Possible Fighting- Black Widow Tetras

So I just turned the light on in my big tank and every time I do this I check the fish over for signs of disease, fighting etc. I have five black Widow tetras and a school of neon tetras in this tank at the moment. If the black Widow tetras four are normal sized and one has been a lot smaller than the others since the start. This morning I noticed the skirt on the little BWT was split. Additionally, this fish is often in one of the corners of the tank. He will swim towards other fish so I didn’t think much of it before but should I be worried? So here are my questions:
1) How do I help heal his skirt?
2) What should I do with this hurt fish in the mean time?
3) How do I prevent future fighting?

 

Hi MeganS15,
I had black skirt tetras and found them to be just as aggressive as most other similar shaped tetras.

Water changes are the best way to make sure a fish with a damaged tail does not get an infection.

No need to move the fish from the little school of 5 .You don’t say how many gallons/ litres the tank is ? I suspect the size of the school to be part of the problem.

Fish fight like this, it is normal. Only having a larger group will spread the aggression between others. With just 5 the smallest is always going to the same fish getting picked on.

 

Hi MeganS15,
I had black skirt tetras and found them to be just as aggressive as most other similar shaped tetras.

Water changes are the best way to make sure a fish with a damaged tail does not get an infection.

No need to move the fish from the little school of 5 .You don’t say how many gallons/ litres the tank is ? I suspect the size of the school to be part of the problem.

Fish fight like this, it is normal. Only having a larger group will spread the aggression between others. With just 5 the smallest is always going to the same fish getting picked on.

They are in a 100L tank (about 23 gallons I think). I don’t want to add too many fish at once. Should I get some more then? I was planning to get a betta fish for my small tank today anyway.

 

Late reply sorry been up to my arms in tank water.
You are right in not adding to many fish at once but that has to be weighed up against getting fish from different sources multiple times even when using a quarantine tank/ or two.

A mini cycle from adding 50% more fish is not something to be scared of or ashamed of . A few extra water changes is all that we all have to do.

Siri says 100 litres is 26.46 gallons.

 

Late reply sorry been up to my arms in tank water.
You are right in not adding to many fish at once but that has to be weighed up against getting fish from different sources multiple times even when using a quarantine tank/ or two.

A mini cycle from adding 50% more fish is not something to be scared of or ashamed of . A few extra water changes is all that we all have to do.

Siri says 100 litres is 26.46 gallons.

That’s fine I get it haha.
How many more would you suggest?

 

Another 5 might fit in a 100 litre, How many dozen neon tetra are already in the tank?

You might get an idea from the stocking site Aqadvisor.com

 

The smaller one probably is a male. These fish simply live a boisterous live. Chasing, showing of, "fighting" is part of their lives and are seldom "real fights". I's simply leave them.

 

As you are seeing a split in the tail the casing has progressed to physical contact. The fins should grow back in just a few short weeks . Good luck.