neon dwarf rainbow aggression

[Kittycat]

I don't know which thread rainbows belong to.

But anyway, nobody ever told me that they are fin nippers. I have them in my community tank with rams, dwarf gouramis and older guppy fry (4-6 months, definitely bigger than their mouths) as well as some adult females and young adult males that don't have very big tails. They got along fine for about a month.

Then, first I saw them attacking one of the fry (which later died), so I separated all the fry. Then last night I put two of my adult guppy males with big tails (they were in the hospital tank before). When I woke up this morning, they were brutalized and hiding, so I returned them to the hospital tank.

But I just wonder if anyone had the same experience? All the research I made said the neon dwarf rainbow is great community fish, peaceful, etc. so I was totally horrified to discover what they had done to my guppies...

 

[Sean_Buckley]

Hmmmm....I have them in with my guppies, no problem at all. And my guppies have big tails.
Sean

 

[Fiddlesticks]

I read the same things you did. Great community fish ect. I put mine in my community tank with my angel, and the nipping started right away. Iv tried everything to get them to stop but to no avail. I finally scored an appropriate tank to move angel to because I think she is much happier without the rainbows. I will be either moving her there as soon as its ready, or moving the rainbows and leaving angel in the 60. I havent decided yet.

 

[appleblossom]

none of my neon or threadfin rainbows have ever been a problem in a comminity tank with guppies, dwarf gouramis or even my 1cm platy fry......
sorry they have been such a problem for you kittycat

 

[luxum]

How many do you have and what is the male to female ratio?

 

[Kittycat]

I have 3 males and 5 females. I guess I'll just keep the guppies somewhere else. I would trade the rainbows for some tetras if I could, but I don't know any LFS in the area that would likely agree to this...

 

[Lateral Line]

I can't say I've ever had problems with Rainbow fish - they've always been quite harmless.

 

[luxum]

You could do with a few more females, but the ratio isn't too bad. Many fish store would probably be quite happy to trade them for tetras, the dwarf neons are usually considerably more expensive. I guess the guppies with their frilly tails are just too tempting, sorry to hear of your trouble.

 

[Cat]

I'm starting a rainbow tank,could I mix different species of rainbows together?