msbabb

Hello all, This is my first post so I hope I'm doing this right. To the point. I have 2 Black Skirt Tetras, the larger one is 2in +or- a little the second is only slightly smaller. I think they are the ones snacking on my what used to be long finned danios. As for the setup I have 2 baby angel (which are doing very well so far) 5 long finned danios, 4 Australian Rainbows, and the 2 tetras in a 29 gallon tank moderately planted. All Chem levels are fine. What can I do? I don't want to give up any of them, but more importantly I don't want any of the to suffer. Please help me. Oh and i think I might be down to 4 danios one of them is kind of floating around the bottom with his mouth open. Please Please Help!!

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msbabb

I just did a water test and the only abnormail thing was a .25 PPM nitrite reading, but i haven't done my water change yet. That will get done today but it should not change the issue I'm having with the tetras. Right?

msbabb

Sorry for the desapration but I've now had to put in a tank divider for peace of mind so i can sleep tonight without dreams of dying fish..

The original post was under the tetra forum. I hope I don't upset anyone by double posting this. I just don't know what to do..

Black Skirts Nipping??
contains pics

Hello all, This is my first post so I hope I'm doing this right. To the point. I have 2 Black Skirt Tetras, the larger one is 2in +or- a little the second is only slightly smaller. I think they are the ones snacking on my what used to be long finned danios. As for the setup I have 2 baby angel (which are doing very well so far) 5 long finned danios, 4 Australian Rainbows, and the 2 tetras in a 29 gallon tank moderately planted. All Chem levels are fine. What can I do? I don't want to give up any of them, but more importantly I don't want any of the to suffer. Please help me. Oh and i think I might be down to 4 danios one of them is kind of floating around the bottom with his mouth open. Please Please Help!!

Lucy

Hi msbabb welcome to Fish Lore

I went ahead and merged your threads. It'll be easier for you and the members to keep the responses in one place.

I'm sorry your having problems with your Black Skirts. They normally do better in schools of about 6, so that could be why they're nipping. Unfortunately, you don't really have room in your tank to fill out their school.
You can try to add more plants and hiding places to break up the line of sight.

I see by your aquarium info that you don't have a nitrate reading but in your post you have nitrItes.
If your tank was cycled, it looks like might be in a mini cycle.
This could also cause your fish to act abnormally.

It would be a good idea to do daily water changes until you can get the cycle back.

I'm sure other members will have some more suggestions for you.

Good luck.

Edit: Just thought of something else, what are you using to test?

msbabb

I"ll make this short because i had it all typed out nice and then lost it all.
Setup history
May 08 started with a 15 gal tall last week for my birthday I upgraded to the 29 gal using all the decor and filtration from the 15 plus adding a penguin 170, hoping to eliminate any possible cycle. well it worked better than I thought. the test today showed .25 ppm nitrite and 5-10ppm nitrate 0ppm ammonia. I did approx 5 gal water change today and every thing is looking good. I did lose the one danio though. As for the test it is the API master freshwater kit.

Thanks again

capekate

Welcome to fishLore MsBabb
Just wanted to say that I have had BST's and found them to be very aggressive with each other but not sure if they really bothered other fish. Its possible that the danio succumbed to the nitrite toxins that are present in your tank. You may be going through a small mini cycle due to changing over to the 29g tank. Even though you used all the substrate and decorations from your previous tank its still possible to have some slight readings for now.
I would suggest getting more plants and hiding spots in your tank and see if that helps cut down on any of the aggression. Between the two BST's they will lay claim to a part of the tank and will defend it against the other BST. In my tank they were just too aggressive with each other and I personally will never keep them in a community tank again, tho they are lovely looking fish that appealed to me as well.
Your Angelfish are really beautiful, loved the photo of the two of them. Angelfish like the amazon sword plants and maybe adding a few of the silk varity may be a nice additon? Best of luck with your tank.