Swordtail Attacked To Death

[K_Hedin]

Hey all,

Woke up a few days ago to find my male swordtail missing part of his tail fin. Nothing horrible. I know it will grow back. I woke up this morning to find that a female swordtail had been attacked to death. She was upside down in the tank at the bottom with marks all over her body.

It is a 10 gallon tank that is now stocked with 2 swordtails (1M, 1F) and 6 black mollies (2M, 4F). It is lightly planted and the numbers check out. I know I was kind of pushing the limits with the number of fish but I figured they would be peaceful with each other. The only flow in the tank is from the filter and they all seem to congregate around it. Would adding a pump and some extra flow to play in be a good idea? Any other thoughts/suggestions would be helpful as well.

Thanks.

 

[OldMan47]

What other fish do you have besides the livebearers?

 

[K_Hedin]

That is all that is in the 10G tank.

 

[OldMan47]

I am sorry to report that I see nothing that should be the source of your aggression. Mollies are generally nice fish with no real aggression toward other fish. A pair of Xiphophorus are seldom a problem for a fish keeper either. What that leaves us is nothing to draw from. You have fish that most of us would expect to do just fine together. Your fish should e expected to do just fine together. Although an increase in flows may divert attention from other factors, there is nothing inherent in the original arrangement that is well recognized as being a issue for your fish.

 

[K_Hedin]

That is kind of what I thought. While having 9 two inch fish in a 10 gallon is a little much they all are nice fish and I guess it just has to be 8 for now. I might replace the lost female once the plants grow in a little better so that everyone can have a place to hide.