Siamese Fighting Fish Help :(

[ZoFox]

Hi everyone, I'm new here so sorry if I have posted in the wrong place.
 
I have a 90 litre tank with approximately 20 fish in...4 Mollies, a Plattie, 5 Neon Tetras, a male and female Siamese Fighting Fish and a mix of male and female Guppies. My Mollies and Guppies are still fairly young.

I had another Guppie but the smaller Guppies ate all his fins and i had to move him to my mum's tank. My male Siamese Fighter is a gorgeous blue and had gorgeous fins, but I came home yesterday and pretty much ALL of his fins have been nipped/eaten, the female has been nipped too. I set up my smaller 20 litre tank and moved the male and female Fighter into that tank to stop any more nipping.

I can only assume it is the smaller Guppies who are the culprit again. I always thought Guppies were fairly peaceful and can't understand why they are doing this?
 
I am considering taking the Guppies out altogether and maybe trying other fish to see if they all get along peacefully.
 
Any help/advice would be appreciated
 
Zoe x

 

[the_lock_man]

It might easily be the male and the female fighters fighting each other. Whilst you can keep a group of females, a male should be the only fighter in a tank.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

You need to separate the male and female fighting fish ASAP. Males and females can only ever be kept together while breeding, and even then it is for a short time.
 
Guppies and Bettas often don't mix well, some do get along but they often don't. The reason being that some Bettas see the Guppies as other males and they fill fight each other.
 
I would say that the Bettas are the culprits for the nipped fins. They probably had a fight and it got messy, or they tried breeding.
 
Your tank sounds over stocked as well I'm afraid

 

[ZoFox]

Over stocked? They all lived together temporarily in a smaller tank whilst this one was being set up and I had no problems.
 
I will put the female back into my bigger tank and leave the male on his own to recover and hopefully his fins will grow back.

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Some shops are known to give bad advice to make a sale
Male and female Bettas should not be kept together. 
As long as they're separate and with plenty of water changes their fins should heal up nicely.
 
20 fish in a 23 gallon tank is overstocked.
Mollies need a 30 gallon tank as a minimum. It would be best for the fish if you could rehome the mollies.
You will need to have a plan to separate the female and male guppies, they will keep breeding otherwise.
 
The guppies may well be the culprit if you have seen them nipping. It would be best if you have the Guppies and Bettas separate to stop anymore nipping.
All fish are different and some get along with others and some don't.

 

[ZoFox]

Thank you for your replies, I was told by Pets at Home that I could happily keep a male and female together and now its obvious that I can't

I will leave the male on his own, put the female in my big tank and rehome her when I am ready to put my male back in. x

 

[the_lock_man]

Over stocked? They all lived together temporarily in a smaller tank whilst this one was being set up and I had no problems.

 
I have a 3 bedroom house, in which my wife and 4 kids live happily. I could survive having my sister-in-law and her husband and kids staying for the weekend. I wouldn't like to try and have them live with us permanently. Our house would be overstocked.

 

[ZoFox]

Thanks for helping, I do weekly water changes and will continue to do so. 
 
I kept my old tank for emergencies and I have another smaller tank too. 
 
I can easily rehome the fish so that isn't a problem. 

If I rehome my mollies and guppies I will be left with my male fighter, 5 neons and 1 platty, would that be ok?

x

 

[the_lock_man]

If you have a smaller tank too, then I'd suggest putting the male fighter in that - they are quite happy being the only fish in the tank.

 

[ZoFox]

My male is currently in my smaller tank on his own  
 
I may have found a home for my female already.
 
Also, just noticed one of my Guppies has had his tail nipped
 
x

 

[Ninjouzata]

Glad you've separated them Sorry you're having issues with the guppies!
Would get another neon tetra if you can, it's best to keep them in groups of 6+, more is always better.
Just thought this might be of interest to you, if you havn't already read it: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/423364-betta-splendens-caresheet/

 

[Meeresstille]

With all the changes on the horizon for your tank you could plan a whole different kind of stocking that is more species friendly. All this nipping came from wrong species together, as well as too small an environment for the Mollies. This causes stress on the fish. You changing that for them is super! Stress can lower their immune-system, which makes them more susceptible to diseases and it can lower their life expectancy!
 
Anytime you are interested in a species of fish research what the requirements are in terms of tank size, tank mates compatibility and water parameters before you head to the shops. That way you're in control what goes in your tank and you don't end up having to fix the mistakes of someone else's bad advice who is only looking to make a sale!