Black Phantom Tetra

elizabeth5555

Can these fish be agression to other fish? I have one who seems quite agressive, although I keep wondering whether this is play? Many of my fish died therefore I had everything checked, i.e. water, fish for disease etc,. All was fine.
The fish which have gone on to survive are my 2 black phantom tetras? as opposed to losing, mollies, angels, guppies? Are the black phantom tetras more hardy maybe, or could I have a bully as one fish specialist explained?

Blackfeet

You could have a bully. Or maybe not. Saying your water is fine is not telling me what your PH, KH, GH, temp are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate would be good to know too. Without knowing the numbers my answers will be vague and may be completely off target. Living outside of their ph, and temp range stresses a fish and that will lead to being more vulnerable to a host of other infections. GH some fish prefer to live in hard water and basic ph (7.0-8.5 for most) such as guppies and mollies while tetras prefer soft acidic water.
As for your tetras being aggresive, it mostly depends on the fish, though my mom had 2 in her tank with mollies and guppies. As soon as the live bearing fish became pregnant the black skirts never left them be and the preggo fish would die within a week.

Byron

I moved this mini-thread out of the other which was not directly related.

Tetra are characins and all characins are shoaling fish, meaning they live in large groups and must be kept in a group. Six is often considered the minimum, though more than this will always be better. There are reasons for this, from social interaction, to security, to inherent pecking orders, etc. When kept in smaller groups like 2, 3 or even 4, the fish will be under stress and this may exhibit itself in several ways including aggression. Species which are not normally prone to nip may do so solely because of the stress.

Black Phantom Tetra is the species named, although the other thread concerned Black Skirt or Black Widow Tetra. The latter have a basic desire to fin nip, and small groups or confined quarters intensifies this significantly. The Black Phantom generally does not nip, unless stressed.

Water parameters and conditions also impact, as Blackfeet said. The Phantom is much more sensitive to parameters and quality.

You can read more on both species in the profiles, click the shaded names.

Byron.