29 gallon progress and a few questions...

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Spen2cer

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So, here is my 29 gallon. The first picture is from a week ago, and yesterday I added in the black gravel and more plants.
Questions:
1) Do fish single out their own species to kill? This morning I woke up to all of my white skirt tetras killed by my black skirt tetra. Obviously I moved him out, but he head already killed almost all of my zebra danios, and all of his kind, which concerns me. That leads me into my next question:

2) Now that I have him out, I can add more schooling/shoaling fish (my fav type), due to having the peace of mind that nothing will kill them. I was definitely going to get a zebra danio school, to help the one little one out, but I needed something else. I was thinking black neon tetras, but wanted to get other opinions.

3) What else can I add to make this tank better? :)

Thank you for reading! Hopefully you like the tank!
 
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Are you sure the black widow/ skirt tetra killed the other fish and they didn't die from a disease or poor water quality?

Do not add fish to a tank that fish died in until the tank has been stable for a month or more. If the fish died from a disease and you add new fish now, there's a good chance they will die too. Wait at least a month before adding any new fish.

You need to check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate new water before it's added to the tank?

Did you add anything new (besides the black gravel) to the tank in the last couple of weeks?

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You have rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lacustris) and a swordtail in a tank with tetras. The rainbows and swordtail do best in water that has a pH above 7.0 and a GH above 200ppm. The tetras usually do better in water with a pH below 7.0 and a GH below 150ppm.

Rainbowfish should be kept in groups of 6 or more. Rainbows need some plant matter in their diet.
Tetras and danios need to be kept in groups of at least 6 and preferably 10 or more.

It's possible your black skirt tetra got agro because it was the only black skirt in the tank. However, the white skirt tetras are the same species just a different colour, and they normally school together.
Before this happened, did the black skirt swim around with the white skirts?

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As for improving the aesthetics in the tank, I would put a picture on the back and remove some of the rock and wood so there is more open space in the middle.
 
Are you sure the black widow/ skirt tetra killed the other fish and they didn't die from a disease or poor water quality?

Do not add fish to a tank that fish died in until the tank has been stable for a month or more. If the fish died from a disease and you add new fish now, there's a good chance they will die too. Wait at least a month before adding any new fish.

You need to check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate new water before it's added to the tank?

Did you add anything new (besides the black gravel) to the tank in the last couple of weeks?

---------------------------
You have rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lacustris) and a swordtail in a tank with tetras. The rainbows and swordtail do best in water that has a pH above 7.0 and a GH above 200ppm. The tetras usually do better in water with a pH below 7.0 and a GH below 150ppm.

Rainbowfish should be kept in groups of 6 or more. Rainbows need some plant matter in their diet.
Tetras and danios need to be kept in groups of at least 6 and preferably 10 or more.

It's possible your black skirt tetra got agro because it was the only black skirt in the tank. However, the white skirt tetras are the same species just a different colour, and they normally school together.
Before this happened, did the black skirt swim around with the white skirts?

---------------------------
As for improving the aesthetics in the tank, I would put a picture on the back and remove some of the rock and wood so there is more open space in the middle.
I am pretty sure that it isnā€™t poor water quality or disease. He has been aggressive since day 1, but didnā€™t want to immediately take him out. Water quality is near perfect, and I water change on Saturdayā€™s. I water change once/ week, doing 30-40%. I both dechlorinate the water, and gravel vac the substrate. I havenā€™t added anything but the gravel and plants. I rescued the rainbows, and I canā€™t find any others near me. Iā€™m getting more danios to school with the one, but I didnā€™t want to have another problem where the tetra wipes out my fish. The black skirt was moderately aggressive, with occasional nips (I just assumed it was for dominance).
 
Are you sure the black widow/ skirt tetra killed the other fish and they didn't die from a disease or poor water quality?

Do not add fish to a tank that fish died in until the tank has been stable for a month or more. If the fish died from a disease and you add new fish now, there's a good chance they will die too. Wait at least a month before adding any new fish.

You need to check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH.

How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate new water before it's added to the tank?

Did you add anything new (besides the black gravel) to the tank in the last couple of weeks?

---------------------------
You have rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lacustris) and a swordtail in a tank with tetras. The rainbows and swordtail do best in water that has a pH above 7.0 and a GH above 200ppm. The tetras usually do better in water with a pH below 7.0 and a GH below 150ppm.

Rainbowfish should be kept in groups of 6 or more. Rainbows need some plant matter in their diet.
Tetras and danios need to be kept in groups of at least 6 and preferably 10 or more.

It's possible your black skirt tetra got agro because it was the only black skirt in the tank. However, the white skirt tetras are the same species just a different colour, and they normally school together.
Before this happened, did the black skirt swim around with the white skirts?

---------------------------
As for improving the aesthetics in the tank, I would put a picture on the back and remove some of the rock and wood so there is more open space in the middle.
My current stocking:
3 red wag swordtails (2f 1m)
1 zebra danio (soon to be 7)
1 Blue gourami
2 blue rainbowfish (1m 1f)
 
maybe get rid of the black skirt tetra and don't get any more because they are renown fin nippers.

re: the blue gourami. Are you looking at a blue dwarf gourami or a blue/ 3 spot gourami?
Dwarf gouramis should be avoided because they regularly carry TB and the iridovirus, neither of which can be treated.
A blue/ 3 spot gourami could cause problems to the blue rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lacustris).
 
maybe get rid of the black skirt tetra and don't get any more because they are renown fin nippers.

re: the blue gourami. Are you looking at a blue dwarf gourami or a blue/ 3 spot gourami?
Dwarf gouramis should be avoided because they regularly carry TB and the iridovirus, neither of which can be treated.
A blue/ 3 spot gourami could cause problems to the blue rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lacustris).
I got rid of him. I have learned my lesson, donā€™t worry. The gourami is a 3 spot. He is super peaceful.
 

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