy about the lucky purchase.

Happy New Year!