Ok, so from the beginning. I have a 35 gallon tank that formerly had just a male betta in it. My gf wanted more fish so I told her she was in charge.
According the the LFS we were sold:
1 male & 1 female micky mouse swordtail
1 male & 1 female red swordtail
2 dalmation mollies (couldn't tell sexes apart)
the micky mouse swordtails were definitely correct, though they had the sexes backwards (they told me the male was female and vice versa)
the red swordtails I'm pretty sure are actually plattys. I'm
not sure how to tell the sexes apart.
the dalmation mollies I have no idea.
Now, to the problems. The female mickey mouse's tail was nicked up the following morning and appeared to be somewhat white at the base. I began treating for fin & tail rot, figuring the tank it came from must have been infected. The next morning (this morning) I noticed that the fin was entirely gone, that my betta is hiding and his tail is all ragged now (it was gorgeous 2 days ago before the new fish), and that the mollies are hiding as well.
The male micky mouse and the two plattys look good and seem to rule the tank. I've also seen one of the plattys nip at my betta at least once. It is huge and I'm wondering if it might be a pregnant female?
My main questions are, do you think one of them is terrorizing my tank and if so, who? Do you think it's just because of a pregnancy or something and that the aggression will subside or do I need to return someone to the LFS? What should I do about the sick female micky mouse swordtail? Do you think she could come back from that much injury or do you think euthanasia would be the most humane thing? I have a small 2.5 gallon tank that i can isolate a fish in. Add in aeration & a small filter powered by the aerator. Do you think I should separate the betta as well? I really want the betta in my community tank. Please help. The chemicals were ok yesterday. Will test again as soon as I can. Parents are really riding me today and I barely got time to post this. Should be back with numbers within the hour. The only thing off is the PH which is around 8 but the LFS said these fish would be ok at a high ph. could this be causing the aggression?
-Kevin
According the the LFS we were sold:
1 male & 1 female micky mouse swordtail
1 male & 1 female red swordtail
2 dalmation mollies (couldn't tell sexes apart)
the micky mouse swordtails were definitely correct, though they had the sexes backwards (they told me the male was female and vice versa)
the red swordtails I'm pretty sure are actually plattys. I'm
not sure how to tell the sexes apart.
the dalmation mollies I have no idea.
Now, to the problems. The female mickey mouse's tail was nicked up the following morning and appeared to be somewhat white at the base. I began treating for fin & tail rot, figuring the tank it came from must have been infected. The next morning (this morning) I noticed that the fin was entirely gone, that my betta is hiding and his tail is all ragged now (it was gorgeous 2 days ago before the new fish), and that the mollies are hiding as well.
The male micky mouse and the two plattys look good and seem to rule the tank. I've also seen one of the plattys nip at my betta at least once. It is huge and I'm wondering if it might be a pregnant female?
My main questions are, do you think one of them is terrorizing my tank and if so, who? Do you think it's just because of a pregnancy or something and that the aggression will subside or do I need to return someone to the LFS? What should I do about the sick female micky mouse swordtail? Do you think she could come back from that much injury or do you think euthanasia would be the most humane thing? I have a small 2.5 gallon tank that i can isolate a fish in. Add in aeration & a small filter powered by the aerator. Do you think I should separate the betta as well? I really want the betta in my community tank. Please help. The chemicals were ok yesterday. Will test again as soon as I can. Parents are really riding me today and I barely got time to post this. Should be back with numbers within the hour. The only thing off is the PH which is around 8 but the LFS said these fish would be ok at a high ph. could this be causing the aggression?
-Kevin