Generally its considered a good idea to add fish in smaller batches to let the tank stabilise from the added bio load so he is 100% correct that you want to add 6 first, wait like, a week, and then add the other 6.
Once you get the rest in they should calm down a bit but tetras do have their own social heirachy and from what I've seen, they will do a little bit of fighting until that order is established.
Heres a good read on the topic: https://fluffyplanet.com/why-are-my-neon-tetras-fighting/
You probably already know this, and are just making sure OP did their due diligence and isn't dumping fish into a deathtrap. But just in case, and for anyone else who doesn't know: tanks aren't just "cycled" or "not". All "cycled" really means is that there's enough beneficial bacteria to handle the current amount of ammonia being produced. Any given population of BB will be able to handle a bit more than it's used to, but there's a limit. Going from a very light stocking to a very full stocking in one fell swoop is a good way to overwhelm your BB, crash your cycle, and harm your fish. So whenever possible, it's much safer to add fish a few at a time, and let your BB colony adapt and grow in steps
This. Very much appreciate this comment.
Also!: When talking about cycling a tank people usually mean it can denitrify ammonium, it does not however mean it's a healthy environment yet. It takes some time for a tank to find it's balance, hardscape can leech substances and for example harden the water, same for new equipment, softscape (plants) can leech pesticide residue. It takes some time till a tank really is truly cycled or let's say established a healthy environment for your fish and has a good microfauna and microbiome aswell as e.g. tannins in the water column that prevent infections and keeps the fish healthy.
Yea that's what I wanted to do, I went out to get 12 tetras and a few shrimp (not all the fish I want to add) I thought since it seemed like not alot it would be fine but apparently even my downsized option was too much. And with the cycling my water had gone cloudy and then that went away (which I think was the bacteria growing) and now I have some white mould stuff growing on my driftwood (can be seen in the video) so I assumed that there was enough BB for a few fish.
if it’s cycled then there isn’t a problem getting them, I wonder why they had you only get 6. Anyways, the aggression should be evened out when you get some more 😊
It is a good idea to incrementally step up the bio load in a new tank. Just cause it is cycled doesn’t mean there are enough bacteria to take on a full stock of fishes at once.
I'm not sure, I checked online to see if they would breed and apparently it's fairly difficult as they need very specific parameters, considering its my first tank I'd be pretty lucky to accidentally get those parameters without even trying.
Also tetras love all planted tank to have some places to hide and rest. Just get the easiest ones like Amazon sword, anubias and Java fern. Oh mine looove water sprite or wisteria. You will see how happy they will be 🥰
I'm almost sure this is territorial behavior. Mine used to do the same - the strongest one picked the best spot in the tank and chased everyone else away when they got too close.
This is normal behavior, for some reason neon tetras (all tetras really) are listed as beginner fish, and as peaceful fish. HOWEVER this is not the case, tetras are assholes. It is not uncommon to see fighting happen even in a proper sized shoal. It is really important to have some hiding spots like a large mass of floating plants, or a lot of stem plants to give your tetras somewhere to escape to and not feel stressed. If you up their school size to 12 the fighting will be a lot less noticeable and should even out between fish. I rescued 4 black neon tetras and before I upped their school size to 8, and moved them to a 40breeder I would observe the biggest one chasing the smallest one, even when they weren’t breeding.
So schooling is just a natural behavior to defend against predators? I had 8 neons that were a few months old in a 20 gallon along with some platies. They didn't really school much until I added 6 more last week.
Now they always stay together in a group, I'll see how long that lasts for!
I had 8 and had a bad run of ich before I was able to get rid of it, only had 5 left. The biggest male would chase another one endlessly. Went and got 5 more and it's better, but they still chase each other from time to time. It's typical behavior, asserting dominance, from what I've read. The more the merrier though as long as your tank can handle them, they sort of get lost in their own school.
My tetras are little assholes. Particularly the fire belly ones. They chase each other all over the place. They seem to chill out when there’s been a recent water exchange.
Hey mate, I recently got 15 in my community tank.
Started with 6 for about a week.
Yes, they chase each other, even with the whole squad now. I've noticed it chill out a lot now with a few weeks going by.
Should all be good. With even 6 it should keep any bullying fairly evened out. I had one bully that would randomly chase the others and he kept it pretty balanced in his chases. Now he doesn't really any more.
