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My water condition is perfect according to my master test kit. I have noticed sometimes one of my guppies will come up with his or her tail shredded. I'm pretty sure I have a rogue in my tank, that is responsible, but can't catch it happening. My problem is, I've noticed once this happens, there isn't a darn thing I can do...they die. My husband and I have really tender hearts and get attached to even our fish. Has anyone noticed this? It seems once they are sick or hurt there is not enough time to do anything about it! We noticed one yesterday (it was fine the day before) and put melafix in the tank and it was dead last night! It can get REALLY frustrating! Help!

Yeah, ive noticed that with all of my fish! Mostly the betta, and my long passed guppies. I think something is tearing its fins. Maybe a decoration getting in its way? If at all possible, can you take a pic or find a pic of the tank? If there is any un-smoothened rocks, or jutting objects, then either sand em' down or remove it. Just a while ago my bettas fins were severely torn, but no it is slowly recovering.

Also, the most important thing to do is to list the stocking and parameters. if there is an incompatable fish, or high........whatever, it could be causing it. Also list the tank size.

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Hi GobyFan...thanks for the reply. That one tank where my adult guppies are, is a 29 gallon. 10 adult guppies (3 male, 7 females), 3 platys and 5 of our guppy fry that are just big enough to not be eaten. Soft plastic plants for the fry to hide in, if we have more, and some fake grass on the bottom, also for the fry. We have one fake decoration that looks like a piece of driftwood, but it is smooth all over. We didn't notice a problem until we got 2 male green cobras, and the next day 1 of our yellow tailed females got her tail shredded and the next day our yellow cobra male was taken down. The tank is definitely not overstocked and we lowered the temp from 78 degress to 76 gradually. I was just curious as to how it always seems too late to save a sick guppy or platy.

Personally id be looking for a more sexually persistant than usual male guppy, often not the biggest, and one that may only have recently become sexually mature. They can be surprisingly aggressive when subdominant and ignored by females , and they take to murder. I had one that shredded the fins of more than 10 females.

He ended up looking a blue acara in the face. For about 4 seconds. Which was precisely how long it took Humbug (the blue acara) to remember that she was in fact, a natural predator of the guppy. Problem over. No passing that trait on genetically in my house Guppies sometimes go from a minor wound to death in a single day, which is well beyond my abilities to do anything about. I suppose a UV steriliser would help, but thats a wee bit expensive for most people.

The way I figure it , aggressive specimens are less acceptable in shoaling situations, often ending up alone or on the edges of a shoal, thusly more liable to predation, and so guppy aggression is managed in nature but sometimes in captive bred situations the males run a bit amok. Humbug serves evolution in my house, thusly keeping male guppies passive

I know what you mean about guppies and disease though, overbred, inbred and no resistance to disease once the mucous membrane is breached. I can save most stuff, but guppies are frustratingly difficult to get to in time. Platies and mollies are pretty similar in that regard, although the bigger size means they can at least take exposure to meds a bit better, and they take longer to fade to critical ill health.

Longhair, I'm glad I'm not the only one that has problems with guppies. We have them because we like them, the colors, the fins, etc. Why they are listed as beginner fish is a mystery to me...they are not easy...must be because they aren't expensive...what a way to judge!!!
Thanks for the info!