Serpae Tetra

[sherry123]

Evening all :) am just getting my tank ready for discus and was going to put some small fish in first to make sure everything was ok..The lady at the fish store sold me Serpae Tetra and said they should be ok...and some Oto Cats...now, I just read the oto are ok but that the serpae aren't compatible?? anyone here ever had them in their tank? or are they bad fish :) shame on you serpaes :)
Thanks!

[philip69285]

They are normally very agressive little fishes.... sometimes to the point of killing others. You never know tho :).

[sherry123]

well..I haven't turned them loose out of their plastic bag yet..may have to figure out what to do with them tonite and take them back tomorrow..poor little buggers lol

[philip69285]

They are gorgeous fish those when they have the right conditions... super neon bright red... just amazing. But yeah mean little things or so I have heard... some are nice. It just all depends. If you dont have anything else just them and discus I dont see a problem really... but other little fish they might bug.

[Ed13]

They really are beautiful fish, but the only cases where I've seen them consistently work with discus was with large numbers of them (20+) and large tanks. Smaller tanks and smaller numbers of them is "luck of the draw" in my opinion. Seen it work a few times but no where near consistently. The problem with them is fin nipping.

HTH

[sherry123]

Thanks all :) I have a 90 Gallon tank and I just put 4 itty bitty oto catfish in it tonite :) and had 5 of those serpae tetras to turn loose..now i'm not sure I want to turn them loose..thats what I get for buying them on sale! 5 for $5.00 lol. I've read different things on different sites..about the same, some say they do ok, some say no..but when I get my discus, these will be my first so I don't want them to be "nipped" lol

[Keith Perkins]

I've kept discus twice in my life, and this last time I got back into fish I did exactly what you are doing now. I set up a 72 gallon tank with a variety of tetras, including Serpaes. A time later I bought an assortment of small discus and I had zero problems with the tetras bothering the discus. Yes, some of the tetras picked on each other, but never the discus. The nipping usually occurs while chasing is going on, and discus don't play that game. Since they don't run, they don't get nipped at. I had more trouble with a mean gold tetra picking on my serpaes, than serpaes causing problems. I wouldn't worry at all about serpaes with discus, in case you couldn't tell. :)

I no longer have the tetras, but that's only because they DO like discus fry. Sans the tetras, I now have ~2" baby discus.:D

[sherry123]

thanks all :) think i'll try them, I can always watch closely and see if they pick on my discus lol. :) Maybe they will school together :)

[rickztahone]

thanks all :) think i'll try them, I can always watch closely and see if they pick on my discus lol. :) Maybe they will school together :)

i caution introducing new fish into your tanks without proper quarantine. it is a hard lesson to learn, but one that can be avoided taking the proper steps. here's wishing everything turns out well for you :D

[rich815]

I have a school of red phantom tetras in with my discus. No problems. And they look very similar to serpaes.

[sherry123]

thanks :) i have my 90 gallon set up for the discus, with the serpae's in it..and the cute little oto cats (even though I can't find but one! lol)..I have a 55 Gallon at the moment that I will use for quarantine :) ..and a 70 Gallon for other stuff (when I get rid of the turtles in it! ..anyone want to red eared sliders :)

[caparzo]

I have 3 Serpaes in my QT tank with the Alancer and SickBoy.

[sherry123]

I'm gonna try them :) now i just need discus in my tank lol