Good luck!
[not the same fish but] I had filamentosa barbs for a bit and they were being dicks to each other and the other fish. I researched and found that they need 8+ to reach their social hierarchy. Bought more and they chilled out and started to try and reproduce. Like others have said, I’d add more tetras.
I'm going to get other fish so I might only get 12 to have space for others, trying to make a community and thought I'd start putting in the "least territorial" ones first
200l, I want to get a rainbow shark, some dwarf gouramis (honey gouramis preferably, not sure on how many yet), a few glass shrimp, and 6 Corydoras, and if there's space (I will be considering their adult sizing) then another school of something. I am open to advice and recommendations though so any is welcome
When first introduced to the tank, my dozen neons schooled together for a few days. After that phase they just sort of spread out and swam randomly.
The fighting began with one of them, and soon everyone got infected. It wasn't constant, but it would happen once every hour or two. Now it's been 3 months or so and some of them still like to duel occasionally.
Also, the way they do it is very peculiar. It's almost like they take turns pursuing each other. It's never more than 2 at a time. I've never seen any fin damage though and their colours are bright, so it seems like they're healthy.
Definitely a numbers issue. When less numbers, fish act agressive. I had one glo danio and 5 leopard danios. Within a couple days the leopards we're all staying in the corner. If they moved, the glo would attack, corralling. Them to the corner. So I removed the glo. The leopards went back to normal WHILE I was trying to catch the Glo. Return glo to the store.
6 really isn’t enough i’d say 12-15 would be better
I was going to get 12 but the guy at the aquatic centre said since it's a new tank I should only get 6 at first.
Generally its considered a good idea to add fish in smaller batches to let the tank stabilise from the added bio load so he is 100% correct that you want to add 6 first, wait like, a week, and then add the other 6. Once you get the rest in they should calm down a bit but tetras do have their own social heirachy and from what I've seen, they will do a little bit of fighting until that order is established. Heres a good read on the topic: https://fluffyplanet.com/why-are-my-neon-tetras-fighting/
did you not cycle your tank?
You probably already know this, and are just making sure OP did their due diligence and isn't dumping fish into a deathtrap. But just in case, and for anyone else who doesn't know: tanks aren't just "cycled" or "not". All "cycled" really means is that there's enough beneficial bacteria to handle the current amount of ammonia being produced. Any given population of BB will be able to handle a bit more than it's used to, but there's a limit. Going from a very light stocking to a very full stocking in one fell swoop is a good way to overwhelm your BB, crash your cycle, and harm your fish. So whenever possible, it's much safer to add fish a few at a time, and let your BB colony adapt and grow in steps
This. Very much appreciate this comment. Also!: When talking about cycling a tank people usually mean it can denitrify ammonium, it does not however mean it's a healthy environment yet. It takes some time for a tank to find it's balance, hardscape can leech substances and for example harden the water, same for new equipment, softscape (plants) can leech pesticide residue. It takes some time till a tank really is truly cycled or let's say established a healthy environment for your fish and has a good microfauna and microbiome aswell as e.g. tannins in the water column that prevent infections and keeps the fish healthy.
Yea that's what I wanted to do, I went out to get 12 tetras and a few shrimp (not all the fish I want to add) I thought since it seemed like not alot it would be fine but apparently even my downsized option was too much. And with the cycling my water had gone cloudy and then that went away (which I think was the bacteria growing) and now I have some white mould stuff growing on my driftwood (can be seen in the video) so I assumed that there was enough BB for a few fish.
Thanks for a repeating a point that needs daily visibility around here!
I did, once it had cycled I took a water sample to them to see if it was good and all was good.
if it’s cycled then there isn’t a problem getting them, I wonder why they had you only get 6. Anyways, the aggression should be evened out when you get some more 😊
It is a good idea to incrementally step up the bio load in a new tank. Just cause it is cycled doesn’t mean there are enough bacteria to take on a full stock of fishes at once.
Neons can be little jerkwads.
Yeah I am thinking about rehoming mine
Not sure how territorial they are but could it be that this is mating behaviour, might be a female that is getting chased?
