Rabid Flame Tetra?

[Mad Professor]

Not sure if there are rabies for fish but My little 10 gallon in my bedroom been doing fine for 2 months since established. Well I have 4 flame tetras 4 serpaes and 1 male betta.

History:
Got them put them in the tank together and 2 days later I saw the betta and serpaes duking it out, shred my betta's tail abit. So I divided the tank with about 2 gallons of room assigned to the betta and about 8 gallons assigned to the tetras.

Its been going great since then with PFS, a whisper filter, and a BUBBLE WAND!

I do a 50% PWC every 2 weeks, next PWC is upcoming saturday.

I havn't test the tank water but I'm pretty sure its fine. I have a bit of brown spotted algea in the tank.

Anyways this one little flame tetra looks like crap. Basically seems like he got a case of fin rot and he is dirty. Where as the other flame tetras are clean and still have their fins They seem to be suffering a very.. very minor case of fin rot or something else. *Going to make adjustments with PWC to weekly*

Basically this one litte flame tetra is very aggressive to everything that gets near it. *Including the serpaes.* Its still eating but likes attacking the others. The others tend to attack their own *like tiger barbs* and not each other *I.E serpaes VS Flame tetras.*

Any ideas?

~Mp

 

[justrelax]

Serpaes are trouble makers when not kept in a large enough group. They are probably too active for a 10 gallon, too.
Is it the "crappy" looking flame that's aggressive? If so, it may just be a defense mechanism. Pick up some Pimafix and Melafix and dose them together following the instructions on the bottles. That should clear up the fin problem at least, then see if some other problem still stands out.
50% pwc every two weeks is potentially stressing your fish out. You would be better off doing 25% every week. Either way, pick up a test kit and use it frequently until you are more familiar with how your tank "ages".
Your fish would probably be happier if you got rid of one or the other tetra, rounded off the remaining school to 6-7, freed up that space the betta uses and maybe replaced him with some snails or ottos or something. jmo.

 

[Mad Professor]

Well They've been fine with each other up till now. I do have a test kit I'm just too lazy to test all 4 tanks *44gal, 29gal, 2x 10 gal*

I'm cutting back to weekly PWC....
I can tell a defense mechinism and aggressive one apart. The crappy one is attacking for no reason. After I fed him tonight he seems a bit more calm. I'm not sure if he pissed because I ran out of bloodworms or what... For a moment there I thought he had rabies or something.

I have no intention of screwing with the stock in the tank. But if it comes to that I would have to get rid of the Serpaes because at first I thought they would look great with sand; Turns out they don't.

I'm not sure how they would do in my guppy tank *The 44 gallon*. Do serpaes get along with fancy guppies?

If that ever happens,
I would probably add 2 more flame tetras and break the divider so the betta and the flame tetras can swim together.

~Mp

 

[justrelax]

I wouldn't chance it unless you have enough room to add at least 3 more to the four you have. Even then, those guppy fins will surely be gone once encountered by a bored serpae. Even with 7, you'll have to watch close. I had 9 with my angels and they still bothered everyone in the tank. But others have had much success with them so it may be worth giving it a shot.
As far as the crappy one goes... I think to overlook his health as a reason for his aggressive behavior is a mistake. Think about it, when you get sick, you get in a bad mood right? Well...
Also with that stock and a pwc not having been done for two weeks, you could have higher nitrates than your fish are willing to tolerate. I think a pwc (maybe a couple days in a row) then mild medication with pima and melafix should do the trick.

 

[Mad Professor]

Well my 44 gallon is understock less then a dozen along with 2 emerald green corys. But I don't want to see my guppies' fins shredded to pieces. I should have never bought serpaes in the first place if I had known they were going to be aggressive towards other fish. The other 10 gallon has 4 tiger-barbs and 2 black-skirts, but they are getting move to the 29 gallon once establish because of growth.

Anyways
My bedroom tank is very open would adding more cover to the tank reduce the aggressiveness of the stock, giving them more stuff to hide behind or in?

~Mp

 

[justrelax]

There are two things I would do for the problem you're having.
1. Properly maintain the tank.
2. Properly stock the tank.

should have never bought serpaes in the first place if I had known they were going to be aggressive towards other fish

A little research goes a long ways. Or, if you don't have time, ask here. When I bought my serpaes it was with the knowledge that they could be potentially aggressive thanx to advice given here. I was then able to keep a close eye on them, and later move them, before the problem got out of hand for "some unknown reason"...