mystery question on community tank, fin-nipping

[Eric Gutierrez]

I've got a community tank setup.
100 gal. 72"x18"x18", just now heavily planted with plastic plants.

fish are similar in size, about 1-1.5 inches.

something has been nipping on 3 of male guppies tails, and my male
beta (fighting fish)...

eventually the beta died...and its tail was really gone...I never saw
any fish
bother it, nor it ever bother anyone....seemed quite healthy

My only suspects are:
3 angel fish that I never see bother anyone
7-8 archer fish that only bother each other
5 white mollies, the males look like the sailfin type.
3 swordtails (1 male, 2 female)
a number of sunset variatus (male, female)
2 female betas
maybe even the powerhead for the UGF.

only after the above fish were added did this incident occur.

But I have yet to see any actual fin nipping.

other fish in the tank:
guppies (male, female)
6 black balloon mollies
4 large plecs
2 small plecs

who or what could it be? No new fins have been nipped since the beta
died...
If it was the beta, I'd still like to add a new one...

any comments?

thanks
eric

[NetMax]

"Eric Gutierrez" > wrote in message
m...
> I've got a community tank setup.
> 100 gal. 72"x18"x18", just now heavily planted with plastic plants.
>
> fish are similar in size, about 1-1.5 inches.
>
> something has been nipping on 3 of male guppies tails, and my male
> beta (fighting fish)...
>
> eventually the beta died...and its tail was really gone...I never saw
> any fish
> bother it, nor it ever bother anyone....seemed quite healthy
>
> My only suspects are:
> 3 angel fish that I never see bother anyone
> 7-8 archer fish that only bother each other
> 5 white mollies, the males look like the sailfin type.
> 3 swordtails (1 male, 2 female)
> a number of sunset variatus (male, female)
> 2 female betas
> maybe even the powerhead for the UGF.
>
> only after the above fish were added did this incident occur.
>
> But I have yet to see any actual fin nipping.
>
> other fish in the tank:
> guppies (male, female)
> 6 black balloon mollies
> 4 large plecs
> 2 small plecs
>
> who or what could it be? No new fins have been nipped since the beta
> died...
> If it was the beta, I'd still like to add a new one...
>
> any comments?
>
> thanks
> eric

Easier to say who is not a likely suspect: Plecs, Balloon Mollies and the
UGF powerhead.

In terms of probable suspects, the other male Guppies would be at the top
of my list.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Lior T]

Couldnt it be fin-rot ?
i had fin-rot desease in my previous tank, to me it looked just like
fin biting until i started asking around ....

Eric Gutierrez wrote:

> I've got a community tank setup.
> 100 gal. 72"x18"x18", just now heavily planted with plastic plants.
>
> fish are similar in size, about 1-1.5 inches.
>
> something has been nipping on 3 of male guppies tails, and my male
> beta (fighting fish)...
>
> eventually the beta died...and its tail was really gone...I never saw
> any fish
> bother it, nor it ever bother anyone....seemed quite healthy
>
> My only suspects are:
> 3 angel fish that I never see bother anyone
> 7-8 archer fish that only bother each other
> 5 white mollies, the males look like the sailfin type.
> 3 swordtails (1 male, 2 female)
> a number of sunset variatus (male, female)
> 2 female betas
> maybe even the powerhead for the UGF.
>
> only after the above fish were added did this incident occur.
>
> But I have yet to see any actual fin nipping.
>
> other fish in the tank:
> guppies (male, female)
> 6 black balloon mollies
> 4 large plecs
> 2 small plecs
>
> who or what could it be? No new fins have been nipped since the beta
> died...
> If it was the beta, I'd still like to add a new one...
>
> any comments?
>
> thanks
> eric

[GloFish]

On 2 Aug 2004 19:44:00 -0700, (Eric Gutierrez)
wrote:

>I've got a community tank setup.
>100 gal. 72"x18"x18", just now heavily planted with plastic plants.
>
>fish are similar in size, about 1-1.5 inches.
>
>something has been nipping on 3 of male guppies tails, and my male
>beta (fighting fish)...
>
>eventually the beta died...and its tail was really gone...I never saw
>any fish
>bother it, nor it ever bother anyone....seemed quite healthy
>
>My only suspects are:
>3 angel fish that I never see bother anyone
>7-8 archer fish that only bother each other
>5 white mollies, the males look like the sailfin type.
>3 swordtails (1 male, 2 female)
>a number of sunset variatus (male, female)
>2 female betas
>maybe even the powerhead for the UGF.

