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Silvertip Tetra Tankmates


aquatoid
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I have a 525 l (115 gallon) tank that I've recently redone and am planning to repopulate once the plants have taken hold and grown a bit. There was an interesting ball of algae in there, and due to that I looked into some algae eaters. Some water parameters are probably in order: temperature 24 C (75 F), very soft water (barely registers on a test strip), pH 6,6ish, flow is fairly strong, I have a Fluval FX6 and an Eheim 2252 in the tank, both with DIY spray bars to tame the flow a bit. There also are areas where the flow isn't as strong, rocks and driftwood providing cover. Ultimately the plants will also tame the flow a bit more.

My initial plan was to have a school of 50ish silvertip tetras in there eventually, and I was looking into compatible algae eaters. I was surprised to learn that silvertip tetras can be total demons in a tank. Of course a random forum post has to be taken with a grain of salt, but it still got me a bit worried. Somewhere was mentioned this could be related to higher temps in the tank, but I'm just looking to be as sure as I can before actually buying them.

At the moment I have a very understocked tank. Only a few corydoras similis, some upside-down catfish and kuhli loaches. Most of these fish are almost 15 years old, but some of the corys are likely younger in-tank spawns. My plan was to get 4ish albino hoplo catfish, 10+ venezuela black cories, a group of hillstream loaches and otos. And then the silvertip tetras, and maybe one bigger fish on top of that. 

Will all the fishes I listed be ok with the silvertips? Silvertips are quite fast and active after all. And then there is the potential dark side... 

I suppose the bottom dwelling fish might be left alone more than the ones swimming higher in the water. Like the solitary (or a couple of) fish I'm planning to get. What bigger solitary fish would work here? Something bluish perhaps, but only a gourami comes to my mind as an option. And the long fins might be too tempting for the silvertips. 

Any input or suggestions much appreciated!

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We have 6 silver tips in a heavily stocked 20 long.  They are very active but we have never seen them bothering their tank mates, at least not directly.  When they chase each other they do seem to have total disregard for anything that may be in their way.  If you want a cool school with a little less activity than the silver tips maybe look to rummy nose tetras.

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I have 24 Silvertip Tetras in a 200l aquarium with 4 l38 plecos, a pair of rams and some neocaridina shrimp. I run the tank at about 26-27°C which is better for the rams and plecos. So long story short the Silvertip Tetras are some of the most active fish I ever had, but they are most of the time only busy with themself and don't bother the other fish, the smaller shrimps on the other hand will be hunted and eaten, but i have way to many. So I guess if you don't choose to sensitive shy fish you'll be just fine. Maybe think about your kuhlii loaches.

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5 hours ago, KBOzzie59 said:

We have 6 silver tips in a heavily stocked 20 long.  They are very active but we have never seen them bothering their tank mates, at least not directly.  When they chase each other they do seem to have total disregard for anything that may be in their way.  If you want a cool school with a little less activity than the silver tips maybe look to rummy nose tetras.

If I'd have to change the silvertips into something else, it'd probably be something more similar. Like ember tetras for example. Smaller and more red than yellow, but would still fit the same look. Only problem there would be the limited lifespan of the ember tetras... 2 years is on the short side. Unless they are insanely easy to breed.

22 minutes ago, Sniippss said:

I have 24 Silvertip Tetras in a 200l aquarium with 4 l38 plecos, a pair of rams and some neocaridina shrimp. I run the tank at about 26-27°C which is better for the rams and plecos. So long story short the Silvertip Tetras are some of the most active fish I ever had, but they are most of the time only busy with themself and don't bother the other fish, the smaller shrimps on the other hand will be hunted and eaten, but i have way to many. So I guess if you don't choose to sensitive shy fish you'll be just fine. Maybe think about your kuhlii loaches.

How much time do the silvertips spend at the bottom of the tank? In fact, do they even pay attention to what goes on down there? I wouldn't mind them being active, as long as they aren't mean to more peaceful fish.

You mentioned the temps, which is nice. Have you seen whether silvertips behave any different at lower temps? In fact according to some sites it seems my temp is at the very bottom of what is suggested for silvertip tetras. 

