Who Is The Fin Nipping Culprit?

Tank Stocking:
1 Angel Fish
6 Pristella Tetras
2 Platies
2 Swordtails
6 Bronze Cories
1 Clown Pleco

So two days ago I went out and purchased some BEAUTIFUL male, snake skin guppies. Today not a single one is alive. After the first morning I woke up and saw my male betta who was originally in this tank chewing apart the fins of a still breathing guppy on the floor of my aquarium. So I removed him and put him in his own separate tank.
I thought I solved the problem until I woke up this morning and found another guppy ripped of his fins on the floor of the aquarium.

I literally Can Not figure out what fish is doing this!!!
platies, swordtails, and cories are all relatively peaceful and from what I know, tend to be the victI'm of fin nipping
the clown pleco wouldn’t go near the guppy
I thought maybe the angelfish but it’s a juvenile and they aren’t very quick and he’s never nipped my previous guppies
The only thing I can think is the tetras but they have been fine with guppies before and I’ve never seen them chase my guppies.

Any Ideas? I think it’s probably the tetras and if y’all are on the same page, what schooling species won’t nip at fins?

 

I say angel but if one of your swords is a male then he could have got the gups easy ...
Some male swords will not tolerate another male livebearer ..Guppies are slow the angel can easily catch them also though for sure ..

 

I say angel but if one of your swords is a male then he could have got the gups easy ...
Some male swords will not tolerate another male livebearer ..Guppies are slow the angel can easily catch them also though for sure ..

I have two male swords, they hang out together and don’t bother eachother. Is that a normal behavior or are they unusually accepting of eachother? they are both lyretails so I did find it incredibly odd that no one in the tank had nipped them yet.

also, my two platies are male, should I take initiative and put them in a different tank

 

I had an angelfish as a kid, and he (or she) was absolutely vicious. It ended up living alone because it would not let anything coexist, including another angelfish.

 

The angel.

 

I had an angelfish as a kid, and he (or she) was absolutely vicious. It ended up living alone because it would not let anything coexist, including another angelfish.

Some angels are extra nasty, but did your angel grow up with other fish? Or was it full grown when you tried him with other fish? Also what size of tank?

OP caitlinemm What size is your tank? I find young angels are much more tolerant of other fish and growing up with them. I've only had one aggressive young angel ever. I've had a LOT of them.

Not saying it's not the angel, just myself I'm not pointing the finger yet since it is so small. Although it's true, I find livebearers too innocent to understand to get out of the way, but this was more with a breeding pair of angels, not a single angel. If the tank is too small though, that could cause him to act up, but as a small angel, I'm skeptical myself.

Also I would find it odd it's not going after the platies, they are just as slow and platies is what my angel pairs didn't tolerate too well. Never killing or hurting them, just swiping at them but the platies didn't care and kept getting in way and being swiped at over and over.

 

This angel anged back in the late 70's, early 80's. My brother and I had three 10 gallon tanks. The angel was originally housed with a group of 3-4 angels, and some tetras. He killed 2 of the angels and and was working his way through the tetras before we realized which one was the problem. We redistributed the rest of the fish, and the angel lived alone for 2 years, until we gave him away. I'm sure he went on to feast on many other victims.

 

Guppy and angelfish are not compatible tankmates.
I think the angel is definitely the culprit.
I don't think the swordtails are responsible as these two males have accepted each other and the male platies.
IMO opinion an angel will always nip the fins of any long- finned fish and besides angel also bully small fishes like guppies, neons, small tetras.
I would say you are lucky that your angel is not bothering your platies.
I had an angel in my community tank and it was constantly bothering my smaller tetras and barbs along with occasionally chasing my zebra danios. I returned it to the fish store.
Some angels do well in community tanks and it just depends on the angel. All fish keepers are not lucky to keep an angel in a community tank.
In my opinion, they should not be kept with smaller fishes at all.
One can succeed keeping them in a community tank with large size tetras, barbs, mollies, swordtails and rainbow fishes.
I think if one wants 100% success with angels, then they should be kept with species only tank or with not very aggressive cichlids.

 

I would like to believe the angel is the culprit ,but as I mentioned male swords are tough ..
I wonder why their lyre tails are not being nipped by the angel ??
The tank sounds pretty well balanced for all males but I would not add anymore smaller livebearers ..
If you knew male guppies behavior then being pestered [to death] by a male sword is ironic to say the least IMO ! But gets my vote ..
The angel could be the one but lyretail swords unaffected huh ?

 

Yeah I’m definitely gonna keep my guppies in my other tank. As for the angel he is still juvenile (I do not actually know his sex, I just refer to him as male). He has lived with other fish since I got him and this is a 55 gallon tank so I don’t think size is an issue.

Also, the swordtails have not been bothered but atm, since both are juvenile, the swordtails and angle are very similar in size.