Murder Mystery

[Erised]

So it could be the cory's? But they seem so peaceful! My yellow guppy used to be resting alot but the blue one used to swim around alot.
I was thinking about getting rid of my Zebra's anyway because they always get the food and my gourami and cory's haven't had any since I got them. For the cory's do I need to get the special bottom feeder food?

It won't have been the corydoras, they are very peaceful bottom feeders, honestly don't think of them as a suspect at all. It was simply wrong information given out by a lfs. Getting rid of your zebra danios is ofcourse up to you, though I love them to bits. You do really need a shoal of at least 6 like The-Wolf said, because else they can get nippy towards other fish, where as in a larger group they tend to hang around and chase eachother rather than bug other fish in the tank.

Corydoras, like all bottom feeders need special food that sinks. You can get catfish pellets/tables in nearly all fish shops, so have a look for them. As to getting around the danios eating all the food, that can be a bit tricky I got around it by pinching the flake food inbetween 2 fingers and bringing it down to about halfway the tank before letting go of it. This way it's pre-soaked slightly and won't float up to the top. The current of the filters in my tank usually catches the food and blows it around the tank, causing all of my fish (apart from the bottom feeders usually, which is why they need sinking tablets/pellets) to be able to get some.

--Edit--

It could very well be the gourami as well, they too aren't known for their loving temperament. Either way, be it danios or gourami, I find it strange the guppies died from it. Nipped tails do not kill. It could have been the stress from being chased and nipped that killed them, but usually they'd get ich or something first, which makes me think the guppies probably weren't all that healthy to start with.

 

[leoslizards]

I had the same problem. It was a lonely zebra danio. I got rid of him and no more guppy deaths after that.

 

[xtremefishyfan]

Been to the fish shop today and they recommended a anti internal bacteria treatment. They also said if the guppy's had been dying sometimes other fish attack it to kill it faster. Might look into getting two or more Zebras as I really like them and it would be a shame to get rid of them as they were my first fishes. Thanks for everyone's advice, more suggestions still welcome.

 

[Dagu]

i've kept guppy's and 5 Zebra Danio's together for almost 2 years with no problems at all. So i doubt they would have done anything especially as mine have lived fine with male bettas!

 

[LisaLQ]

It's most likely the danios, but I wouldn't rule the gourami out either. I had similar experiences to the person who posted about theirs killing their mate and other fish - ours did that, then popped their clogs too. They're not the best fish, especially not for beginners - no offense as we were when we got them - they are on a whole aggressive and unhealthy nowadays, so you either get one who kills their mate and/or other fish, or they just up and die on you. TBH we've not had one survive - and we've tried 5 in total now. PFK dont even recommend them any more.

So it could be one of three things:

1. Danios chased, nipped and harrassed them to death (which they're sometimes known to do in smaller groups).
2. The gourami did it (less likely, but a possibility)
3. You had weak guppies - which isn't unlikely nowadays.

To be honest, it was probably a combination of all three.

Sorry for your losses

 

[xtremefishyfan]

When I got my Gourami I also brought another one as well. It was a Male Dwarf Gourami, about a week or so after it died, it curled up and it's previously white face was all brown (bruised) it lay in the corner and by the morning it was dead. Now I know not to get two gourami's as they may be agressive.

 

[shellyboylan]

i got a gourami and 2 blackskirt tetras together with a 2nd hand tank, the gourami was an evil sh....fishy and used to chase everything! it has gone blind/cloudy eyed and would feel out for the other fish and "grab" them, saw it doing this with a few tiny tetras before i figured, she probably killed quite a few little uns in the early days of the tank. when she died i wasn't very upset at all lol and now my blackskirts have turned out to be fantail blackskirts, the bugger had been cropping them!