Edited by aquatoid
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They seperat sometimes and seek shelter between the plants an rocks, i guess some of them need sometimes a break from all the fuzz. They are more calm dowm there and they ignore the plecos completly.

I haven't had them in lower temps but i had them involuntary at higher temps because of the hot summer with peaks at 29°C they were calmer then but they didn't seem so happy then.

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I considered silvertip tetras for my 40 breeder (with a pair of angels, school of cardinal tetras, corys, and panda garra). The fish store employee said it was the one tetra people will occasionally return for fin nipping. I went with lemon tetras instead--not quite as intense in color, but still active and they often shoal in a neat way. Super peaceful, and pretty long lifespan for a tetra. 

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On 10/8/2020 at 9:28 PM, Sniippss said:

I have 24 Silvertip Tetras in a 200l aquarium with 4 l38 plecos, a pair of rams and some neocaridina shrimp. I run the tank at about 26-27°C which is better for the rams and plecos. So long story short the Silvertip Tetras are some of the most active fish I ever had, but they are most of the time only busy with themself and don't bother the other fish, the smaller shrimps on the other hand will be hunted and eaten, but i have way to many. So I guess if you don't choose to sensitive shy fish you'll be just fine. Maybe think about your kuhlii loaches.

One thing I missed about your reply earlier was the shrimp, do the silvertips leave the shrimp alone? Even if the shrimps would be swimming in the water and not hiding among the plants. 

On 10/9/2020 at 4:29 AM, Paul said:

Silvertips in my experience are neurotic, constantly flying around the tank.

 

15 hours ago, Kriskm said:

I considered silvertip tetras for my 40 breeder (with a pair of angels, school of cardinal tetras, corys, and panda garra). The fish store employee said it was the one tetra people will occasionally return for fin nipping. I went with lemon tetras instead--not quite as intense in color, but still active and they often shoal in a neat way. Super peaceful, and pretty long lifespan for a tetra. 

With these other quotes, how large was the school in these cases? With pet store employee stories it might be really hard to tell. I looked some more into it, and in smaller groups silvertips seem to be a bit bullyish among themselves, not enough targets to spread the aggression from more dominant fishes. And they also might get stressed by the lack of numbers and go nippy because of that. 

I'm hoping my planned school of 50 or so will keep them happy. Or maybe I will go for 40 and just hope for some spawning 🙂 

I did look into the lemon tetras, but it seems the lemony bits often are just in the fins, the body is just greyish in most pictures.. I did see some properly yellow lemons too, but that doesn't seem to be the most common variant around.

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To the shrimp, first off they weren't realy planned for this tank setup, i tried to get them out, but it was impossible to get all, i sold about 750 to some guys localy, they bred like crazy.

To your question, they leave the adults mostly alone, but eat the baby shrimp. Since my tank is heavily planted and has lots of caves, they still multiply.

To your question about the number which works with them so they don't beat each other up, I started with 12 and it worked okey but wasn't perfect, I stocked them up to 24 and their behaviour changed to a more balanced behaviour in regards to chasing each other around also they became more interactable, they came to front when I was sitting in front of the tank and they sometimes even followed my hand around. With your tank size and 50 of them I think you'll be fine.

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47 minutes ago, aquatoid said:

 

 

One thing I missed about your reply earlier was the shrimp, do the silvertips leave the shrimp alone? Even if the shrimps would be swimming in the water and not hiding among the plants. 

 

With these other quotes, how large was the school in these cases? With pet store employee stories it might be really hard to tell. I looked some more into it, and in smaller groups silvertips seem to be a bit bullyish among themselves, not enough targets to spread the aggression from more dominant fishes. And they also might get stressed by the lack of numbers and go nippy because of that. 

I'm hoping my planned school of 50 or so will keep them happy. Or maybe I will go for 40 and just hope for some spawning 🙂 

I did look into the lemon tetras, but it seems the lemony bits often are just in the fins, the body is just greyish in most pictures.. I did see some properly yellow lemons too, but that doesn't seem to be the most common variant around.

There are 10 Silvertip in my school. 

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