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Blue Tetras ...bad idea?

27036 Views 12 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  Flowerhorn Aquarium, 
F
I picked up 10 Blue Tetras a week ago. I was impressed with their splendid color at the fish shop. Initially, I placed them into my 45 gal planted tank with my Angel fish and Puntius d. barbs (at 6pm). I returned that night to find many of the Tetras with nipped fins, a couple with stumpy tails. At first I thought it was my Koi Angel or the barbs so I removed the Tetras and they're now in a seperate tank.

I was later told by a few friends that Blue Tetras are bad fin nippers. :axe: Now I'm wondering if the damage was done by my other fish or were they done by the Tetras themselves. :???: ?? So far they seem to be doing ok in the seperate tank. A couple of the initial badly beaten up ones died. A couple days afterwards, I saw some at a great deal and picked up ten more. ...Am I asking for more trouble? ...Or would these guys eventually make ok planted tank fish? :neutral:
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S
Im not familiar with Blue Tetras, but I would think, being tetras, that they would be an ideal fish for a planted aquarium.
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louieknucks
I've always been told not to put Tetras and Angelfish together due to the fact that the Angelfish will be very aggresive towards the Tetras.
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Raul-7
If they're as big as Neon Tetras, then they are likely to become food.
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John P.
Could also be fin rot. You may want to consider a PimaFix and MelaFix regimen.

My Cardinal Tetras got this when I relocated my aquarium downstairs. I think the move stressed them out. One's tail was reduced to a stump--it went from perfectly healthy to dead in about 4 hours. The others all pulled through though after medicating them.
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JanS
I would venture to say it was your Angels too.

Are these the dyed Tetras (which are really White Skirts)? If so, they have longer fins and just aren't as fast moving as most Tetras, especially considering the poor things have been subjected to the "color injection".

Fin rot is certainly a possibility too, so it could be both that and nipped fins.
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F
They are Boehlkea fredcochui - Blue Tetra. So far, from what I've read over the Internet, they're supposed to be "peaceful schooling fish" but should not be kept with long finned fish. "Do best in groups." ... :???:

I wanted to know if any of you had personal experience with these Tetras. I've been told by a few friends that they are a bad idea. (bad fin nippers)

I've only one "Koi" Angel in my planted tank. I may decide to remove it so I may place the Blue tetras back in. ...Can't be my Puntius d. barbs (roseline barbs) could they? They're supposedly peaceful fish. I know it can't be my aeneus corys or my small bristlenose plecos.

So far, the Blue Tetras (17-18 of them) seem to be ok together with 5 Black Phantom Tetras. I may decide to remove my Koi Angel from the 45 gal planted tank and throw in all my tetras.

Here's a pic of the Blue Tetra (off Internet): ...Some of the ones I saw and bought at the LFS also had pinkish purple fins with the Blue. That was what caught my eye.

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C
i have had them before, and they can nip a hair. my experiences with tetras have always been to be leery of putting them with anything with long fins b/c they have a tendency to nip. they don't all do it, and not all the time, but i have had cardinal tetras "having fun" with an angel's fins.
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L
I was interested in trying these guys out myself, so I sent my LFS an email enquiring as to availability... this is the reply I got:

"Cochus' blue tetras are a commonly available fish. Despite their beauty we do not normally carry nor recommend these fish, I have found them to be extremely aggressive & capable of harassing even considerably larger fish to death. If you do intend to have a go with them I can easily get them for you, but I would recommend you keep them in a species tank."

Yikes!
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M
I have 10 Blue tetras in my planted 66 gallon tank together with Blue Gouramis, Neon tetras and Glowlight tetras. I have never noticed any "hostile behaviour" from them, but i have heard of their reputation as being bad fin nippers. Maybe no one has told mine... :)

By the way, my avatar is one of my Blue tetras.
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Error
I too have kept these fish. Despite their beautiful color, they are probably the most aggressive tetra I've ever kept.

They also tend to get a bit larger than other tetras and need a lot of room to inhibit their fin-nipping.

On the other hand, they never did bother my angels.
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amber2461
I had them before and they harrassed my other Tetras (that included my Emperor Tetras) needles to say, they went back to the LFS the very same day.
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F
I ended up giving my "Koi" Angel away. I've reintroduced the 16 Blue Tetras that I had left (along with some Bleeding Heart and Black Phanthom) back into my planted tank. It's been almost a week now and they're doing great. So I think it must've been my Angel fish that was nipping at them.

Ok, let's see how big I can get them to grow. :)
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