new arrivals! yay

dorabaker

I doubt anyone will read this post, but I'm so excited I just have to say something!

Today I FINALLY went to my LFS to get some new fish more my tank, which I've been intending to do for months now. I only had 2 cherry barbs and 5 glowlight tetras left, and it was looking a bit empty.
I haven't been in a fish shop for so long that it was a bit overwhelming. There were so many beautiful fish - including heaps of cichlids, which really tempted me.
I nearly got some Ember Tetras, which were so adorable and tiny I reckon a slightly larger fish could have eaten them whole. I was also sorely tempted by the Sterba's Corys. I have ALWAYS wanted Sterba's corys, they are my favorite kind of cory, but my experience with corys the last few times I've tried to keep them has been so disastrous that I have vowed never to keep them again I might have bought some of the Sterba's if they had been cheaper but for $14 each I decided it was too risky.

In the end I was sensible and only got 6 cherry barbs (which the shop assistant kindly let me handpick so I got all the nicest ones!) and a baby Albino Bristlenose. I wanted to have 8 barbs and 8 glowlights, but the glowlights are so nippy that I decided to not add any more in case it made them fight even more. The new barbs have settled in straight away and are shoaling with my existing 2 barbs.

I was going to clean the algae of the glass, because it looks terrible, but then I saw my new pleco was very effectively getting rid of it, so I'm going to leave it there for him to eat!

I'm sorry there aren't any pictures, I figured it would just be too hard to try and photograph a heap of tiny, extremely active fish...I'v tried before and it's practically impossible :S

Ogre44

I read your post.
I had GloLight tetras and found them nippy as well, and they're reported to be so peaceful.
Glad to hear about the barbs getting along, and good on you for leaving the algae for your pleco.

kaythenewbie

Wow, your LFS has great fish! Embers are so pretty-I'm jealous. I can't find them anywhere. I went to Petsmart yesterday, and they had Bolivian Rams. I was so excited. Maybe there's hope for my fish store...

I've never had an issue with glolights nipping. Mine playfully chase each other and harass the other fish in my tank occasionally, but I've never seen any evidence of nipped fins. Now my black phantoms on the other hand, worse nippers ever!

Byron

The nipping from peaceful fish like those mentioned here is usually due to one of two things: insufficient numbers in the group, or too small a tank. Both factors are now proven to increase aggressiveness even in otherwise peaceful fish.

And all characins are shoaling, living in groups of hundreds. And they have teeth, lots of them, and will use them. Think of the piranha.

Six is the minimum number most suggest, and it will usually work with most species, but one should always go for more if space permits. Tank size hasn't been mentioned in this thread, but as an example none of these fish should be in anything under a 24-inch tank. Putting any of the common tetra, with a few exceptions, in a 10g for instance is likely to cause aggression.

There is one other consideration that may play into this, and that is tank raised fish. We are now learning that the decades of inbreeding of aquarium fish is causing a number of problems with the fish's physiology and temperament. This might be a factor with glowlights and black phantoms.

Byron.

jeaninel

Now see....people are reading this post.

I love going fish shopping. I have 3 great LFS's that are within about 10-15 minutes of each other and I will often hit each one even if it's just to window shop.

I've always found my BN's to be great at keeping the algae cleaned up.

Good luck with your new fish.

dorabaker

My LFS had bolivians too! I reaaaaallly want some. I've noticed it only seems to be the male glowlights that are nippy - I have more males than females and they are always competing for dominance. It's just like with many territorial fish - one male always thinks he's better than all the others! As Byron mentioned though, they would probably be happier in a larger tank. It's a pity I don't have room for one. One day..

dorabaker

That's interesting about the tank-bred fish. My tank is 15 gallon so it is just big enough to house characins. I used to have a larger shoal than I did now and they were ATROCIOUSLY agressive! I lost a few and immediately noticed that with fewer fish they were more peaceful. Now that I only have 5 left they are much calmer than they were before, probably because there are fewer males competing for dominance. The males are definitely the nippers. The females are usually the victims.

dorabaker

:D I love going fish shopping too! But it really makes me realise I need a much bigger tank because I want all the fish I see I have a couple of LFS's too, but at the moment there's only one I usually shop at for getting large numbers of fish. I like to rescue female bettas from my local pet store though.

dorabaker

How many tetras do you have and what size tank?

Ogre44

I had 7 glolights in my 29 gallon.
They decided that my betta was a mobile buffet and tore his fins up really badly, so I rehomed them to my lfs.
Currently working on stocking a 65 gallon and was thinking about trying the glolights again, but will probably go with flame tetras instead.