Who's the culprit?

[Tenko]

For a couple of weeks now my guppies have been suffering the occasional tail nip, but I've watched the tank for hours and haven't seen any aggresive behaviour at all. Either the culprit waits until I leave the room or the attacks occur at night. I've lost one guppie and another isn't doing too well either. I have the following fish

Guppies (male) - all seem to get along fine, some hang around in pairs and all play and mess about with each other. A little chasing has been noticed, but it lasts a second before the chaser becomes the chasee (is that a word?) so I think this is just playfulness.

Bristlenose Catfish - just lurk around the bottom gnawing of everything they find, wouldn't hurt a fly and are more interested in algae than anything else.

Cardinal Tetras - very peaceful, hide if anything larger than themselves comes near. I'm ruling these out.

Rosy Tetras - swim around calmly with sudden bursts of speed now and again, play around occasionally like the guppies.

Dwarf Gouramis (2 males, 1 female) - slow and stupid but can move quickly when they want to. Female was watched harrassing and attacking neon gourami, had to quaranteen him to help him recover.

Well, that's the fish, numbers are on my sig, any thoughts on who could be attacking the guppies?

Could it be the guppies getting too playful and nipping each others tails?
Could it be the gouramis (who have a history of attacking each other)?
Could it be the rosy tetras who can be very fast although I've not noticed any aggresiveness from them?
Am I wrong to rule out the cardinals and catfish?

Any thoughts or ideas would be really appreciated.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Out of those I would imagine it would be the gourami, but I am not sure. I don't have experience of the gourami you have.

I think gouramis can be aggressive and they occupy the same area of the tank.

 

[Doggfather]

i'd also think the gourami, they can get aggresive when irritated and do like having room to themselves

 

[Tenko]

Thanks, I have been laying the blame on the gouramis but wanted to make sure I wasn't jumping to conclusions. It just seems odd to me that all attacks happen at night, but then I've only had fish for 4 months now so don't know much about them.

That leaves me with a few options now.

I buy another small tank and put the pair of gourmis in it (with some new tank mates), leaving the lone male dwarf neon in with the guppies.

I buy another small tank and move the guppies to it.

I give the gouramis away, perhaps one of the lfs will give me credit for them (unlikely).

What do you reckon?

By the way, what type of cheese do you specialise in?

 

[Doggfather]

put the guppies in their ow tank

 

[Cheese Specialist]

I agree with DF, of those options the guppies would be best in their own tank (just be careful if there's going to be lots of fry) as they need less room than gouramis.

I like free range, organic cheddar

 

[Tenko]

That probably is the best option, just have to scrape up some money to buy one. Have seen some small cheapo tanks for about £40. Shame the guppies have to put up with a smaller tank.

The cheaper option would be to give the gouramis away, perhaps try to swap them, although I have grown quite attached to them.

Hmmm, I'll have to make my mind up soon.

I prefer Red Leicester.

 

[modernhamlet]

I like free range, organic cheddar

Great! Now I have the image stuck in my head of henna marked, birkenstock wearing cheese wheels rolling around the countryside in small herds. Thanks a lot CS!