Another day another dead fish

[zkt]

This is beginning to *me off.
Yesterday it was a female betta.
The day befor a couple tetras.
Befor that a male swordtail.
And on and on..
Today it was a double dead day : female betta and female swordtail.
The swordtail has the tail chewed down, which is usually the case, But the betta doesnt. She wasnt looking very healthy anyway. But the swordtail definitely was in good shape.
I thought the culprit was the pink gourami, so I put her in qt yesterday.
The remaining residents in the 30 gal tank are 2 small red fin sharks, a pair of corys, and three tetras. None of whom have I seen exhibiting any aggressive behavior. And it always happens at nite.
Anybody got a clue ? This was going on befor I introduced the bettas a week ago.

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[reignman40]

My first inclination looking at your inhabitants is the red-tailed sharks. Normally it's recommended you have only 1 as these are very aggressive fish and overly aggressive towards their own kind.

What size tank? Planted/Non Planted? What were your last readings for Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate/ph/kh/gh and when did you last check them?

I would QT the sharks instead of the gourami.

 

[zkt]

30 gal

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The sharks are just babys, smaller than the dead swordtail
Ill check the levels rite now

 

[zkt]

The chem levels are all in the normal range.
Ive had over a dozen tetras, prolly more including replacements, now Im down to 3.

 

[reignman40]

I still say the culprit is the sharks. They may be babies but their aggressive nature alone, chasing others and what not, may be enough to overly stress fish. Maybe they are ramming the other fish. Could be a lot of things but I would QT them for a week and test it out.

 

[zkt]

Thanks for your input man.
Maybe Ill put them all in seperate betta bowls and reintrouduce them one at a time.

 

[mississippimorn]

Hi. My guess would also be the sharks. I've never been able to keep them in a small community tank. Anything non-agressive is sure to get a nibble from them. I ended up having to take my guy back to the LFS because he chomped on most everythign in my tank. I plan to get another one day but he will go in nothign less than a 55g. Good luck!

 

[Holly9937]

how long has the tank been running? and do you QT the fish before adding them to your tank? You may be bringing in something from the LFS

 

[zkt]

Its been up a couple months
If whatevers killing them comes in with new fish, why do they always die at nite.?
Ive never seen any aggressive behaviour in the sharks- even towards the other shark.
I have seen the gourami chasing and the emale betta too.

 

[zkt]

Last nite I removed the betta and the gourami. Leaving the pair af sharks in the tank with the tetras and swordtails. No casulties.