serpae's... aka: devil's spawn

[justrelax]

o.k., i've had these serpae's in my tank for some time now. the first week they had a bit of a problem not nipping the fins of everyone else in the tank. then it seemed to stop. i added some melafix and pimafix to speed up everyone's fin repair. lo and behold the little devil's are at it again! i'm all for giving them time to get situated, but my angels are getting torn all to he**. is it time to call it quits and take them out?
for what it's worth, my water parameters are perfect. i never let my nitrates get above 30. no algae problems. the current is a bit strong... but other that that....???

[lyquidphyre]

How many do you have?
I have close to 15 with my angels and there is no problem

[Hara]

seems like an awful lot of fish in a small space. Serpae are known to have attitudes and seeing as the victims really dont have a way to leave the area, the aggression is probably not going to lessen any.

[lyquidphyre]

I'm sorry, I didn't see you had the amount of sepaes in your signature

[rich311k]

If the serpaes are nipping that badly and I know you want to keep your angels, it is time to return them to the store. You gave them enough time to settle in, they will not stop.

[justrelax]

d'oh!! well, it was worth a try. on one hand, this is a bummer... i really liked how they looked and behaved aside from the nipping. on the other... i get to buy more fish! hmmm.. what to get? any suggestions? i'd like to stick along the same lines as the serpae's. something smaller and colorful that will be active.
i didn't think my stock was too much for 55 gallons. as far as the 1" per gallon "rule", it's right on as my angels are still juvies. do y'all think i should go with a smaller number of a larger fish? seems like everyone had plenty of room...

going with rummy tetra's!!

[Fishyfanatic]

I have Serpae's with Angels and they are great together. But they are Hi-Fins. There are behavioral differences between regular and hi-fins, from what I have heard.

Be careful with the Rummies. If you do in fact get True Rummynose Tetras, you may want to QT them for a few days before introducing them to the main tank. They are sensitive to water conditions and sucumb easily to stress. Keep your Nitrates low and Ammonia and Nitrites undetectable.

[justrelax]

i was doing some research about the rummy's and wondered if there is any way to tell the difference between the true ones and others. from what i've gathered, the true's actually have a duller red color than the false's. are there any other indications i can look for?
fishy, i did also pick up on their sensitivity... i will definately be qt'ing them. i just got a ten gallon that i think i can instant cycle with stuff from my 55. i'll wait that out before i get the rummy's. which brings me to my next question: how to keep a qt cycled? i imagine without fish in it regularly, the bacteria will die off. is there a recommended fish to keep in a qt? i have some guppies in a 5 gallon that i could move over...

[Fishyfanatic]

Run the filter for the QT on the main tank when it is not being used. That is really the easiest way to do it. That way you are not moving several fish everytime you need to QT. The tank will always be ready for a fast QT.

By the way, here is a link that shows the differences in the three Rummynose Tetras.