Please help - Guppy chasing newly introduced Molly

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ramvee

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Hi
I am a novice tank enthusiast. Have the following

50 litre tank with tap water

9 gourami
7 guppies
2 catfish (sucker fishes)

And i introduced 5 mollies into it yesterday. But the guppies seem to be harassing the orange mollies. Please see the attached video. I isolated the mollies in a net and kept them there for the entire day but the harassment started as soon as I let them free into the tank.
There is another molly which is not bright colored (off white body with a streak of black) whose gill area is quite reddish, tried to attach a couple of decent pictures of them. Is it hurt?

The gouramis have been quite peaceful with the rest but I am seeing the guppies are quite aggressive. I thought mollies and guppies were compatible. Anything I am missing something. Please suggest. I don't want to see the newcomers suffer.

Thanks
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http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5dd3d9e320d23/VID_20191119_173022.mp4
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Well, first and foremost, your tank is way overstocked. The tank is too small for even one gourami, let alone nine. With just the guppies alone you're pretty much at your limit. Also, gouramis are soft water fish while all livebearers need hard water, so they should never be kept together.
What are the catfish you have in the tank? Depending on what they are, they may have to go back to the store as well.
Guppies are usually peaceful fish. They may be attacking the mollies because the tank is so overcrowded.

Do you have a testing kit? If not, I would recommend buying one. With so many fish in such a small tank, your nitrate levels must be crazy high. How often do you do water changes? Also, are you aware of the nitrogen cycle and did you cycle the tank before putting fish in?
It would also be helpful to know your GH and KH levels so we can recommend some new fish.
 
Last edited:
Well, first and foremost, your tank is way overstocked. The tank is too small for even one gourami, let alone nine. With just the guppies alone you're pretty much at your limit. Also, gouramis are soft water fish while all livebearers need hard water, so they should never be kept together.
What are the catfish you have in the tank? Depending on what they are, they may have to go back to the store as well.
Guppies are usually peaceful fish. They may be attacking the mollies because the tank is so overcrowded.

Do you have a testing kit? If not, I would recommend buying one. With so many fish in such a small tank, your nitrate levels must be crazy high. How often do you do water changes? Also, are you aware of the nitrogen cycle and did you cycle the tank before putting fish in?
It would also be helpful to know your GH and KH levels so we can recommend some new fish.
Thank you @FishFinatic77

I obviously have much to learn. I don't know about cycling - could you suggest some easy to start resources for me to read up?

This tank has been with me for about 40 days now. I didn't know about cycling so I just let my watery friends into it after I setup the tank.

I change about 25~30% water every 10 days. I installed an additional filter with 800lpm capacity recently to compensate the low filtration of the top filter unit that came with the tank. After installing the filter, my fishes showed a lot more vigor and activity.

I got an API test kit recently, and tested the water on 8 Nov.
pH 8.2
NH3/NH4 : 3 ppm
NO2 - : 0.75 ppm
NO3 - : 30 ppm

After the test, I did a 30% water change.

I add API Stress Coat, API Pilafix and API Melafix once a week (5 ml each).
I also have API aquarium salt available that I add a small teaspoonful once in 20 days.

I live in Bangalore, India. The water is from an underground source and has a general hardness of around 600. I used a hardness tester. But I don't know about the other water parameters. Is there any other kit I can procure for this?

Could you please suggest based on these facts? I just want the best for the little ones.

I have attached a picture of the catfish (or is it something else?), it's an algae eater with big sucker in the mouth, and I have a pair of these. The aquarium guy called them "tank cleaner" which I am sure isn't the right name probably. Your guidance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
RV
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Ok, so ideally you should have no ammonia and no nitrites in the water. Do a 75% water change then retake the test. Take out water until there is no ammonia or nitrites in the water. You will have to test the water every day and do a water change when the ammonia or nitrites go above 0.25ppm. Also, the nitrates should not go over 20ppm.

You can read about fish in cycling here: http://petfishclub.com/cycle-with-fish-in-cycle/ , but there are of course many different websites and youtube videos you can watch.

The 600ppm I'm assuming is KH? If so, you're water is quite hard. The gouramis and the plecos (the catfish) are not suitable for that water. I would return them to the store.

Now, why are you adding Pilafix and Melafix? Those are medicines to treat illnesses and are not meant to be added to the tank regularly. They also affect the gourami's labyrinth organ which allows them to breath from the surface. The API stresscoat is fine for if your fish are stressed or if they have to regrow their slime coat, but other than that it is not necessary to add it every week. Also, the aquarium salt is meant to treat illnesses and should not be added to a freshwater aquarium.

Like I said, the algae eaters you have are a species of pleco, but I can't tell which species from the photo. Plecos produce a lot of waste and often grow very large, so as I said, you should return them to the store.

As for your water changes, after you are finished cycling, you should be doing a 50% water change once a week.

Now, for your stocking suggestion, I would recommend either the guppies or the mollies. Personally, I would go with the guppies because mollies are bigger and would really prefer more space. If you keep the guppies, 7 is really your limit, but if you have females you will soon have babies that you will have to deal with.

If you have any more questions I will gladly answer them for you. Good luck!
 
Thank you @FishFinatic77. I totally appreciate your help. Let me get going on this.

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