Fishes Being Attacked And Killed, Help!

[Jessman]

Hi, i went to the lfs yesterday and saw a few female fighting fish, i know they can be kept with other fish unlike the males so i asked the store keeper if they can be kept with platys and guppies and she said yes, so i bought 3 beautiful females. Within an hour of them being in my tank they had killed and tried to eat a young platy which was too big for them. i woke up this morning and witnessed the 3 of them killing another young guppy and eating its head and tail. I then witnessed them tearing one on my adult guppys tail off,only a little remains. They are attacking my fish like theres no tomorrow!!
This was the last straw so i have taken them out and and put them in another tank by themselves.
It is only a 2.5 g, i dont have anything else at the moment for them, it will only be temporary, will get them another tank as soon as i can.
What can i do about my guppys tail? Will it grow back or will it get worse? Can i do anything to help it?

 

[the_lock_man]

First thing I would do is to post a photo on here to make sure that they are female bettas, not something more sinister.
 
Regarding the guppy's tail, it depends upon how much is left - with plenty of good clean water, the tail would eventually grow back.
 
A lesson has been learnt there, if a fish (or group thereof) have killed a co-habiting fish, it's unlikely that other co-habitants will be safe - you should have removed the group as soon as you witnessed the first attack.

 

[DreamertK]

I wouldn't recommend guppies with the fighting bettas/angel fish/gouramis. Their long flowing fins can threaten those fish and cause them to fight.
 
Lots of WC's help more than any meds in this case. Watch out for infections though.

 

[Wildbetta]

The thought that female bettas (I hate the term fighting fish) are less aggressive than their male counterparts is totally wrong.  Female bettas can be very aggressive some more so than males.  They can be kept in the same tank together only because they are not territorial like males are so they don't defend a certain area which allows them to be in the same area together.  They are still aggressive and they will fight so a certain number must be kept to keep the "peace" .  The bare minimum is 5 female bettas that can be kept together to keep them from hurting one particular fish (3 is not a good number as you see how they "group attack", two of them will eventually do the same to the third).  Keeping female bettas in with other fish is hit or miss just like with the males.  If you try it, it is better off to be just one female betta.  I believe with really clean water and good food, your guppy should heal up.  Sorry that it happened this way.  Most pet store people still think female bettas are not aggressive.  

 

[Sophie]

Try some Melafix for fin damage (can't see where you are from but Melafix is widely available in the UK. Made by API).

 

[Jessman]

thanks for the advice guys, but woke up this morning and the guppy was dead
i have added 2 more bettas to make them a 5 so they can set up a pecking order, they seemed to have worked it out already as the fighting stopped after a few hours. i have checked the females and they have the white 'egg spot' on their bellys so i know they are females. i have them in a 15 gallon now, so more room for them all