Freshwater tank help

[Lexy]

Hello, I have got 2 tanks running currently, one is a ten gallon, the other is a 30gallon.
I have the following types of fish
-glowlite tetras
-neon tetras (1remaining)
-black molly's
-1 dalmation Molly remaining (large)
-silver molly's
-platy's
-guppies ( 1 now remaining)
-swordtails
-2female bettas
-plecos
-rope fish ( just a baby, and yea I realize the tank is far too small for him)
-and 2 black skirt tetras


I woke up one day and found one of my glowlite tetras was without a tail ( he is still living and doing fine, the little bone part is still there but the fun part is gone), and I was missing one of my 2 remaining neon tetras.
I figured it was the rope fish, seeing as they are known for having a special liking to neons.

Then I woke up another day to find a couple other fish , a black Molly, one guppy, were missing a small piece of their tail (like a bite) again I figured it was the rope fish so I temporarily moved him to the small tank (bad I know, until I figure put what to do with him(in process of finding bigger tank)). I also removed the two black skirt tetras, as they seemed to be acting aggressively.
So now it's pretty much a bunch of small community fish in the tank. And today I noticed the the guppy that was bitten is now missing a much larger chunk of it's tail, and I am missing the other one.
I was just wondering if anyone would be able to help m figure out which type of fish it might be that's doing this, so I can transfer it to the small tank and put my poor ropefish back into tue bigger one.

Also two of the silver molly's appear to be very pregnant, for a very long time. ( they were in the small tank to avoid bullying and to avoid babies being eaten by rope fish/other fish, but they still haven't given birth so they swapped tanks with the rope fish.

-any insight/ help would he wonderful thank you (also I can give fish numbers if their needed)

 

[LyndaB]

We would need to know which species are in which tank in order to help. You've combined your lists.

 

[Lexy]

We would need to know which species are in which tank in order to help. You've combined your lists.

Oh sorry I though I included that in the post.

The rope fish and the two blackskirt tetras are in the ten gallon tank, everything else is in the 30 gallon, it should say why in the previous post.

 

[Hholly]

From your list, it looks like the 30 is overstocked.

 

[librarygirl]

Oh sorry I though I included that in the post.

The rope fish and the two blackskirt tetras are in the ten gallon tank, everything else is in the 30 gallon, it should say why in the previous post.

Hi and welcome to AA! Sorry about your fish.

I think Lynda meant which fish were in which tank before you moved them and when the problem occurred? That way we can see what fish were mixed together to see if we can find an aggressor(s).

Also how long have the fish been in these tanks together? Is the aggression a new issue?

 

[Lexy]

Oh sorry, before this the 10 gallon wasn't in use, we pit the two prego silver molly's on there to avoid bullying and what not, then moved them back into the 30, and moved the two male silvers and the large dalmtion into the 10 gallon because they were bullying the two pregnant ones.

And the 30 has got a small school of tetras, and only like 2 of the others, we've been given a bunch at one point, but yeah, dedinately no more fish purchases lol.

Oh and the guppy with no tail just died aswell

 

[Lexy]

And actually thinking about the time frame here ( a couple weeks with the prego molly's. Isolated)( and maybe 1 week with the males isolated) and all of the injuries have been withinthe last week or two)

 

[librarygirl]

Wow so you've had all of those fish in your 30? That's part of the issue; the tank is severely overstocked and with some fish that don't belong together I'm afraid.

What kind of Pleco?

Some of your issues:
--The Black Skirts need groups of at least 5 but you can't add more to the tank right now.
--The Ropefish is a likely culprit as it will eat the Tetras, Neons, Mollys, Platys, Guppies, and Bettas.
--The BlackSkirts may also be a culprit as well as they often nip at Guppys.
--Depending on the Bettas they may also nip at other fish's fins.

Is this tank cycled? Have you checked your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings lately? How often do you do water changes and how large?

You're going to have to get at least one other larger tank if you want to keep these fish or if not you'll have to return/rehome some of them. The aggression issues are only going to get worse since most of the fish aren't compatible and are also living in cramped conditions. Also we'll need to know the types of Pleco you have. Sorry.

 

[Lexy]

Bf does the water changes about 1 a week. I'm not sure about the nitrate levels, I need to pick up a kit/tester, we wanted to get rid of some of them anyway,

We noticed the first glowlite with the missing tail ( who is still living and seems healthy btw ) and the missing neon ( figured it was the rope fish) while only the two prego mollies were isolated, which is when we switched the prego females and the bully males, then some fins appeared to be bitten ( seemed like tiny bites ( I thought it was the black skirts) ( only the tails of fish have been bitten so far) which is when we swapped out the male mollies with the rope fish and black skirts. Then more the rest of one guppies tail wen missing, and the other entire guppy went missing. And I believe the plecos are spotted plecos.

 

[LyndaB]

Plecos and rope fish must be rehomed ASAP, no doubt about that.

I would also rehome the bettas and the black skirts, if you want to keep the rest of the stock.

Fish get really weirded out when they are in a cramped environment. Species that might not otherwise be aggressive can become so. You will definitely have fights.

You've got both compatibility and size issues in this tank.

 

[Lexy]

Okay, thank you very much, I am already aware that they have to go, seeing as the 30g tank is FAR too small for each of them( ropefish, and plecos) but I am in the process of getting a bigger aquarium so hopefully I won't have to get rid if them lol thanks or the advice

 

[LyndaB]

Don't forget though that the ropefish causes an issue even without size being a factor. It will go after any fish it can catch at night. It's a nocturnal hunter. Your other fish are prime targets for this guy.

 

[Lexy]

Yeah, I'm aware of that too, it's just a baby I'm not even totally convinced it was him (actually I'm pretty sure it's female, I just keep referring to it as a he) who got at the others, I've had it almost a month and a half now, and not even an injury so far. I'm suspicious the blackskirts are the primary culprits lol they were acting pretty aggressive recently, them I noticed a missing guppy. Lol but yeah I knew they had a neon food preference. But she's been totally content so far with bloodworms and wafers. So at least she's well fed for the time being. Lol