A new, troubled tank

Lupin

I've never had bleeding hearts nipping when I had them before. If you don't like them, you are free to choose other less habitual fin nipping tetras such as glowlights, neons, cardinals and black neons.

You need to watch your betta and gourami. They are not always compatible in the end and only luck can get you through.

ShortFuse

I will keep an eye on them. So far they have not even touched each other, just the Betta showboating around the tank. Will this subside, or do you think it will escalate?

And about the Tetras, is it out of fear that they wont come to the surface for food or is this just their manor? I don't want to have to go back there to exchange more fish, but if things don't improve in the tank I guess I have no other choice. There is no damage to the Dwarf Gouramis fins, so I'm not sure if they are actually nipping, but it sure looks like it. They don't seem to school that well either, there is always 1 or 2 that are off doing something else. Would increasing the number by a few help this?

Lupin

As to that, I cannot make predictions on what happens next. It's a matter of continuous surveillance.
Both are possible. Some tetras eventually try to feed on the surface but some will continue to stick on the mid level. Was it the old or new ones? If the latter, then they may not have been accustomed yet to doing it or were rather intimidated by the presence of your betta which can happen to the old ones as well.
Nope. Your tank is rather small to accomplish shoaling. They will shoal only if they feel threatened by a large fish.

P.S. Your gourami is a Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia).

ShortFuse

Just to update, the Betta still hasn't fought anybody but is still chasing everyone around a lot when he is not sitting in his plant.

But those bleeding heart tetras are relentless and the Dwarf Gourami's tail Fin is starting to show damage. The first few days they didn't seem to be actually nipping, but they certainly are now :(

I guess I'll be taking these tetra back as well...PetSmart is going to hate me. Oh well, I plan to use a different PetSmart with a better selection from now on anyways....Not sure what I will replace the tetras with yet.

ShortFuse

Well, the betta never fought anybody but those tetra were relentless with the Fire Red Dwarf Gourami...so, I took the Gourami back to PetSmart and got 6 Tiger Barbs instead. The Betta is still in the tank for now, but that will change once I decide what I'm going to do with him. If any nipping starts to occur I will pull him out right away and into his old bowl.

I had my water tested and the pH was 7.0, the water was hard (city water, I might get some conditioning salt), and 0 nitrate, nitrite and ammonia. The tank has been running for almost 2 weeks now, and my last culture of live bacteria was a week ago with the first 10% change. I will continue to add live bacteria when I add new fish, but other than that I am going to leave it alone for now and see what happens. Water is very clear and I did my first gravel vacuum and 2nd water change today. I found a snail!!!!!!!!! Hopefully it is the only one, I guess it came from PetSmart.

Now I just need to decide what else will be going in to finish off the tank. Maybe some harlequins or danios...who knows. It'll be a little while before anything else goes in.

Lastly, I think I might be upgrading the filter to a Penquin 200 rated for a 50 gallon tank. That way, if I reach "over-stocked" status, it wont be a big deal because I will have a filter to handle the bio-load. And I really want a biowheel and the way the filter sits up a bit higher, more O2 will be introduced into the tank as the water falls in.