Dying Guppy!

[TarkMalbot]

Just recently set up my tank and have selected a variety of Community fish. They have all been in the tank since wednesday but noticed the Dalmation Mollies (4 of them) are giving the other fish a hard time. At first I thought this was just a breaking in period where the fish establish their little areas but they are still at it 3 days on. I was under the impression that the Molly species are good for the community tank? I thought they were mostly after the male Dwarf Gourami but he seems to be looking ok but the since I have been away at work from friday my girlfriend has reported that the tails on the Guppy are getting torn, one died this afternoon and another doesn't look so clever!! NOOOO!!!

After speaking to the supplier of all the fish he cant understand this but is willing to take the Dalmatians back in exchange from a credit note.

Will this cure the problem or does it sound like something else? I have a male and female Dwarf Gourami and male and female Sailfin molly that seem to sometimes be involved in this chasing behaviour. Mostly they are being chased by the Dalmatians but the Male Gourami does chase the female and she is also being nipped by the dalmatians.

My Neon Teras, Glass Catfish and Silver Sharks all seem very peacfull and not involved with this.

I want a variety of community fish but dont know what to do.

Thanks,
Mark.

 

[*Fishkies*]

What size tank do you have?
How many of each kind of fish do you have?

Was this tank previously cycled?

How long have you had these fish? (for as far as you can remember)

 

[TarkMalbot]

Tank size is 165 Ltrs.

6 Male Guppy
4 Dalmatian Molly (3 female 1 male)
2 Sailfin Molly (1 male 1 female)
2 Silver Shark
2 Dwarf Gourami (1 male 1 female)
6 Neon Tetra
4 Glass Catfish
2 Pink Kissers

All the fish went in together on Wednesday after recommendation from my LFS that they would all be fine together.

As for cycling... We are cycling now!!!!! See other tread:

[topic="0"]Help me save my fish[/topic]

As we are only 3 days in the water seems to be in pretty good condition in regards to PH, Temp and at 0.3mg/l Nitrite. More worried about later on in the cycling hense the other topic.

It was the nipping of fins, chasing and the fact the Guppy are loosing most of thier tails that I was wondering about compatibility in this thread.

I wanted an aquarium as a peacefull focal point but so far its only stressed me and the fish out!!

 

[LRPRESTO]

Sounds like WAY too many fish in your tank at one time. If you didn't do a fishless cycle (which is reccomended for starters), you should have started with maybe two fish to establish your tank. I can't believe your LFS person gave you such bad advise! They sound like they would be awsome fish for your tank, unfortunately not all at one time.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Tank size is 165 Ltrs.

6 Male Guppy
4 Dalmatian Molly (3 female 1 male)
2 Sailfin Molly (1 male 1 female)
2 Silver Shark
2 Dwarf Gourami (1 male 1 female)
6 Neon Tetra
4 Glass Catfish
2 Pink Kissers

All the fish went in together on Wednesday after recommendation from my LFS that they would all be fine together.

As for cycling... We are cycling now!!!!! See other tread:

[topic="0"]Help me save my fish[/topic]

As we are only 3 days in the water seems to be in pretty good condition in regards to PH, Temp and at 0.3mg/l Nitrite. More worried about later on in the cycling hense the other topic.

It was the nipping of fins, chasing and the fact the Guppy are loosing most of thier tails that I was wondering about compatibility in this thread.

I wanted an aquarium as a peacefull focal point but so far its only stressed me and the fish out!!

I would suggest trying to return some of the fish if you can. How often do you do water changes??

Are you sure it is the mollies that are causing the problems and not the sharks? Also depending what type of silver shark you got exactly it may very easily outgrow your tank with those fish and possibly eat your smaller fish (ex. guppies/neaons).

Is it possible to return some fish to the LFS??

 

[TarkMalbot]

I have never seen the sharks (about 2 inch max) do anything other than keep themselves to themselves. The Mollies on the other hand chase everything in the tank and are constantly nipping at the Guppy group and the Dwarf Gouramis. The LFS has siad they would take back the 4 Dalmations and give me a credit note although does not recommend putting any more fish in till the cycle completes (if I have any left by then!!) As the tank has only had fish in for 3 days there has been no water changes yet. Thinking of trying to get the girlfriend to do a 10-15% change every few days to try and keep on top of the nitrites during this stupid situation I am in!

 

[Faythee]

I had a "mean" mollie fish that just would not leave my dwarf gourami alone. It would bite at it's head til he was on the floor of the tank. He had a large wound from it. The gourami is a nice peaceful fish and much slower than the mollie. I got rid of the mollies and now I have a happy gourmai. He used to have to hide all the time.

As the others said, that is too many fish to start with. You should only start with a few hardy fish like danios while still cycling.

 

[Terriann]

Hello,

I am a newbee too, I had two black mollies in my tank which attached, of all things, my plec! I think that a lot of the time it just depends on the temprement of the fish, not necessarily the type of fish.

I would return the offending fish and then keep an eye out for any more that start to attack, I got rid of my albino knowing that it was attacking my guppies and thought it was attacking my chocolate gouramies, it was in fact my pencil fish attacking my gouramies! I even had an agressive plec and had to get rid of it as it was attacking my other plec and my silver sharks (in fact I returned him this morning along with my pencil fish)! It is very stressful, and far from cheap, but it is worth it when you have a nice tank at the end of it, my boyfried who was totally against the idea now occassionally sits and watches it for a short while.

Ps. I have found that if I add any more than five fish in my tank at a time I run into problems (diseases mostly), if they are big fish i.e. my black ghost knife fish, I will only add the one at a time and wait at least a week before adding any more.

Good luck with your tank

Tan

 

[TarkMalbot]

The Dalmatian Mollies were taken back today but the LFS said he could not give any exchange on any other fish as he doesn't believe it was bad advice. I did think it was starange that he put them straight back into the community tank with the others and didn't quarantine them first. The fish left in my tank seem to be more happy and not hiding away now. I have explained to the girlfriend to get an ammonia test kit and do 10-15% water changes every few days. The second guppy that was looking weak seems to have recovered and is back with the group.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Glad to hear things are better now that the bullies are gone. Good Luck with your cycling process.

 

[Faythee]

Everywhere I have looked it said mollies were a good community fish, so ya just never know. I know mine was really MEAN ! At least you gave them back and didn't flush them. You would think the store could of gave ya a credit or somthing if they want to keep you as a customer. I found a nice small non-chain store that is very very helpful and only deals with fish. I would shop around if I were you.

 

[TarkMalbot]

We did get a £7.50 credit note when we took them back. Didn't want to flush them as I dont want them to die or loose the money! lol.