Just noticed that one of the Guppy's is missing part of his tail, and is struggling to swim

[TacomaToker]

Hi there,
I've got a couple of these Guppy's, I am not sure exactly what kind they are. This morning I noticed one of the Guppy's is missing a huge chunk out of his tail, and as a result is barely able to swim. It is pretty sad, his only buddy keeps swimming by and wondering what he is up to. It looks like someone took a bite out of his tail, and I have a potential suspect. I have an unknown yellow fish in the tank that I got from my brother's tank, I attached a picture. He seems like a real bully, and is always chasing around the 3 New Guinea Rainbows, who are the biggest fish in the tank and seem really unconcerned/passive. Besides that, there are only 3 other unknown fish from my brother, but they seem much more passive as well (I also attached a picture). Does anyone know what species these 2 guys are, and if one of them is likely to be attacking the Guppy's? Also, can anything be done for the poor Guppy? Thank you!

Unknown Suspect:

Other 3 passive unknowns:

Injured Guppy:

 

[JuiceBox52]

The top one is a glo fish skirt tetra. These fish are aggressive if kept in groups of less than 6.
The others are zebra danios and they are also aggressive if kept in groups of less than 6.

There are some stocking problems here, the above fish are soft water fish. Fuplies need hard water. Depending on your GH one or the other will suffer. You can find your GH on your local water providers website. @Byron is better at explaining the hardness issue

To help the fin heal do a 50+% water change every day for a week

 

[Retired Viking]

@JuiceBox52 is correct both danios and tetras are shoaling fish and need 6 or more, less than that and they feel stressed and become aggressive and both are soft water fish. The guppies are hard water fish but more adaptive to different water conditions but best kept in hard water. Soft water fish are designed to absorb and store more nutrients from the soft water because there is so little in the water when you put them in hard water the nutrients build up in their system which is unhealthy for them. It is like us eating to much fat. It is also important to keep the water clean to help heal the fin and not get an infection or fin rot.

 

[Colin_T]

There are some stocking problems here, the above fish are soft water fish. Fuplies need hard water.

LOL, You must have been tired when typing this. Fuplies

--------------
For the OP.
As mentioned by the others, the top fish is a yellow skirt or widow tetra and they are renown fin nippers, even when kept in groups. They should be kept in groups of at least 6 (preferably 10) or more.

The danios aren't really fin nippers but sometimes do. And they also like to be in groups of at least 6. The females are fatter than the males. You have at least 2 females.

Your guppy with the damaged tail is called a snakeskin guppy, due to the markings on the tail. It's a normal guppy but a snakeskin colour form.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Fuplies

What is Fuplies

 

[Colin_T]

I think it was meant to be guppies but typos

 

[TacomaToker]

LOL, You must have been tired when typing this. Fuplies

--------------
For the OP.
As mentioned by the others, the top fish is a yellow skirt or widow tetra and they are renown fin nippers, even when kept in groups. They should be kept in groups of at least 6 (preferably 10) or more.

The danios aren't really fin nippers but sometimes do. And they also like to be in groups of at least 6. The females are fatter than the males. You have at least 2 females.

Your guppy with the damaged tail is called a snakeskin guppy, due to the markings on the tail. It's a normal guppy but a snakeskin colour form.

thank you for the response! seems like everyone here is from WA too! do you think I should try to remove the skirt tetra ASAP?

 

[TacomaToker]

The top one is a glo fish skirt tetra. These fish are aggressive if kept in groups of less than 6.
The others are zebra danios and they are also aggressive if kept in groups of less than 6.

There are some stocking problems here, the above fish are soft water fish. Fuplies need hard water. Depending on your GH one or the other will suffer. You can find your GH on your local water providers website. @Byron is better at explaining the hardness issue

To help the fin heal do a 50+% water change every day for a week

thanks for the response. Is 50% extreme? I thought you should never remove more than 20-25% of the water?

 

[Colin_T]

Yes, I would rehome the skirt tetra so it can have some companions and the guppies can live in safety.

You can change 90% of the tank water as long as the water chemistry (pH, GH and KH) and temperature are similar, and the new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

The idea of big water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate is to dilute the nutrients and disease organisms in the water and reduce the chance of the fish getting an infection.

 

[Byron]

First issue...you have very soft water (this is the case along coastal Oregon, Washinghton and SW BC where I am). Species requiring harder water, such as all livebearers, cannot be healthy in our very soft water, so it would be a good idea to re-home the guppies. At the least, do not acquire any more livebearers (guppies, swordtails, platies, Endlers, mollies).

That brings us to the rainbowfish...some of these also require moderatel hard water, some are softer water. We will need to know the species; a photo of the fish will help if you don't know the name. Rainbowfish like tetras are shoaling fish, requiring a group, we can go into that when we know the species.

I see Colin posted as I have been typing, and he did not realize the soft water issue. Now he will.

I agree on the water changes; I change 60-70% of each of my tanks once each week.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Sorry about my typo everyone lol

 

[Colin_T]

Sorry about my typo everyone lol

LOL it's all good, I kinda like Fuplies

 

[JuiceBox52]

LOL it's all good, I kinda like Fuplies

I'm gonna name one of my gups fluplie now

 

[Colin_T]

It's my new word for when I swear.

GET OFF THE ROAD YOU FUPLIE IDIOT
STUPID FUPLIE MORON MOTORIST
GET THESE FUPLIES OUT OF HERE
AHH FUPLIE IT

 

[JuiceBox52]

It's my new word for when I swear.

GET OFF THE ROAD YOU FUPLIE IDIOT
STUPID FUPLIE MORON MOTORIST
GET THESE FUPLIES OUT OF HERE
AHH FUPLIE IT

Lol that's great I think I'll do that too. Better than actually swearing