Silver Tip Tetras

[heather84]

We bought 3 of these little guys....and 2 neon tetras......we were told they would all school since they were tetras and all the same size.


Well the 2 neons stayed together most of the time, but showed no interest in the silver tip tetras.........

2 silver tips stay together......and the other silver tip schools with my 3 zebra danios  i think he thinks hes a danio lol

Will they eventually school together? Im wondering if its not because they arent full size yet, i know they are small fish but i think they are still smaller then they should be

Also on some places i read that the silver tips are agressive, my 1 (the one that stays with the danios) does chase the other 2 quite often but i dont think hes hurting them.

Does anyone have experience with silver tip tetras? I couldnt find a heck of alot of info on them

[Nic W]

I dont know alot of info on silvertips... but, I have pristella tetras, currently I have a school of 10, 3 of those being younger (smaller) golden (albino) ones... they sometimws swim off together and do theyre own thing, but I think it is mainly the size difference, as now that one is a bit bigger, it spends more time with the main school while the other 2 go off.... are your silver tips all the same size? that may be the issue...
as far as neons and silvertips schooling, Im not sure... I know my lone von rio flame tetra schools with my pristellas, but theyre the same size and basicaly the same shape... so he feels comfortable with them... lets wate for more replies....

[Mollielover]

It might work out better if you get a few more neons and silver tip tetras  groups of 5 usually work out better.  They may or maynot school with each other.

[Aiptasia]

They're both tetras, but it's not likely they'll school together. More commonly, you'll see neons and cardinal tetras schooling together.

Silver tipped tetras are relatively peaceful. I wouldn't worry about them being aggressive. About the most i'd expect from them would be if another fish died for other reasons, they might nibble on it.

All tetras do best in groups of five or more. The biggest challenge in home aquaria is providing enough tank space to keep a school of fish happy and healthy. You'd need at least a 29 gallon tank for a nice healthy group of tetras.

[heather84]

Well our tank is a 30 gallon but i have some other fish already in there. And the pet store told me they would school together so i made up a school of them by mixing them.

The silvertips are all the same size, they are also the same size as the neons. They are fairly small i was actually very worried about my other fish eating them but they havent so far (knock on wood)

My 2 neons stay at the bottom of the tank....and the silver tips stay more near the top with the danios.. is it normal for neons to stay at the bottom? They also stay kinda toward the back of the tank were i hardly get to see them

[wendyjo]

Their behavior is probably cause there is only 2 of them.  Schooling makes them feel safer, therefore they'll be more active in a larger group.  I would return either the silver tips or the neons and make a larger school of whichever you keep.

[heather84]

fish store wont take them back inless they are dead....and its within 24 hours...and u have to get the EXACT same fish lol

Its been over 24 hours........soooo i guess will have to figure something else out

[wendyjo]

Wow that policy sucks, lol.

[RinsMom]

fish store wont take them back inless they are dead....and its within 24 hours...and u have to get the EXACT same fish lol

Its been over 24 hours........soooo i guess will have to figure something else out

Pretty poor policy that the fish has to die within the first 24 hours.....  I would find a better store, if possible.

[ShieldWolf]

I have had both types & they are nice additions to a community tanks.
In my experience the neons will have a better chance of schooling with other neon color varients as the black neons & gold neons. As Aip pomted out they will also school with the very similar looking cardinal tetras. I have found for the most part that they will almost always stay at the lower tank regions & towards the back as you are experiencing now. A larger group might come out more twords the forefront of the tank especially if happens to be feeding time. But that is not always the case.
The only real time I had my neons out in the open at anytime was when I setup a tank with neons, cardinals, & glolight tetras. There was alot of plants & the lighting was very subdued. They were much more "active" that way.

If there are large active fish in the tank they will tend to school more but will also tend to hide more.

As for the silvertips I found them to be somewhat nippy. But only towrads each other & but nothong that would cause damage. I like the looks of them brtter when are mature, their silver tip are larger & seem brighter  then when they are young.