Had to remove my guppy and Chinese algae eater from the sorority.

[Brian10962001]

Title says it all! I noticed an odd looking scale on one of my females the other day. I thought the alpha might have singled her out and started picking on her, i was pretty worried. While keeping an eye on the tank after lights out I noticed the Chinese Algae eater was sitting almost perched (half on half off) of one of the pots. I saw him shoot out and grab one of the females! I know this is something these fish do when they get bigger but I didn't think he would turn this fast (I bought him when I got my Oto cat because they only had one oto). Ever since I moved the fish in one female has shown stress stripes, I had began to think this was just her coloration. Well yet again after the lights are out while the girls are just slow swimming the top I see the guppy come up and fin nip one of them HARD. He's now out and within a day the stress striped female is solid blue! So far so good on the sorority but I really need to move something else in there to keep them distracted.

[Oldfishlady]

Good that you caught this before too much damage......

If you add tall items in the tank in several different places that go all the way to the top...this can help by breaking the line of sight-it also gives the less aggressive a way to the top without being seen...since Bettas are surface dwelling fish they tend to do best with more hiding places at the surface, although the caves are also good and help provide hiding spot-they have got to get to the surface to breath...break the line of sight and provide hiding place at the surface can help ease some of the stress.....

Love to see some pics.....

[Tailorrr]

I noticed my alge eaters chasing each other.. I didn't know they were aggressive though till I joined the forum.. Hope it dosent get too bad.. Just each other now.. Sometimes another fish if they get too close to where ever they are hiding at the time..

[Brian10962001]

My alpha female does a great job of ruling the tank without hurting the other fish. It really worried me because suddenly they started having not only tears, but little holes in their fins, then I noticed that raised scale. Fin nipping is one thing, but a betta biting the body is another. Turns it it wasn't the alpha, it was that algae eater! Those things are like a mix between a lamphrey and a channel cat. They start on a diet of algae but soon move to fish slime. The guppie was just a bit of a pest. He could eat as many betta pellets as one of my male bettas. I really like guppies because they're so tough and they reproduce easily but forget keeping them with bettas, I've had a bad experience both times (though the first time it wasn't due to fin nipping, the tank just turned for some reason). