FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Does anyone other than me keep head and tailight tetras? I didn't research before I bought them and got them because the LFS guy said they were hardy. I have noticed that they chase each other, sometimes it looks like they have nipped each other, but only between themselves. I am getting an angelfish for my birthday next week and although it will be small, I don't want the head and tailights to shred the angels fins. I am hoping it is only in their group as I have never seen them chase any other fish. But none of my other fish have long fins, so I don't know how they would act towards the angel. So, does anyone have them that could offer some advice? :%)

Last edited by GirlieGirl8519 at 29-Nov-2005 20:06

*Kristin*

Pretty much all the tetras I've ever seen will nip and play-bite with each other, and even perform chases around the tank. They do it as a type of dominance thing, and use the activities to help set up their social structure. Most of the time this behavior won't spill over to other fish, especially if you have enough tetras so that they distract each other. Though your head and tail light tetras may well be attracted to the angelfish's fins, you shouldn't have any major problems. Your species of tetra isn't known to be extremely nippy.

How many of the tetras do you have, and in how large of a tank? The bigger the numbers the better, especially with tank space for the angel.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I have a 55g. I have 8 head and tailights.
The other fish I have in there are 5 rummynose (more coming soon), 8 cories (5 corydoras sodalis and 3 i think are juliis), 3 yoyo loaches, 1 BN, and 1 otto (getting more friends soon).
I haven't heard anything about the head and tailights being nippy. I really haven't heard anything about them, so I thought I would ask.
I have 2 pieces of DW, one large and one small. I am getting my plants tomorrow, so it will be moderately planted by the time I get the angel.

*Kristin*

Sounds like you're good to go then. A few more ottos and rummynose will be great, and once you add the angelfish you'll be about fully stocked. Your fish should all get along together with perhaps the occasional cross-species quarrel.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Thanks. I don't plan to add anything new except the angelfish. I may up the yoyo's to 4 or 5, so they'll come out more often, maybe. Also I may get a few more cories. The two types look so alike that they all hang out together. Besides upping the rummies and ottos, that is all I plan to do. Thanks for the help.

*Kristin*

Head And Tail Lights, Hemigrammus ocellifer, have been a 'staple bread and butter species' here in the UK for years. I suspect hundreds of aquarists here in the UK have kept these beauties without a hitch. They were one of the species given particular prominence in the venerable Innes book way back in the late 1930s because they were tough enough to live in an aquarium back then. They're not known to be nippy (certainly not in the same notorious vein as the likes of Redeye Tetras or Serpaes) but if yours happen to have developed a liking for the sport of "Lets Chase The Angelfish" then I'd keep a watch on them.

The possibility I'm thinking of here is this. In the wild, the range of the Head And Tail Light Tetra overlaps with that of the Angelfish. Consequently, chances are that in the wild, Angelfish are natural predators on Head And Tail Lights, certainly in the fry and juvenile stages. Consequently, the Head And Tail Lights may be adopting a policy of harassing the Angelfish in much the same way that certain smaller songbirds will gang up on a bird of prey to prevent it becoming a threat. While Head And Tail Lights are too big as adults to be prey for all but an exceptionally large Angelfish (and only then if it strays away from the Tetra shoal and is weakened by disease), as juveniles they are fair game for Angelfish looking for a snack. So yours becoming nippy could be the instinct for self-preservation cited above.

Chances are quite a few Tetras will behave in the same way with Angelfish, especially if the Tetras in question have a natural range that overlaps with that of the Angelfish, and they are coupled to each other in the wild via a food web relationship. One thing - your Tetras will school pretty tightly if they're sharing their quarters with an Angelfish!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I've kept head-and-tail light tetras before and didn't find them to be nippy at all. But I didn't have any long-fin fish with either, only other tetras, rasboras, rainbowfishes, and corys. Since you have them in a large group you should be alright. I've read some reports saying that the redeye/lampeye tetras are nippy, but didn't find that to be the case either when I kept them. In any case, both species are very hardy and are very voracious eaters.

Last edited by upikabu at 30-Nov-2005 00:27

-P

Yes..my head and tailights are very voracious eaters. They are pretty big bodied, compared to my rummies, so I'm not worried about them getting eaten. I will keep an eye on them when I get the angel, to make sure they don't get defensive. :%) The angel will be pretty small when I get it, so I hope it doesn't threaten them much.

*Kristin*