Male Guppy Tails Nipped?

[Sacred]

Ok so I purchased 3 nice pretty looking male guppies yesterday to replace the ones I lost in the past.

At first they was being harrassed by the male silver tipped tetra in my tank (part of a group of 6 - 3 male and 3 females) who seem to be sexually active right now, and agressive with it. We transferred 2/4 couples out of the tank and things calmed right down and the male guppies were able to hang around the fems.

Wake up today however and all 3 males tails are pretty badly shredded. It doesn't look like an illness, more nipped.

I am just worried about them now, as this seems to keep happening to my tank when I get male guppies and they normally end up dead. Tank is:

45 Gal

Contents:
1 Male Betta
2 Silver tipped tetra
2 Small Angel fish (a possible)
1 Small Pictus Catfish
4 Black Phantoms
7 Guppies (3 males and 5 female)

I think I heard Angels can get nippy, but mine are small and they are so gentle when I look in the tank, they don't show interest in the guppies at all.

The other possibility is the Pictus caught them at night when it comes out more.

What do others think?

And what can I do for my poor guppies? I don't want to lose them and I want their tails to grow back. I don't have a spare tank, only a hatchery tank that sits in my tank. I know above it said I put the tetra in our other tank but the guppies wouldn't last a few mins in that one.

Help?

 

[the biffster]

i have had a bad time
with silver tip tetras
and phantoms in the past
angel fish can but its not
normally till they get a bit
older but that's only my experience

 

[Sacred]

Thanks for the reply. I did think it was the tetra, but removing the majority of them has calmed my tank right down. The couple left keep each other in check and keep together.

The black phantoms, never shown any agreesiveness to anything.

The guppies are much more relaxed now I can tell, I am looking in the tanks now and they are all congregated together, maybe trying to breed or hatching a plan I don't know

I still have suspicion on the pictus maybe. Seeing as it happened during the night, and I believe fish tend to 'sleep' at the bottom of the tank, maybe he's come along and had a nibble on them.

 

[helterskelter]

All the tetra's are a risk, and it only takes one to cause so much trouble.
Angel may have a nip, but a small one should be ok for now but once mature they may eat a inch long guppy.

Also dont forget the Betta. These are notorious for ripping tails on guppies.

However it dose depend on the the fish most fish will tollerate it and i my self once had guppies and betta together fine. fish have bad days too, and it just take's for something different to trigger it.

I would add some melifix or myxazin just to stop any infections from setting in, and if you dont see it starting to grow back in 7 days check your water quality and do extra water changes.

 

[Sacred]

I do feel that if I leave them as they are they are either going to die or just get nipped even more. I don't want more deaths

The betta I don't suspect as it is very even tempered.

EDIT
I have seperate 2 of the male guppies and put them in my hatchery tank for the time being, they each have a chamber. The last male must be in heaven, all the fems to himself, though he too has a nipped tail (plus I got him by accident by the careless woman who got him out the tank where I got him, even then he was already abit tatty.

The Casualties

Redtailed was the extra one I didn't pick out but got in my bag with the other two. Blue and the mixed colours one had almost perfect tails

 

[Sacred]

Sorry for double post.

Disaster! I have lost 3 of my guppies today. First was the one I mention in my other thread 'Fin Rot Guppy' http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/332438-fin-rot-guppy/

Which mysteriously got it's tail pretty much nipped away whilst I was away for just 1 hour. Put it in the hatchery to keep it safe but it died a few hours later

But now I have one of my other female guppies (The extra I didn't ask for when I got my last batch) who has had a nip to the tail, today.

And sadly the third is the blue male I posted above. I had been keeping my males in the hatchery at night and in the tank during the day. But again today during the day something had a go at it and I found the poor thing dead on the floor with it's whole tail missing down to the root. It's so sad.

So now my guppy ratio is all out of synch 2 males to 2 females. But at the rate I am going the two males will cop it. The two remaining females are both larger and stronger then all the others I had, they are totally nip free so far.

I did a water change this evening. Advice from the other thread is that my tank has too many fish in it. So I can't even really balance up my guppy male/female ratio

What should I do. I can get the two tetras moved out. Pictus I am not so sure. What number should I have?

45 Litre Community (First Tank):
x1 Siamese Fighting Fish (Male)
x2 Angels (Male and Female)
x4 Black Phantoms
x1 Pictus
x2 Silver tipped tetra (Male and Female)
x4 Guppies (x2 Male x2 Female)
x1 Swordtail (Male)

 

[stang1]

Is the tank 45 litres or gallons?

 

[Sacred]

Is the tank 45 litres or gallons?

Sorry, Silly me (keep changing it I see). My tank is 54 Litres, not 45

 

[BuggGuppies]

Scared

Im Just having as bad luck as you are i started tropical fish again redone the hole tank when it was set up i added a few ect but 3 months in im all ready having problems where i wake up to a dead fish or on with a nip tail and it was going so well I Have Lost 3 Neons Tetras And 1 Guppy And 1-2 Have Had There Taild Niped I regualy Clean the Tank And Clean Filters And Have A Nice Range Of Plants and Decor To I Have See On Neon Biting A Guppys tail But In Not Shore I Also Have Lots Of Thows Snails

Can Any one help me here!

I Have Now

Neon Tetras x4
Orange Guppys x2 (Did Have 3 But One Died It Was A Female)
Green guppys with black dots x3 ( One Of These Have Seriouse Nips to The Tail)
Blue Guppys x3 (These Ones Are Fine)