New fish are fin nippers-what should I do?

[NoNitrates]

My tank is cycled, so I added 6 hi fin red Serpae Tetras. Should have done my research. I later found out that they have a rep for fin nipping despite the LFS employee stating they'd be OK with Emperors and Corys. When I added the Emperors last week, the larger ones would chase the smaller ones and occasionally chase a Cory, but no fin nipping. After the Serpaes had been in for a few hours, I noticed they had looked nipped. I thought it was the Emperors nipping them because they would chase the Serpaes. But later I noticed the smaller Emperors had a little bit of their tail chewed on. Could this settle down once the tank mates get used to each other or do I need to remove the Serpaes?

 

[henningc]

Move them if you can. Serpaes eat fish scales need I say more. Please don't count on the local fish store for advice. Also, some fin nippers will behave when stuffed into store tanks with way too many fish. They get back to business once you get them home.

 

[Catfish Lover]

What size is your tank? With serpaes you need numbers to curb their aggression to themselves. I have 22 of them in my 55g along with 11 peppered corys and all is well. If you're able to get more do so, if not then they may well be needed to be returned.

 

[severum mama]

Serpae tetras are known for being fin nippers. They are not scale eaters.
Hyphessobrycon eques – Serpae Tetra (Hyphessobrycon callistus, Hyphessobrycon serpae) — Seriously Fish
My experience with emperors has been that they are often fin nippers as well- I've had some that were quite aggressive toward one another and toward other tetras. Emperors get quite a bit larger than many other species, and IME the aggression increases with maturity. I'd guess that it could easily be both of these species that are causing you problems.

 

[NoNitrates]

Thanks for the advice. After work I rounded up the Serpaes and got store credit for the 8 Lemon Tetras I got. They've been in for about 4 hours now. So far so good.

 

[NoNitrates]

Here are pics.