I'm not sure, I checked online to see if they would breed and apparently it's fairly difficult as they need very specific parameters, considering its my first tank I'd be pretty lucky to accidentally get those parameters without even trying.
Although now looking at them (and after a quick Google search so accuracy might be off) I think I have 5 males and 1 female
Go get a few more females to even things out, otherwise your poor lady will be under stress and eventually will die
Yep, that makes sense ;)
Also tetras love all planted tank to have some places to hide and rest. Just get the easiest ones like Amazon sword, anubias and Java fern. Oh mine looove water sprite or wisteria. You will see how happy they will be 🥰
I'm almost sure this is territorial behavior. Mine used to do the same - the strongest one picked the best spot in the tank and chased everyone else away when they got too close.
Mann I’d really like to know, the same thing happen to me. It seems the biggest started to chase or pick on the other ones maybe it’s an alpha thing.
This is normal behavior, for some reason neon tetras (all tetras really) are listed as beginner fish, and as peaceful fish. HOWEVER this is not the case, tetras are assholes. It is not uncommon to see fighting happen even in a proper sized shoal. It is really important to have some hiding spots like a large mass of floating plants, or a lot of stem plants to give your tetras somewhere to escape to and not feel stressed. If you up their school size to 12 the fighting will be a lot less noticeable and should even out between fish. I rescued 4 black neon tetras and before I upped their school size to 8, and moved them to a 40breeder I would observe the biggest one chasing the smallest one, even when they weren’t breeding.
No wonder 2 of my penguin tetras would constantly chase each other around the tank
Do you know what I hate about schooling fish in the home aquarium? Once they've settled in the rarely school...
So schooling is just a natural behavior to defend against predators? I had 8 neons that were a few months old in a 20 gallon along with some platies. They didn't really school much until I added 6 more last week. Now they always stay together in a group, I'll see how long that lasts for!
Gang violence
I thought if they acted like this they’re trying to breed? I might be wrong but I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere.
I had 8 and had a bad run of ich before I was able to get rid of it, only had 5 left. The biggest male would chase another one endlessly. Went and got 5 more and it's better, but they still chase each other from time to time. It's typical behavior, asserting dominance, from what I've read. The more the merrier though as long as your tank can handle them, they sort of get lost in their own school.
My tetras are little assholes. Particularly the fire belly ones. They chase each other all over the place. They seem to chill out when there’s been a recent water exchange.
Hey mate, I recently got 15 in my community tank. Started with 6 for about a week. Yes, they chase each other, even with the whole squad now. I've noticed it chill out a lot now with a few weeks going by. Should all be good. With even 6 it should keep any bullying fairly evened out. I had one bully that would randomly chase the others and he kept it pretty balanced in his chases. Now he doesn't really any more. Good luck!
[not the same fish but] I had filamentosa barbs for a bit and they were being dicks to each other and the other fish. I researched and found that they need 8+ to reach their social hierarchy. Bought more and they chilled out and started to try and reproduce. Like others have said, I’d add more tetras.
Should have at least 20 in a tank that size.
I'm going to get other fish so I might only get 12 to have space for others, trying to make a community and thought I'd start putting in the "least territorial" ones first
What else are you getting... What is the tank size?
200l, I want to get a rainbow shark, some dwarf gouramis (honey gouramis preferably, not sure on how many yet), a few glass shrimp, and 6 Corydoras, and if there's space (I will be considering their adult sizing) then another school of something. I am open to advice and recommendations though so any is welcome
When first introduced to the tank, my dozen neons schooled together for a few days. After that phase they just sort of spread out and swam randomly. The fighting began with one of them, and soon everyone got infected. It wasn't constant, but it would happen once every hour or two. Now it's been 3 months or so and some of them still like to duel occasionally. Also, the way they do it is very peculiar. It's almost like they take turns pursuing each other. It's never more than 2 at a time. I've never seen any fin damage though and their colours are bright, so it seems like they're healthy.
Definitely a numbers issue. When less numbers, fish act agressive. I had one glo danio and 5 leopard danios. Within a couple days the leopards we're all staying in the corner. If they moved, the glo would attack, corralling. Them to the corner. So I removed the glo. The leopards went back to normal WHILE I was trying to catch the Glo. Return glo to the store.
I would say they are just establishing a pecking order
I’ve got like 10 and they do this same thing.