Black Skirt Tetra Aggression

[TokyoShowdown]

Hi guys!,

I have a question about the aggression of Black Skirt Tetras. Originally I had cycled a 10 gallon tank and put in a smaller Chinese Algae Eater. The tank was kind of bare so I decided to add some more fish. I know the CAEs are semi-aggressive so I decided to either get some faster fish or other semi-aggressive fish. I ended up with a total of 6 Black Skirt Tetras. The problem is that they are frequently chasing each other around the tank. I googled their behaviors and have seen people describe them as passive or semi-aggressive. When healthy, what kind of behavior is most commonly seen? Thanks!

Edit: I looked a little deeper into the forum and found a post that claimed that sometimes Tetras will pick on each other until the "pecking order" is set. This makes me feel better, but is there anything else I should look out for. Also, I do not plan on adding other fish. Are 6 tetras and a small CAE to much of a load on the tank? I will be transferring the CAE to a larger tank as he grows.

 

[Mr.Tan]

I have 5 rather large black skirt tetras in my 29 gallon tank. They were the first fish I put in my tank, so they had the whole thing to themselves. Towards each other they showed a little aggression and would chase around constantly, however after a couple days it all stopped. 1 of the 5 is much larger then the others, and he kind of took control and showed who was boss and ever since I have had no problems. They like places to hide, and my tank is densley planted so that might help.

 

[LoachLover]

Well if you follow the rule of one inch of fish per gallon, and assuming the tetras will average two inches, you'd be at about twelve inches. Add in a six inch Chinese and you'd end up at eighteen inches of fish in a ten gallon tank. If you have live plants in the tank it would help balance out any excess nitrates in the water and allow you to keep the six tetras, though I wouldn't keep the Chinese in that size tank. In my opinion they aren't that great of algae eaters anyway. The stocking range of one inch of fish per gallon is a general rule, and I think you could keep the six tetras in that size tank and be fine. In my very early years I did worse and my fish were fine with regular water changes.