Fin Nipping

[Kingrich]

HI I have just started my aquarium.

the fish I bought are

5 Red Eye
4 Mollies
guppies 1 male and 2 female
platies 1 male and 2 female
zebra 5 did have 6 one died
neons 6

but I am having a problem with fin nipping. it seems that the red eyes are fin nipping they chase the other fish. I read on this web site that they are peacfull fish. what I am doing wrong. I did have 3 female guppies but one seemed to have her fin bitten then she died moments later I am sure it was the red eyes. please help

 

[susitna-flower]

   Welcome to Fishlore Kingrich,   How large is your tank?   Do you have any hiding places or "breaks" (decorations, or plants) that can give your fish something to hide behind?  Many fish like to set up territories, and if you have enough plants etc. it is hard for them to chase each other.    If it continues, you may wish to trade the offenders in for more peace loving types.   

The other reason I ask about the size of your tank is that if it is overcrowded, it can stress all the fish out, and you will tend to have fish chasing and nipping, but other problems will soon be evident also.       Is your tank cycled?  Check out all the Beginners threads on nitrogen cycle.      If you never have had fish before, you could be heading to disaster, unless you keep a close eye.    Many newbies are actually very experienced in fish keeping, I don't want to assume.  Hopefully someone else can answer your specific question on the 'red eyes'.  Best of luck!

Fish in the Frozen North.   -5F this morning.   8)

The IDIDAROD SLED DOG race starts this morning in Anchorage.   If you are interested in following it along, KTUU  will have updates and video clips all week!

 

[Kingrich]

My tank is 125 L. I have loads of fake and real plants. I have removed the red eyes now everything seems charm.

The fish I have are:

4 Mollies, 6 Neons, 3 Female guppies, 4 platies, 1 pleco, 5 Zebra Danio. oh and 1 Darf Underwater Fog.

I don't know if that's over crowded or not what do you think? The pet shop said that should be ok. I am gonna trade the red eyes in for diff fish. What do you think will go well with the fish I have?

When I first set tank up I left it for a day to cycle.

 

[lolagurl]

First thing is I would try not to put even medium aggressive fish with peaceful fish. Redeyes could be dangerous for neons and mollies, because they are very gentle fish. Also in gallons your tank comes out to be 33 gallons. It is said each inch of fish should have a gallon. If we're going by this method, your tank is probably overcrowded. Neons ae about the only fish you seem to have that stay an inch. And you have about 24 fish..including your frog. Some of these fish can get up to three or four inches. So also maybe they are growing and now it is overcrowded. Maybe if you took the red eyes back, that would sort things out more, because everything else should be ok..This is just my opinion though and I'm not a fish expert and there are many on here...but I'll tell you what I know

 

[susitna-flower]

Glad to hear your tank has settled down a bit. I am concerned however, because two days is NOT enough time for the nitrogen cycle to take place! Read all it in the beginners section of this site. Also read thread after thread of the headaches folks are having with their tanks not being cycled properly. The #1 thing you need to do is test your tank water for ammonia, nitrites AND nitrates. The first two need to be 0 and the last between 5 and 10 for your tank to be thoroughly cycled. If the nitrates get up over 5 OR ammonia is up over 0 you HAVE to do water changes......50% a day until the cycle takes place :'( If you don't you will have sick fish, and if not caught in time they will die.

One other caution, you need to find out what kind of pleco you have, if it is one that grows up as large as 12" that happens very quickly, and it will be much to large for the size tank you have. Many times your LFS will take these back if they aren't to big, and what would work very nicely is a dwarf pleco, or better yet, 3-5 otos.

I am so glad you have found this site, hopefully we can answer all your questions, and if you wake up one morning with problems, you have a ready help. Best of Luck!

Fish in the Frozen North. +22F this afternoon! 8)

 

[Kingrich]

I thinks it's a catfish pleco I am not sure looks like one. I have read they grow to the tank so it shouldnt get big. and all new tanks should have one. I am taking the red eye's back. It doesn't look over crowned they are swimming fine together. also how much food do I feed the fish cos pet shop says twice a day

 

[susitna-flower]

All plecos are in the catfish group. Some however grow to only 3 or 4", others grow to 18". The first one I ever had was a common pleco, in my 55 gal tank it quickly grew, it was over a foot long within a year! I was lucky, my LFS took it back and I now have a Royal Pleco, which could grow to 10", but it grows much slower. These are really cool fish, so many of them have striking markings, some are really good algae eaters, others don't eat algae as well. It is worth researching several sites that give descriptions of the different varieties.

It is fine to feed twice a day. Never put more in the tank than they can clean up in 3 minutes. Exception to that is if you are feeding vegetables to certain fish like the pleco, they need several hours to eat, then remove the leftovers to keep from clouding the tank.

Fish in the Frozen North. 0F today for the restart of the Ididarod Sled Dog race. If you are interested in following along check out KTUU
they will have pictures, articles, videos, and updates all week.

 

[Mollygurl]

I also have problems w/ fin nipping, I think. my adult has a shredded tail fin and my babies all have little "slices" taken out of their tail and dorsal fins. here is a pic of my adult