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murder mystery in my tank

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  • murder mystery in my tank

    I have recently set up my first tank, freshwater, 36 gallons.  I made the mistake of purchasing plants from petsmart and now I have snails.  well, the real reason I am writing is  I have 4 zebra danios, 3 long finned danios, 4 spotted corys, 5 platys, one 5" Pleco and now only 1 guppy.  Someone keeps eating the fins off the guppies and they die.  I am wondering who is most likely doing this?  I noticed that 2 of the platys have paired off together and one of them chases the other platys if they try to swim around the tank or anywhere near them.  One of my other platys now hides under a rock and only comes out when I turn off the light.  He waits for food to drop as he will not try to go to the top because the bully platy will chase it.  I noticed that the remaining guppy schools with the bully platies, I can't help but wonder when it will meet its demise and who is doiing it.  The bully platies seem to be only aggressive to the other platies from what I have seen.  I wonder what goes on when the lights go out.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

  • #2
    Re: murder mystery in my tank

    Platys eat their babies.






    I'm just sayin...
    Help support (C)atfish (A)nd (K)ool Pleco's, Houstons premier fish club.

    David Seratt
    Co-President of CAK

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    • #3
      Re: murder mystery in my tank

      I have not seen any platy fry yet.  I was wondering if it was them eating the guppy fins and killing them.

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      • #4
        Re: murder mystery in my tank

        The platy's could be attacking each other or the danios could be your culprit.....I would keep an eye on them to see who is who.



        Welcome to the box!
        700g Mini-Monster tank

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        • #5
          Re: murder mystery in my tank

          I have had issues with the Plecos killing fish off in the night.  Yours may just be getting away before all the damage is done.  Apparently Geophagus Juraparis and Peacocks aren't as bright as your fish are.  I had a pair that killed off about $40-50 worth of fish before I realized who the culprits were.  Removed the Plecos and waaaalaaaaa.....no more dead fish in the mornings.  Just my two pennies.

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          • #6
            Re: murder mystery in my tank

            How long has the tank been set up? Sometimes guppies can be pretty sensitive to water conditions, especially if they're fancy guppies. If your tank is still cycling, or depending on the levels of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, the guppies' fins could be in bad shape because of the water parameters. It could also explain the platy's behavior of hiding all day - stress can make fish act strangely sometimes.

            As for the snails, they're almost inevitable with live plants! They (or their eggs) seem to survive just about anything!  

            And welcome to HFB!
            "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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            • #7
              Re: murder mystery in my tank

              Guppies can be murders themselves.  One of my cardinal tetras met his demise this past weekend.  Either a guppy killed it or it ran itself into the side of the tank.  That is all that is in the tank so no mystery there.

              You can/will get snails from any LFS like Mzungu said (I got one in my plants from Village).  I've learned to wash the plants well before putting them in my tank.  Although the little snail in my 10 gallon (which I believe is a ramshorn) is relatively harmless even to the plants.  They seem to prefer eating fish flake to eating plants (depending on the type of snail).  I liked him so much that I got some black mystery snails for my 35 gallon.  The snail is entertaining, and will float himself on the water surface and crawl on the water surface upside down.  It is really funny cause it will get shot out of the filter and doesn't seem to mind the ride.

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              • #8
                Re: murder mystery in my tank

                I set up my tank 3 months ago.  I tested the water and all levels are good.  I do a w/c once a week.  The one platy is the only fish that hides.  I watch them throughout the day and the 2 paired platys I think are the reason the one hides.  Everytime he comes out, they chase him back under the rock.  I went to Petsmart and complained about the snails and they offered me a free clown loach, I said no.  I am already upset about the pleco I have that will eventually get as big as my sons bicycle, even though I told the store clerk that I did not want any of my fish to get bigger than 5"-6".   They won't take him back either.   From now on I buy nothing without doing some research first.  If I transferred all fish temporarily to another tank, How would I go about getting rid of the snails and making sure they did not come back?  How long would it take?  Should I just give up and deal with having them?   Can you treat plants with something to kill snails before putting them in the tank?  I guess I have alot to learn, I think I'll pass on anymore guppies until I figure out for sure who the naughty fish is.  thanks.

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                • #9
                  Re: murder mystery in my tank

                  Someone here online explained how he got the snails out of the aquarium
                  You basically bate them with food using a jar up against the glass of your aquarium where there is just space enough for the snails to enter but not the fish.  This way the snails over night will enter into the Jar eat the food and the next morning while they are still eating you remove the jar, clean it out and repeat cycle until there are no more snails going into the jar at night.

                  What fish do Jesper have
                  180 WC T. Moorii Chilambo +1 Petro trewavasae.
                  110
                  Cyps, WC Xeno Spilopterus Kipili WC/F1/F2 T. sp red Kiku
                  58 S. Decorus

                  "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." -Margaret Thatcher

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                  • #10
                    Re: murder mystery in my tank

                    What about the babies floating around, I have seen a few.

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                    • #11
                      Re: murder mystery in my tank

                      Out of the 5 platies, how many males and females?

                      Glad you said 'no' to the clown loach, as those get pretty big, too!

                      If the snails are really a problem for you, then there are ways to get rid of them. If you don't mind them, I'd say just leave them. However, there are products, usually containing copper, which will kill all of the snails. You have to be careful, though, because once the snails die they'll start to decompose, which will add a LOT of ammonia to the tank. So you need to take out any dead ones when you see them. And be sure not to add any desireable invertebrates to your tank for a while, as the copper will still be present.

                      I don't mind the snails. Tanks go through cycles over the years, and so do the snails. A few population explosions, usually when nutrients are plentiful. In my older tanks, however, the snails have leveled out and really aren't noticeable. But that's just me! Some can't stand the sight of even one.  :)

                      There are also options for treating your plants before you put them in the tank. Here's a link to a few. I usually use the potassium permanganate dip.

                      "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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                      • #12
                        Re: murder mystery in my tank

                        First I want to thank  you all for the advice.  I don't feel so bad about the snails anymore since it seems that they are so common.  It just ticked me off that I got them right away, oh, well.  How about a Zebra Loach?  

                        How do you tell which platys are males or females?

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                        • #13
                          Re: murder mystery in my tank

                          Look for botia sidthimunki's...they are small loaches and have done a good number on the snails in my tank.

                          Males have an extra "fin" that is really straight at the bottom.
                          700g Mini-Monster tank

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                          • #14
                            Re: murder mystery in my tank

                            Yup, it's called a gonopodium...It's the anal fin. Those on most male livebearers are straight, while females' are fan-shaped.
                            "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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                            • #15
                              Re: murder mystery in my tank

                              Looks like I have a problem, 3 males and 2 females.

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