Flame tetra aka Von rio tetra

[Buzz]

So this is a fish I have been wanting to put in one of my tanks for a while now.  I thought I knew what I was getting, but wow I am surprised with how big these are and their behavior.  The males appear to be very territorial and hit and nip any other fish that comes near. One of the smaller males believes he owns half the tank.  My tank is a 20Gal (high) with back wall full of  pogostemon stellatus octopus, and a swod.  They love being in the Pogo.  I have 10 of these Flame Tetras,  10 cardinal tetras and 6 panda corys for tank mates.

I am going to put some more plants in there to see if I can create some line of sight blocks and additional areas for the fish to hide out.  One thing that is odd to me, is there is no aggression during feeding time.  They all come out together and feed, and after that they tend to do their own thing, not much schooling or even just grouping together.  Looking to find out if this is normal behavior.

 

[Paul]

Edited November 1, 2020 by Paul

[Paul]

When I added the video the text was deleted. So I’ll try again. There’s about a dozen Von Rios in this tank and I’ve never seen the behaviors you describe. 

[Daniel]

@Paul I think the problem with the text and the video is that you are posting the video over in the files section and I don't think files section knows what to do with video. Something about files of that type not being supported.

YouTube works great for video. @Lizzie Block has a good post on doing just this.

I would love to see the behavior of the Von Rios!

[Paul]

12 minutes ago, Daniel said:

@Paul I think the problem with the text and the video is that you are posting the video over in the files section and I don't think files section knows what to do with video. Something about files of that type not being supported.

YouTube works great for video. @Lizzie Block has a good post on doing just this.

I would love to see the behavior of the Von Rios!

 

[Daniel]

It’s just like people, it’s hard to tell mating apart from fighting! Pretty cool video!

[Buzz]

2 hours ago, Paul said:

When I added the video the text was deleted. So I’ll try again. There’s about a dozen Von Rios in this tank and I’ve never seen the behaviors you describe. 

Thanks for the info and the video. I was going to record their antics tonight, but apparently these fish are like you car.  You take it to the mechanic and say "it's making this noise, when I do this thing". Three hours later the mechanic calls and says he cannot find anything wrong.  Well that is what is happening now with these guys. They must have known they were going to be on camera so they have been on their best behavior, LOL.  They seem to have cslmed down and are not going after each other all the time, let's hope they continue down this path.