Hi Everyone,
This is my first post. I did do a search but nothing immediately came up with the fish I have together (probably the problem). Everything here has been advised by my local store.
Anyway, a couple weeks ago I received a 10g fish tank as a birthday present. I went down to my local pets at home and they advised me on what fish I should have. So after a week of allowing my tank to settle and stuff I came home with 2 pearl gouramis (which I think are both female, judging by the length of the dorsal fin). So they were fine, a little bit of chasing around and stuff but it looked ok to me. Another week passes and i then add 5 ruby tetras ( i was gonna go with neons for the colour but the women in the store said they were too small for the pearls. So they have been in for about a week now and I've noticed some smalls bits of fins missing.
One pearl has a so nipping of the tail fin and the other pearl has some nipping of the pectoral fin and 2 of the tetras have some dorsal fin marks.
It doesn't look overly bad or serious to me, yet and I can't tell who's doing the damage as they seem to be getting along fine to be honest. They are all swimming together and feeding ok and stuff.
Now after I have done my own research, which i should have done instead of asking and going along with the store, which in my defense the women said she had worked there for 16 years. I've determined the tank is too small for the pearls. I do intend to get a bigger one at some point but for now this is what i have.
My water is fine, the tank looks clear i'm doing my water changes and stuff. There is a bunch of plants in there which have now been nearly totally destroyed now by the pearls i think.
Can anyone with more experience than me offer some advice. What's the best course of action here? How much nipping is too much? Will it run its course and be ok or will it get worse. I don't want to stress or damage my fish above what is normal interactions.
Any advice is appreciated.
thanks everyone.
This is my first post. I did do a search but nothing immediately came up with the fish I have together (probably the problem). Everything here has been advised by my local store.
Anyway, a couple weeks ago I received a 10g fish tank as a birthday present. I went down to my local pets at home and they advised me on what fish I should have. So after a week of allowing my tank to settle and stuff I came home with 2 pearl gouramis (which I think are both female, judging by the length of the dorsal fin). So they were fine, a little bit of chasing around and stuff but it looked ok to me. Another week passes and i then add 5 ruby tetras ( i was gonna go with neons for the colour but the women in the store said they were too small for the pearls. So they have been in for about a week now and I've noticed some smalls bits of fins missing.
One pearl has a so nipping of the tail fin and the other pearl has some nipping of the pectoral fin and 2 of the tetras have some dorsal fin marks.
It doesn't look overly bad or serious to me, yet and I can't tell who's doing the damage as they seem to be getting along fine to be honest. They are all swimming together and feeding ok and stuff.
Now after I have done my own research, which i should have done instead of asking and going along with the store, which in my defense the women said she had worked there for 16 years. I've determined the tank is too small for the pearls. I do intend to get a bigger one at some point but for now this is what i have.
My water is fine, the tank looks clear i'm doing my water changes and stuff. There is a bunch of plants in there which have now been nearly totally destroyed now by the pearls i think.
Can anyone with more experience than me offer some advice. What's the best course of action here? How much nipping is too much? Will it run its course and be ok or will it get worse. I don't want to stress or damage my fish above what is normal interactions.
Any advice is appreciated.
thanks everyone.
