Fish troubles

Question
I have a 2.5 gallon tank--recently I have had 3 fish die, a Blue-Red Colombian Tetra, a cory cat and a Black Tetra.  The survivor is a Serpae Tetra.  We started with the cory, Blue and Serpae.  When the Blue-Red died, I bought my son the Black one.  The Blue-Red had fungus looking white on him when it died.  What do I need to do to get the tank under control?  I would like to add another cory and 1 more fish, but what should I add?  I am also wondering if the Serpae was bullying the others--they had nipped looking fins, while the Serpae looked just fine!  Thanks for your time!

Jen

Answer
Hi Jen;

The tank is just far too small for the types of fish you are trying, and too many also. A tank that size can only keep a male betta and maybe a cory cat but that's even stretching it a bit. Just a betta is plenty of fish for a 2.5 gallon.

Serpae tetras are indeed a nippy one too so when in a small space they get frustrated, taking it out on whoever is nearby. In a tiny tank they are pretty close to each other for easy nippin'. Those fish are all active schooling fish too that need at least a 20 gallon because they need to be in groups of 3 or more of their own kind (3 serpaes, 3 colombians, etc.). For community tanks of small types of fish, the 'rule of thumb' is one inch of fish for every gallon. You have to calculate this population based on the future adult size of each one because they are young when we buy them. Serpaes get to be about 1.5 inches, Black Tetras get about an inch, Colombians get to be almost 3 inches, and your Cory gets to be 1 to 2 inches depending on the variety. Adding it up.....that's almost 7 inches of fish! Yikes!

So, shop for a betta or a larger tank...or both. I vote for both. Fish keeping is too much fun when you do it right to just have one tank. Soon you will be suffering from the same malady the rest of us are...MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome) ;-)

Here is a link to my page on new tanks to help you through the break-in period too. It's important to know about;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins