Aggressive Glowlight Tetra

I recently set up a 10 gallon tank, and about a week ago I added 5 glowlight tetras. They all came from the same tank at the pet store, and they seemed to get along fine for the fist few days, but I've started to noticed that one, that I believe is a male, has started to chase the others around and nip at their tails. I think that the others are 2 males and 2 females, and the females seem to be getting the worst of it. The tank is planted and there's other decor that provides hiding places as well, but is there anything else I can do to curb this behavior? I've had a planted tank with neon tetras where most are male for about a year now and never had this problem with them. Are glowlights just a more aggressive species of tetra? Any advice is appreciated.

 

Weird, I have 6 in my 20g community and they don't bother each other or any other fish in the tank.

 

Yeah I was surprised when the one started acting up because I had always heard they were pretty peaceful. The other 4 haven't shown any aggression either.

 

Hello
It’s likely inter species sparring/ aggression and may settle once they determine who is boss.

May I ask how you have you determined which are females and males ?

To dilute the aggression you could add a couple more,2 - 3 ish and break lines of sight with plants etc.

 

maybe the male is trying establish a pecking order within the tank since its newly set up... there's nothing you can really do about it other than add some hiding spaces for the other fish not to get bullied around too much

 

May I ask how you have you determined which are females and males ?

It's my understanding that in glowlight tetras the females tend to be rounder and fuller, while the males are thinner and a bit smaller and have a slightly sunken belly. It's the smallest one that fits the male description the best who's been the problem.

I can try moving some things around to break up the line of sight a little bit more. I hope y'all are right and they calm down soon. I just hate watching them pick on each other and I don't want it to turn into a bigger problem.

 

I wouldn’t consider it aggression. The male wants to breed but the females aren’t ready. Perfectly normal behavior. My glow lights always spawned after a large water change.