Omg Guppy Mauled - What/who Caused It?

[pwi]

I came downstairs this morning to find one of my perfectly healthy guppys like this:
 
View attachment 68752
 
View attachment 68753
 
It looks like its tail has been eaten, its eyes gouged out and its mouth was wide open.
 
My levels are all fine (as tested with an API kit every couple of days!), however I did think a week ago that I was dealing with fin rot as a few of my guppies stated missing chunks from their tails. I did several massive (50-90%) water changes and also treated the water, but the guppy pictured wasnt one of the ones affected by this!
 
In the tank are guppies, mollys, plattys, gourami's and a clown loach. I've been noticing very agressive behavior from one of the gourami's towards several of the fish (but not so much the guppies) and even removed it from the tank for a few hours to try and teach it a lesson (didn't work).
 
Do you think another fish may have caused this and the other fin damage?
 
 

 

[DrRob]

It may have died from the stress of being chased around, or simply from natural causes, at which point most of those fish would snack on the corpse as an easy meal.
 
Otherwise the gouramis would be the obvious candidate for attacks, depending partly on what type of gourami, as there's a huge difference in temperament between the 3 spot morphs and dwarf ones for example. Territory may be an issue with them, how big is the tank they're in?
 
The other worry would be the clown loach, particularly for nocturnal attacks. That's a big, and potentially aggressive fish that likes to be in big spaces in a big shoal. They can be troublesome when kept out of those conditions and generally do very badly in the long term in anything but the very big tanks. Lovely fish in the right place but a problem in the wrong tank.
 
Otherwise most livebearers stand up for themselves well, both in the giving and taking of any punishment, but sadly that also means that they'll take out something that is weakened for some reason fairly efficiently and the guppies are the smallest of what you have there.

 

[pwi]

Thanks for the information. The tank is a 120L, and for the most part my Loach seems pretty dosile during the day (but I've not watched him at night). He's only 2.5" long at the moment, so still a baby - but he does hold quite a high profile in the tank where no other fish (gourami's included) will give him any grief.
 
The Gourami's are pearl's if I remember rightly. Only one of them has a really bad attitude though and I've been tempted to put him in the hospital tank to live out the rest of his days, the only thing stopping me is that the tank isn't properly cycled yet. maybe I should just take him back tot he LFS as he's clearly stressing out the others.

 

[the_lock_man]

My initial instinct would be the clown loach. It would be sensible to rehome him before his size becomes an issue, and he becomes stunted.

 

[DrRob]

120l for a clown would be an issue, and may explain nocturnal problems. Pearls should be fine in a tank like that if they have plenty of cover (and there aren't too many of them), as they get a bit skittish if they've got nowhere to hide.
 
I'd definitely rehome the clown sooner rather than later and consider extra cover for the pearls if you're a bit light on hiding places.

 

[pwi]

Thanks for the info. I'm kind of a bit gutted about the clown as he is by far my fave fish. I understand the reasoning though as I've read how large they can get - something my LFS neglected to mention.
 
I've got about 6 large plants in the tank, some rocks,  bog wood and a broken vase. There should be plenty of placed for them to camp, but it seems like everyone is getting very irritated in the tank right now.
 
My Pearl has turned into a massive bully and chases all of the fish (aside from the guppies) around.
One of my sailfin guppies has recently turned into a bully and also chases everyone about.
 
Feeding time is mayhem, with both of the above fish and my clown loach chasing all of the other fish out of town.
 
Do you think that maybe I am underfeeding them?

 

[thenightgoddess]

I agree with everyone else you should get rid of the clown loach they can get very big and are considered semi-aggressive and shouldnt be put with guppies. I dont know much about pear gouramis so I dont know about how aggressive they are. Even if you dont see the clown loach attacking or bullying anyone it doesnt mean he isnt at night.

 

[pwi]

Well I awoke this morning to find two more dead guppys!
 
This time both appear to have been left alone, but I can't understand why they are dropping like flies. My water levels are still fine, I did a 25% WC/gravel vac on monday with declorinated water, they were perfectly healthy last night and mixing with the other fish. I've got a couple of molly fry in the tank which are thriving so I dont think anything can be up with the water quality?
 
Could it be a starvation issue?
 
I've heard that your are supposed to put enough flakes in the tank for them to eat in around 5 mins. However if I put a large pinch in, it's all gone within about 30 seconds and the larger fish seem to hoover it up. I'm worried about putting more in incase it pollutes the water, but i do also put in a few bloodworm pellets for the loach as he doesn't get much of a look-in at feeding time.
 
Should I be feeding a lot more?

 

[RCA]

I tend to feed a variety of foods (more info in my profile), this is so that the top feeders, mid-water and bottom feeders all get food.  If you can get some of the food that sinks slowly then your smaller fish have a chance at getting some whilst your larger fish gobble up the flake.  You can do this without necessarily increasing the overall quantity.  The brine shrimp in garlic is a good one, as this suspends in the water for awhile then sinks, if it makes it that far of course 

.  My favourite, and the fishes is the live glass worm.

 

[pwi]

Thanks for the suggestions. So in terms of quantity, you think that a reasonable sized pinch is enough for approx 20 fish? Its just a case of distributing it more evenly?