<snip>

I'd vote for the Angel Fish... depending on size.... once ours got
larger they started dominating.

Out 45g is in the babies room. We leave the lights on when my Sun
goes to bed around 7pm. We check in on him around 10, and turn out
the lights. It was not unusual for us to come in and see the Angels
being very dominate.

We have a 20 gallon guppie tank in our room. The look good, and
provide food, every few weeks, for the large tank. The frye are
collected and put in the large tank. The angel fish were always the
most aggresive in consuming the frye.

Just my $0.02......



--Tony

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: mystery question on community tank, fin-nipping
>From: (Eric Gutierrez)
>Date: 8/2/2004 9:44 PM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>I've got a community tank setup.
>100 gal. 72"x18"x18", just now heavily planted with plastic plants.
>
>fish are similar in size, about 1-1.5 inches.
>
>something has been nipping on 3 of male guppies tails, and my male
>beta (fighting fish)...
>
>eventually the beta died...and its tail was really gone...I never saw
>any fish
>bother it, nor it ever bother anyone....seemed quite healthy
>
>My only suspects are:
>3 angel fish that I never see bother anyone
>7-8 archer fish that only bother each other
>5 white mollies, the males look like the sailfin type.
>3 swordtails (1 male, 2 female)
>a number of sunset variatus (male, female)
>2 female betas
>maybe even the powerhead for the UGF.
>
>only after the above fish were added did this incident occur.
>
>But I have yet to see any actual fin nipping.
>
>other fish in the tank:
>guppies (male, female)
>6 black balloon mollies
>4 large plecs
>2 small plecs
>
>who or what could it be? No new fins have been nipped since the beta
>died...
>If it was the beta, I'd still like to add a new one...
>
>any comments?
>
>thanks
>eric

Hi Eric.
The regular folks know this is coming, hehe.
Eric you had a Betta (pronounced "Bet-uh", not "bait-uh")..I figure you
mispelled it from a mispronunciation.
It's a very common mistake lately.
I understand many folks could care less about how Betta is being pronounced,
but for us breeders it *does* matter. = )
*This now ends our public announcements* )~
OK, now for your situation.
Out of these fish, my thoughts are:

>3 angel fish
Depending on age/size and individual personalities....it's possible that one or
more has done some nipping.
I have for many years kept Bettas..females and a male, in with several adult
Angelfish. Usually, there are not problems unless their are eggs involved.

>7-8 archer fish
I know nothing of their behavior so cannot say either way.

>5 white mollies
Mollies can be nippy at times. I've seen them harrass a Betta almost to death.
However, I must say many folks keep them with Bettas without any probs.

>3 swordtails
Same as above.

>2 female betas(bettas)
Female Bettas can be nippy or down right vicous. They all (male or female) have
individual personalities and can be either passive or highly aggressive....and
everywhere in between.
Usually it will be pretty obvious if you have an overly aggressive female
Betta. Once a female gets going after a male who doesn't turn around and nip
right back, she will then be relentless. I have seen this same behavior with
several overly aggressive females over the years. It's always the same with
those girls.....if the guy doesn't give it right back, she turns on him in a
flash and nips, chews and rips apart your lovely male's fin until he's so
stressed out it kills him.
(or in my case remove the male at the first chunk that is taken). A nip and
chase is normal...even for females to do to a male...but chunks of fin or flesh
or is not normal.

I would try a new Betta but watch him carefully.
I would also only do this after having a back up tank/home for male if it turns
out that a tank mate was the culprit.