Are My Tetras Fighting?

[addey411]

I got five Black Skirt Tetras from petsmart about a week ago. The tank is 36 gallons and it was cycling for about two weeks before I got them. I have the tank at around 25 degrees celcius (77-78 degrees fahrenhiet) and I replace about 10 percent of the water every week. I feed them once in the morning and once at night. They seemed to be doing fine, but lately one fish has been instigating fights, or playing of some sort. It goes up to another fish and a rapid bout of swimming occurs and then they part ways and swim somewhere else. Sometimes the fish will run into the tank walls and I'm getting concerned. Should I remove the fish from the tank or should I wait it out? I can still get a refund for the fish because of petsmart's 14 day policy. What should I do? Please reply soon.

 

[dave840f1]

 I always keep my tetras in groups of 12 or more and I find there is less squabbling.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Are they doing physical damage to each other? I havn't had these fish before so really not sure what they're up to..have you tried looking up some vids on youtube of them to see if it could be fighting or breeding or just playing?
Not sure about the running into tank walls thing, but there should be some improvement if you bump up their numbers.

 

[dave840f1]

Most Tetras (not all) become a kind of territorial and that's where the disputes arise.

 

[addey411]

I got a few more and they seem to be doing better. Thanks!

 

[Ninjouzata]

So glad to hear that! I hope they stay that way

 

[dave840f1]

That's good, please let us know how they get on.