What's wrong with my guppies?!?

Question

I've had this same fishtank for about five months and the same fish have inhabited it.. there has been no change in water pH and I haven't added any chemicals.. the only change is that one of my mollies had babies but until now everyone got along fine! Suddenly one of my guppies has had his tail chewed off! I have no idea which of my fish could have done this because I didn't see it.. they've always been fine together so I never thought to supervise more than just the feedings and water changes (and the occasional peek into the aquarium just to watch my beautiful fish!)

In this ten gallon tank, i have:
1 plecosomus
1 catfish
2 male guppies
2 female guppies
1 female molly
1 male molly
6 baby mollies of unknown gender
and
1 white fantail goldfish

Would any of these fish be aggressive towards my other fish? The petstore said they were all community fish and should live well together! Apparentally not...

Should I have removed my injured guppy? (i did)

please help me!

Oh, and I know I shouldn't have more than one fish per gallon of water... I'm trying to get rid of the baby mollies, some of them have been eaten and some of them I have given away to friends... I only have six of the original two dozen or so (I never actually counted, but there looked to be a lot of them!) and I'm trying to make more room for my fishie friends...

one of my friends said the catfish might actually be a shark??? we visited the tanks at walmart (i got my catfish(?) at Petco) but in the tanks at walmart they put catfish together with these little shark things that have wiskers like catfish... at least the sticker calls them sharks... my catfish is differently colored from these shark things and the fins are a little different, but is it possible i have a little shark that looks like a catfish?

alright, so i've taken the goldfish out of the tank with the guppies (and he swims around like crazy in his new 5 gallon... i know one of you said he needs a 10 gallon, but all by himself? he needs an entire 10 gallon to himself? he's only about the size of a quarter!)

and this seems like a dumb question, but can i put my mollies in with my betta? i know bettas are fighting fish, but mollies have such small tails that i don't know if my betta would mind... but maybe he would? i don't know, that's why i'm asking! -_-;

-me

Answer 1

well....first things first. guppies and goldfish don't go together. its like how guppies can't go with koi. the 2 types of fish are known to attack one another. your goldfish might be the one attacking. also, take your goldfish out even if it isn't the problem. goldfish needs a lot of space. besides, you also have a lot of other fish in there too.
catfish can be aggressive at times. i've never heard of them possibly being sharks (i would think people know what they are selling) but pet stores these days...... catfish have been the problem to many aquarium tanks - especially attacking guppies.
also, this is kinda irrelevant, but depending on the sizes of the mollies, i would take them out. i'm not sure how big molly fries out, but guppies do eat anything that can fit in their mouths - this includes their own young.....

what the pet stores say ISN'T always true, unless they have experience taking care of that fish. even if they are community fish, there are problems that comes with it. (ie: guppies and goldfish don't go together). what the employers sometimes do is read a brief description "......community fish........" they would then automatically thing "this fish can go with anything, esp. other community fish"
THAT IS REALLY WRONG!
certain fish can go with certain fish. community fishes go best with the same breed however there are some that would be aggressive to one another. i would research more about each fish. you can go to yahoo search or any other search website or go to a nearby library. i find it very important to know about the pet before you do anything. try finding what fishes can go together and what not. (please take out the goldfish. they really don't belong with guppies) besides, assuming you have fancy tailed guppies, you have a bunch of fishes that won't work. fancy tailed guppies show their best color in water around the temperature of 70 degrees F. they are freshwater fish but live in tropical regions. (this is the part some ppl get confused) goldfish don't want their water temp so high.

now this is wat i've explained a lot. i assume you have fancy tailed guppies. (if you have feeder this might be irrelevant). fancy tailed guppies are known to attract organisms with their beautiful tails. (people who just want guppies usually get male fancy tails because they are a lot of beautiful then females) anyways, their tails also attract their tank mates. this results in fin nipping and what not. as a result, your goldfish, catfish, and mollies might be in fault. the best way to solve this problem is to separate the guppies. even though they are community fish; their tails do cause a problem for them. also, because of their long tails, in makes it harder to swim away. in other words, their tail slows them down allowing it easier for their tank mates to take a bite. when that happens you are left with a tailess or having a bit of the tail guppy.
if you don't want to separate them, you can try adding more plants and hiding places for them. (i'm not sure if it will work. i've never had fancy tails. i have feeder guppies as pets. also, my tank is all guppy. this idea is going by how to allow frys to get away from the parents and other fishes.)

you also might consider getting a 50 or higher gallon with your variety. you have waaaaaaaay to much fish in there. i'm not sure if its safe.

about wat to do with the injured guppy.... you did the right thing by separating it. i have one female guppy wither her tail nipped and i placed her in a hospital tank. i also added fin rot medication to prevent infection. you should do that do. because the fin is ripped off, they are more prone to diseases like fin rot. you can tell the fish has fin rot when the edges of the fin/ tail seems to be fraying/ decaying. after a few weeks/ days (depending on the seriousness of the injury) the fin would grow back

:)hope this helps

Answer 2

The goldfish shouldn't be in there. For one thing it should have cooler water then the others. What type of catfish? Some will get large and do eat other fish. I had a black "shark" that was very aggressive as he got older. A lot of times they are sold as sharks but really a cat.

Answer 3

Your guppies most probably are pregnant as long as they have been near a male they usually have their fry 4 weeks later. Unfortunately there are no real signs of her about to give birth, some become very solitary and still near to the birth. If you don't catch your fry soon after she has had them then they will most probably get eaten by her and the rest of the fish. Pregnancy signs in a guppy are large belly, (looks boxy from the front) and a much darker gravid spot, when the female is nearly ready to give birth you can sometimes see the fry inside her, its best to put her in a catchment tank with a false bottom so that when she does give birth her fry will sink to the bottom of the catchment tank and so wont get eaten by her or the other fish. So in answer to your question nothing is wrong with them, they sound pregnant to me and if you want to save your fry, then put them in catchment tanks

Answer 4

Unless one of the guppies or mollies have turned agro, the only possible culprit would be the goldfish......could try separating this one. I Think the pleco and catfish are pretty harmless.

Answer 5

take out the goldfish, he needs at least a 10 gallon by him self, as for your guppy, it could have been caught in the filter intake

http://fishlesscycling.com/articles.html


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB