Black Phantom Tetra's appearance/behavior

[sudz]

Hey, i've finally got a chance to WATCH my black phantom tetra's. They're quite active but fairly skittish.

What troubles me is that alot of them look different from eachother.

One has red fins instead of black, and one has a red gill, on ONE side.
Any reasons as to this? Also, almost all of them seem to be missing tiny little wedges out of their top fin. I've never seen any fish pay attention to them, except for themselves. They seem kinda territorial. Is this normal? I think the one with the red gill is the most agressive of them. One likes the back corner, one likes the roots in my driftwood, the other likes the cubby on the large root driftwood... they're all not getting along to well. the one with red fins wanders around and gets chased.

They gonna be ok?

I think that i may have a female (the red finned one) I've been trying to get a picture, (fixed my digi cam, it was a blown capacitor)

 

[Devilishturtles]

IMO it sounds like normal fish behavior and conditions. As long as they are still active and eating, I wouldn't worry. Just keep an eye out. I have a small school of black skirts in one of my tanks, and I had one with a red gill like that whom lasted well over a year before it died. He was perfectly healthy.

HTH

 

[sudz]

thanks!

Do female black phantoms like terribly different from males? I have one that is slightly smaller than the rest, and has red colored fins. She? also seems more... nomadic. Just kinda chills with one other fish until it chases her away.

I THOUGH i fixed my camera... i was wrong :-( Think i'll be in the market for a new one after christmas

 

[sudz]

FYI, they seemed to have calmed down now, though they don't school anymore. they've developed territories.

 

[QTOFFER]

The females have a red adipose fin between the dorsal fin and the tail. Males have large dorsal fins which they like to display to impress the females and intimidate other males. The recpommended male:female ratio for black phantoms is 1:3; otherwise, the males can get quite nippy with each other. Getting a few more females would help cut down the fin nipping.

I'm not sure about the red gill. If the fish is otherwise healthy, active, and swimming; it's probably just a malformed gill cover that allows you to see part of the gills that you normally would not see. Keep an eye out for flashing/rubbing behavior, lethargy, and gasping at the surface - all signs of a gill infection.