Danios or Golden Tetras nipping at Angelfish fins?    11/21/11
Dear WetWebMedia,
I am a relatively new aquarist and am having trouble with nippy fish.
<One of the commonest problems beginners have to deal with. Trust me, we've all been there.>
I have a 21Gallon (tall) aquarium that has been established for 7 months.
It has 2 Zebra Danios, 2 Longfin Rosie Danios, 1 Longfin White Danio, 3 Golden Tetras, a Glass Cat and a Plecostomus.
<Could really be any of the Danios or Tetras, to be honest. You've made the classic mistake of not keeping enough of either species. The Rosy Danios are, I assume, Danio roseus. The Zebras and Albino Danios are both Danio rerio. Both of these have the potential to be aggressive fish in groups smaller than 6, and honestly, I've seen groups of six Danios withered down to just one male through ceaseless aggression between the original members.
So the bigger the group, the better. Golden Tetras also need to be kept in groups of 6. That's a standard rule of any schooling fish. But this species, Hemigrammus rodwayi, isn't aggressive or known to be nippy under most circumstances. My money would be on the Danios.>
Two days ago I added a small Angelfish and every morning its caudal fin becomes a little more frayed.
<Yes.>
Naturally, I wish to relocate the aggressors to a 10 Gallon tank (established for 1 year). I have searched many different websites and have received much contradictory advice. I have also read many threads on your site and, wonderfully informative as they are, all seem to indicate that the Angelfish should be the one nipping at fins.
<Not really, no. Can't think why that's something you've read here. Angels can be territorial, and adults are surprisingly predatory. But they're not serious fin-nippers, except perhaps with truly hopeless cases like Bettas that get nipped by anything!>
I am aware of the schooling factor and was told that Zebra and Longfin Danios would happily school together.
<Yes. But three Danio rerio does not a school make!>
Perhaps this is not so? As for the Golden Tetras, I live in a remote town with a limited LFS and I have never seen any more Golden Tetras for sale.
Perhaps they would school with a different type of Tetra?
<Unlikely.>
I would very much like to keep my Angelfish healthy and stress free. I look forward to any advice you may have.
Thank you very much,
Leanne
<Hope this helps, Neale.>
Re: Danios or Golden Tetras nipping at Angelfish fins?    11/22/11
Thank you Neale!
<My pleasure.>
I will now pay closer attention to species... seems so logical now that you've pointed it out!
<As with many things in life.>
I will relocate the Danio Rerio and, due to lack of tank space, will look into trading the Danio Roseus for more Rerio and form a proper school.
<Cool.>
Will also ask LFS if they can order more Golden Tetras.
<Wise. They're nice fish.>
Lesson learned! :)
<Indeed.>
Re: my misinterpretation of Angelfish being nippy... it's likely I simply misunderstood what I read as my head does "swim" with too much info at times!
<Fair enough.>
Thank you for indulging a novice!
Leanne