dead guppy

[ssmats]

Unfortunately I found my guppy dead , and I saw the dwarf gourami and the betta,
nipping at the body.
In the aquarium I also have a peppered catfish, clown loach and another guppy
(these are quite small size).
I'm wondering what killed the guppy. Was it the gourami or the betta?
I've noticed the gourami is quite aggresive and chases the betta and guppy
(but not the loach or catfish).
When I'm watching, the guppy is continually swimming up and down the aquarium.
Also is my aquarium too small for this number of fish? (I have a 20 litre aquarium).
I've tested the ammonia level is zero, and I change 20% of the water every week.
The temperature is 26 degrees celcius.
I got the gourami last out of all the fish, and when I put him in, the betta
was the aggressor and kept chasing him around, as well as the guppies.
So I put the betta in a small 4 litre aquarium for a while, and after I put him back
with the others, the gourami would chase him around. What should I do?

 

[shadow]

i don't know much about gouramis, but i know that a betta will go after fish that are significantly smaller than they are and ones that have fancy fins like they do. i keep my betta with platys and mollies. it could have been both the gourami and betta thath stressed out your guppie, causing it to die.

 

[Tenko]

I had a particularly nasty dwarf gourami, I had to move some guppies to a smaller tank after repeated tail nipping. Try cutting the temperature down a little, perhaps to 24C, as hotter water can make fish more active and aggressive.

Also, once I removed some of the guppies, the gourami settled down a bit. I thought perhaps because the tank was less stocked he had more room to mess around in.

 

[Robert]

if the betta was a male, and the guppy was a male also the betta probably mistook the guppy for a rival male betta, i've heard of this happening before.

 

[clutterydrawer]

Also is my aquarium too small for this number of fish? (I have a 20 litre aquarium).

yes. by far.

 

[ssmats]

Thanks for the replies.
I've removed most of a large plant I had put in on the weekend. This probably
stopped the guppies from swimming freely.
I'm planning on adding something in the aquarium for the guppy to hide in
and get away from the gourami and betta.
Regarding the tank being overstocked, I probably won't replace the guppy that
died. As I don't have much space to get a larger aquarium, there's not much
I can do with the size or number of fish right now. What do you recommend
to keep in a 20L aquarium? The catfish and loach mostly hang around
the bottom of the tank, so they seem fine. The betta and gourami usually
stay away from each other. The betta in the corner or hiding in a plant.

 

[Guppylover]

So right now in your 20L tank you have a betta, dwarf gourami, loach & catfish. I have two dwarf gourami one male and one female... they are the most peaceful and nice fish I ever had... so I'm not too sure on why your dwarf gourami behaves like that. Mabye he needs some company... a female dwarf gourami? I'm pretty sure a feamle dwarf gourami could fit into your tank nicely.
With your betta... is he usually aggressive like that? ...it's not a really good sign if he is. I have a really aggressive male betta, if he is placed in a community tank he would attack each and everyone of the fish in there. He has already killed one of my female guppies & a large goldfish. I still have him but he is isolated in another tank alone. I know you don't have any space for any other tank but mabye you have space for a small 2gal tank somewhere? Just incase you betta is an aggressive one you could move him in there.

 

[ssmats]

In my 20L tank I've got:

a Dwarf Gourami
a Betta
a Peppered Catfish
a Clown Loach
a Guppy
and 2 snails.

the catfish, loach and guppy are all quite small (at the moment).

I also have a 1 gallon tank empty of fish. I used to keep the betta
in there, but I imagine it's too cold now in winter.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hi,
I'm sure it was the Betta that killed your guppie. Actually the same thing happened to me about 2 weeks ago. I witnessed my Betta chasing one of my male guppies and also noticed it's tail was in shreds!! The guppie was so stressed...I found it dead the next morning. I heard that Bettas will attack anthing with fancy fins thinking it's another male Betta. I've removed my Betta now and put it in a smaller tank and now my guppies are happy!!

Elisabeth

 

[Phantom Thief]

In my 20L tank I've got:

a Dwarf Gourami
a Betta
a Peppered Catfish
a Clown Loach
a Guppy
and 2 snails.

the catfish, loach and guppy are all quite small (at the moment).

I also have a 1 gallon tank empty of fish. I used to keep the betta
in there, but I imagine it's too cold now in winter.

Not a good combination.

Preferably, anabantoids should not be kept together. This means the dwarf gourami + betta isnt good because they are both labyrinth fish.

peppered catfish (i believe you are referring to cories) should be kept in schools of 3 or more.

clown loaches get to about one foot long.

Well, that summarises the main problems with your fish selection. And also, in a 20 litre tank, it sounds a little cramped too.

P.T.