PaulW

Water Parameters - ammonia, nitrate and nitrite 0mg/l, pH 8.5. Water Temp 25C. Started setting up early Jan. 90 litre Tank.
I have 7 Guppies, 1 Fighter, 7 Cardinal Tetras, 1 Dwarf Gourami, 1 Apistogramma and 1 Pearl Gourami. I bought them in the same order as mentioned a week or two apart.Two of my Guppies have had chunks bitten out of their Caudal fins. It seems to happen during the night. Although it would seem the fighter would be to blame it has only started to happen since I introduced the Dwarf Gourami. It cant be the Pearl as I hadn't bought it when they first got bitten. Also the Guppies are generally at the top and the fighter spends most of its time at the bottom minding its own business. The only fish I have seen being aggressive is the Dwarf, but I haven't caught him in the act. Any Ideas? Also, will the fins grow back and if so will the colourful pattern match and how long will it take?

Amanda

You sound like you're going through the nitrogen cycle, if you're nitrate is at 0.
The gouramis, betta & guppies may nip at eachother. It's best for the betta to have his own tank. The fins will grow back with pristine water conditions.

PaulW

Thanks, have got to get new test kit to be honest, its quite old and may not be accurate. How long will it take for fins to re-grow though? Weeks, Months or many months?

agabr123

definitely either the betta or the DG. IMO the betta really needs his own tank, they can coexist with tankmates for months until one day they decide they don't want to share anymore and attack someone, and i personally don't think it's worth the risk. you may also run into some problems with the pearl and the DG in the same tank, as they generally don't get along very well.

with clean water the fins should heal fairly quickly, probably in a matter of weeks depending on how badly they were damaged

Lucy

Welcome to Fish Lore
I agree with Alex, most bettas don't make good community fish. It would be a good idea for him to have a filtered, cycled heated 5g tank of his own.
Also, with the DG and the betta both being territorial fish, an over crowded tank can bring out their aggression.
If you find it's the DG, you can try re-arranging your decorations and taking him out of the tank for a little while. It might be just enough to throw him off and make him feel less territorial.

Keeping the water pristine with some extra stress coat or Fish Protector will help your guppies fins heal.

Good luck with your tank.