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Hi Everyone,

I am considering stocking my 29 gallon with 7 Silver Tipped Tetras and 6 or so Serpae's. My question is how big do the Silver Tips really get. The profile on here says 1.4 inches, another site says 1 inch and my LFS says 2 inches. Not that this is going to affect my fish to gallon ratio, but it's just driving me crazy that I see different sizes for this fish everywhere I look. Can someone who has experience with these shed some light on the true size?

Thanks,
Chris

Hi,
That's a good question. When I saw your post, I went
looking too, and I've found estimates between
one and two inches as well. I looked at 10 different sites
and it seems that 1 inch was the lowest and two inches the
largest with most saying 1-1.5 inches.

Dunno...
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Part of the issue is who those people might be quoting. Scientists have multiple ways of referring to the length of the fish. The two most common ones you find are "total length" (TL) and "standard length" (SL). Total length is exactly how it sounds like, nose to the end of the tail. Standard length, however, measures from the nose of the fish to right before the tail fin starts. Standard length doesn't make much sense to most people, but in science the tail fin is easily damaged, so the standard length is a good, well, standard.

Hobbyist websites citing scientific sources (ie. Fishbase) often do not make this distinction. One exception is PlanetCatfish. Even if you have a scientific source, however, you can only guarantee the maximum length of fish in the sample that that scientist had to study, not the maximum length that the fish could attain, especially in captivity. On the other hand, perhaps the hobbyist websites measured/estimated the total length of the fish themselves. These wild and random estimations are probably why you see so much variation in size given.

IMO, since stocking is not an exact science, knowing the exact length of the fish doesn't mean as much. There is not a point where suddenly the fish grow large enough so that your tank is overstocked.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Another thing is with length of fish it depends on their breeding and the immediate care at the Fry stage then onto adult fish.
I have 20+ Cardinal Tetras in my tank which I bought at two separate occasions. With the older ones there are slight variations in size even the new smaller ones vary a litle.

Not that this is going to affect my fish to gallon ratio

Don't get caught up in that old rule it is basically body mass and the waste they produce. Then comes how your tank is set up. I would not even think of putting all my Cardinals in some tanks I have seen reason they are just running on the bare minimum of filtration, plants, and all the general care that it takes to run a smaller tank.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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It looks like you're setting yourself up for an exciting community! I have a fleet of Silver Tipped Tetras in with other tankmates in my 55g. I love these little guys! They are flashy, full of mischief and those silver tips are beautiful in my tanning-filled rock, plant and driftwood laden "riverscape."

As for size, mine are no greater than an inch long nose to tip of tailfin. They are definitely small fish! I have a dozen or so and they shoal fairly well, but they are really all over the place. They are chasers and fin-nippers, so be prepared. From what I have read and studied, the Serpae's are nippy and full of mischief as well. So, you'll have lots of fun to watching that collection. Jsut be sure and get adequate sized shoals developed (8-10 of each I would say) so they function well within their groups and with other species.

Good luck!