Need Advice ASAP!! Fin Nipping!!

H

hsherman1986

AC Members
Mar 6, 2006
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Who might be the culprit??

10 zebra danios
10 Neon Tetras
4 harlequin rasboras
6 lyretail moillies
3 red minor tetras
3 lemon tetras
3 silver hatchetfish
1 clown loach
6 black neons
8 guppies

all in a 55 gallon

I just noticed that four of my guppies have been victim of fin nipping. I have had no problems until I added the 3 red minors, 3 hatchet fish, 3 lemons, and the loach. Who of those might be the culprit of the fin nipping? I have not witnessed any aggressive behavior from any of those fish except the minors, so I think it might be them. The only time the loach gets aggressive is when the mollies try to eat his food, but he does not nip at them, he only chases them away.

Please advice asap so I know which fish I should take back to the LFS
 
You've really got too many fish in there, even if you take back the fish you think are culprits, you may just have another fish step in and take their place. I would suspect the minors as well(serpaes, right?) but its hard to say. If you have a QT tank you could remove them for a while and see if there is any difference
 
Yea, i know that, i have already had that conversation with someone on here, and am taking steps to solve that (i am about to purchase a second 55 gallon).

Yes, they are serpaes, but I do not have a QT tank yet either. I have not had any problems with fin nipping until I put the serpaes in there, and they are one of the three largest fish in there (the lemons are smaller, and I just noticed one of the lemons has been victim of fin nipping as well). The only other larger fish in the tank are the mollies and the loach. I have had the mollies in the tank for three weeks, and have not had any problems whatsoever with them. Who else might take the serpae's place in the dominance game?
 
Are they nipping at each other? Are they all male? If there any females they can get aggressive with each other... Serpaes are known forbeing nippers. Any fish not in a large enough school might be taking out aggression with other tank members too. Serpaes especially need a large school to cohabit with other fish.
 
In that case, you might just want to return the serpaes and see how it goes. Any fish can be aggressive if they are overcrowded or if there are weak fish, so its hard to say. I would hold off on any more purchases until you get another tank going, then you'll be able to appropriately separate the fish and fill out their schools, which will also help cut down any aggression
 
i have not noticed any nipping going on within the serpaes. They all still have full fins. I am not sure which are male and which are female in that group. I also was not aware that they needed a larger school. The guy at the LFS just said that they do better in groups of three or more, so with how many fish I had in the tank already, I only bought three.

I do intend on taking them back today, and withholding and more purchases until I know for sure that it was them that was the cause of the fin nipping.

Will the guppies do that to each other? They all seem to get along just fine, but just a thought that was crossing through my head that maybe they were playing a dominance game within themselves (but then again, the lemons are getting nipped too)
 
Its almost impossible for the guppys to do any real harm to each other, even if they do nip, I would see how things go with the serpaes gone, they can be pretty nasty in certain condtions.
 
ok, just wanted to be sure of that possibility. Thanks so much for the advice, the serpaes will be going back today.
 
might be the zebra ds your fish are all very friendly ones so hard to say.
 
zebras have been in the tank since day one. Never had any problems with them at all. I actually used the danios to cycle the tank in the first place. They have never nipped at any other fish that I have added in the tank
 
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