New tank - new to plants - advice please

[mydummyname]

I noticed one of my Red-eyed Tetras had almost no fins left (from being perfectly fine in the morning) :-( This morning he's gone!

most likely suspect in this case is the red-finned shark (rainbow shark??)

he would have nipped the tetra to death or near death, the other fish (especially the tiger barbs go for crippled or sick fish) would then finish the job and then most likely eaten the carcase.

tiger barbs and red-eye tetra's are known to get along very well. how many tiger barbs and how many red-eye tetra's do you have in the tank? it could be that there numbers were not large enough to spread the aggression of the red-finned shark.

people say you need 5 tiger barbs or 5 red-eye tetra's to complete the school and spread aggression.. i feel that one should not go with less than 8 or nine of either of these for a proper school and to control the agression.

i think your tank mates are compatible, its probably just that you dont have enough of each type of fish (besides the red-finned shark - you only ever keep one of those in a tank)

[DesertConvert]

You learn something new every day...a Rainbow Shark it is. I only have 1 in the tank, and he's always been quite docile. More of a peace-maker when the Barbs get aggro with each other, than anything else. He gets territorial when the others get near his hideout, but he always just chases them away. These fish have been together for several months already without incident. I had 3 Tetras (quite a few years old already...fully grown I would say) and they just float around. Never aggressive.

4 Barbs - I know I need more, but my 16L tank can't handle more (I was in the process of acquiring more when my 32L tank encountered a stone fruit bowl hence the move to more cramped quarters. My 100L is almost ready).

4 Danios.

I will definitely increase the school sizes once the big tank is running.

[DesertConvert]

Pimp the HOB - put a big peace of filter sponge on the intake .

What sponge do you use?

[f-fish]

Any open cell sponge will work .. 20 ppi seems best 30 ppi clogs fast.

Later Ferdie