Blue Tetras Chasing!

HI new guy here, I have a 97ltr tank I am only keeping small fish (tetra) I have 15 neon, 6 golden, 6 red eye, and 4 BLUE tetra and they are making my tank **** as they are always chasing all the other fish is this normal ?????

 

15 Neon Tetras x 1.5" each = 22.5"
6 Golden Tetras x 2" each = 12"
6 Red Eyed Tetras x 2" each = 12"
4 Blue Tetras x 1.5" each = 6"

97 L = about 25.6 Gal (US) or let's just call it 26" of fish to fit your size tank. You have 22.5 + 12 + 12 + 6 = 52.5" of fish. Even if they aren't at their full adult size yet and are only around 1" each, you are still talking about 31" of fish in a tank meant for 26". You are over stocked and the Blue tetras are responding to that it seems. Take a look at this page and what they say about their behavior[/url]. If you are interested in getting more tanks in the future then as they get bigger you will have other options. But even if you don't at this point you might have to do a little more regular water changes and vacuuming to keep the quality of water good enough for that amount of fish. Have you checked your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels lately to be sure everything is in line? Changes in water quality can also lead to misbehavior in fish too, but it sounds just like an over crowding issue in this case.

 

Thank you for your reply I have read that article and it is behaving just as it says.
My tank measures 31-16-12 inch do you think I am still over stocked??? Al the fish in the tank are small and if I am how do I get rid of the fish is there a humane way to kill them not that I want to.

 

Eh?! I'm not sure you want to do that, you could return it to yor local fish or petstore.
Your tanks 25.7gal from what I can make out.

 

Yep, that is a 97 L tank just like you said, so it is definitely over stocked, even now with them small (though it's probably not a strain on the tank yet, but it is on the blue tetras). But you shouldn't have to kill them to get rid of them. If you don't have any plans to get another tank in the near future, contact your local pet store and see if any will tank some of the fish back. You could probably get away with keeping the 15 neon's and 1 group of either the 6 golden or the 6 red-eyes. That would still be over, but tetras aren't really all that big of waste producers so it shouldn't be too much strain on the tank down the road.

 

If it's an option, you could split them between that tank and a new tank or simply move them all to a large new tank of 55 gallon or more. If not, I'd find a LFS that would give you at least store credit for them.

 

Has anyone every heard of blue tetras? I looked them up on Google and they really pretty imo. Does anyone have any of these?

 

Cochu blue tetras, they're awesome little guys. Petsmart is the only place I've ever seen them at. But I think Harpua sells them as well.

 

Haha I didn't know you replied to this sharkdude. I told you about it on the other thread about my 75 but yeah I'm going to check these out and see if PETsMART has any there I will also check lfs because the persmart over here isn't the best at keeping fish but I'll check them out and see which ones I like

Are KerrI tetras also called blue emperor tetras?

 

I have seen them called purple emperor tetras

 

Yes and yes those are some of their common names.

 

Ok I'm going to go by my lfs tomorrow to check and see if they have any

 

The Cochu's Blue Tetra - Boehlkea fredcochuI are quite aggressive I have heard.. But they are pretty

 

Have been doing a little research on blue tetras, sounds like fairly standard fish keeping.

Anyone have any experience keeping them? Possible ins/outs of blue tetras?

 

Have been doing a little research on blue tetras, sounds like fairly standard fish keeping.

Anyone have any experience keeping them? Possible ins/outs of blue tetras?

Are you referring to Cochu’s Blue Tetra
(Boehlkea Fredcochui)?

 

Are you referring to Cochu’s Blue Tetra
(Boehlkea Fredcochui)?

Yes

 

Pretty standard tetra care as far as I recall. Keep them in a group, omnivorous, nothing too big in the tank that will eat them, and don't tempt them with long-flowing fins. I had some years ago. They may be a touch more sensitive to changes in the water than some other more common tetras, but definitely not difficult to keep by any stretch.

 

Pretty standard tetra care as far as I recall. Keep them in a group, omnivorous, nothing too big in the tank that will eat them, and don't tempt them with long-flowing fins. I had some years ago. They may be a touch more sensitive to changes in the water than some other more common tetras, but definitely not difficult to keep by any stretch.

Thats a lot of what i have gathered. Jury still out, but i do find they tend to catch my eye! Because of changes i have or am in process of replacing tanks, i will have about 70 extra gallons to work with, so working on a list of candidates to fill some of that.

 

Thats a lot of what i have gathered. Jury still out, but i do find they tend to catch my eye! Because of changes i have or am in process of replacing tanks, i will have about 70 extra gallons to work with, so working on a list of candidates to fill some of that.

They're definitely a cool fish. They're one of the semi-rare tetras. Not super common but not super rare (at least in my area).

Choosing new fish is the hardest task so if they've caught your eye I'd say just go for it.

 

They're definitely a cool fish. They're one of the semi-rare tetras. Not super common but not super rare (at least in my area).

Choosing new fish is the hardest task so if they've caught your eye I'd say just go for it.

Only issue i have is i don't recall seeing them locally and one place i know online that has them doesn't have as many as i want lol

 

Only issue i have is i don't recall seeing them locally and one place i know online that has them doesn't have as many as i want lol

The eternal problem! I guess if you know that place has them consistently you could order the first batch now and then get more later? Depends how many you want, size of tank etc... as I try not to stock too many new things at the same time anyway.

 

The eternal problem! I guess if you know that place has them consistently you could order the first batch now and then get more later? Depends how many you want, size of tank etc... as I try not to stock too many new things at the same time anyway.

Definitely not an urgent thing by any means. Want to get everything set up first then see just what i am looking at again. Especially since the main reason for all the upgrades is to get my male bn plecos spread out. The pains of buying fish too young to ID....LOL

 

They can be very aggressive unless kept in a large group in a roomy tank. I had 2 terrorize an entire tank until I increased their numbers to spread out the aggression.

 

They can be very aggressive unless kept in a large group in a roomy tank. I had 2 terrorize an entire tank until I increased their numbers to spread out the aggression.

Yeah was hoping to have about 10 or so.