PlanetCatfish.com

Here are a few (fuzzy) pics of my L199 & L333 Tanks.

Still need to add a few more rounded stones & things to this one






Thanks
Steve

Steve,
Those look to be Colombian red-fin tetras in the top tank. They are rather pretty but are fin nipping little suckers, esp. if they do not have enough to eat (like if you are out of town for a few days). I was out of town for a couple weeks and came back to find they had kept rather full on the fins of all their tankmates. After their tankmates ran out of fins, they turned on each other.
-Shane

hi steve how many fish are in each tank?, ive setup a L333 tank (i'll post some pic's 2moro).

Kev

sorry i ment to ask shane the Colombian red fin's are they what we english call Colombia 95 tetra's??? cos i had load's a few year's ago and they never nipped any fin's, i must have fed them really well

Kev.

Hi
There are just 2 L199's('til i can find more) in the 180ltr tank at the moment,plus 9 red fin tetras.The other tank is 125ltr with just 4 L333 and 6 red fins.

Up to now the red fins haven't been to fiesty,nip each other a little but haven't bothered the plecs.I put them in after 8 weeks fishless cycling using filter i had running in an established tank,if they are as bad as Shane says they are,i think i may re-house them.Sure don't wanna find my plecs fin-less.

steve

I believe that fin nipping for them is a secondary food finding mechanism. Maybe something they have adapted to do in the dry season when there is not much food about. Well fed they are good tankmates. Do not feed them for a few days, however, and you will see how they start going after tankmates.
-Shane

To handel the problem you may by a feeding-machine

Less plants, how often do you change water

I have keep columbian tetras for almost two years and have never had them nip fins... but they are in a seriously planted tank! I have gone on holiday for a few days and didn't feed the fish... and didn't notice any signs of fin damage in that tank. I don't know how well they would do in a strong curent though.

Cheers, Whitepine

Durlänger wrote:To handel the problem you may by a feeding-machine

Less plants, how often do you change water

Hi
I'm very rarely away from home for more than a day or two so don't really see the need for an automatic feeder.

20% water changes are carried out on a weekly basis.
I am forever testing water parameters(some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder ) with Tetra test strips.

The Juwel filters also have the nitrate removal sponges (i find they are very good) & carbon sponges which are changed on average every 6-8 weeks.

@Whitepine........The 180ltr tank is set up very similar to your river tank with 2 powerheads set low down.The flow seems adequate enough.

Steve

Nice tanks!

I have (6)Callistus Tetras in the 75gal. that are nippy as anything. I have a shoal of Pristellas in there that sometimes are the object of the nipping. Freeze dried daphnia seems to help. I've virtually given up on sinking wafers, except when there's absolutely no algae on the sides of the tank(maybe once a month). The Callistus nip at the Otos and Paleatus to get at the wafers. They tend to leave the Chaetostoma alone. I saw one go after him and he did this very strange dance/movement thing. He was all over the tank in very rapid, but purposeful motions. All the other fish moved to one side of the tank. I know it freaked me!
Here's one of the Callistus doing a pre-nip thing:

I know most of these "smaller" Tetras are sold as "very peaceful." It seems like the more intense the coloring, the nippier they get. Is this an incorrect observation?

Hi
I'm not sure the intesity of colouring has anything to do with their tendancy to fin nip.I agree with Shane about it been a secondary food finding mechanism,if theres no food about the next best thing is their tankmates,a belly full of fins is better than an empty stomach to them i suppose.

When i first got my red fin tetras they did chase & nip each other for the first few days or so,they seem to have calmed down a little now,perhaps due to the fact they know i feed them regularly so they don't see the need to seek another source of food ie.tankmates.

I know a lot of shops sell these fin nipping blighters and fail to inform the customer that they may nip.Home he/she goes with them and places them into the community tank containing the most beautiful gouramis.Days later the gouramis have been stripped bare of anything & everything protruding from it's body.
Believe me i've seen it done by Serpae tetras in a friends tank.

Steve

I agree with Kev theyre nice fish they dont nip fins

Hi all - if this

is what you are calling a red-fin, I believe the scientific name is hyphessobrycon ecuadoriensis
and they are largely placid, and have in fact bred on several occasions in my big tank . . .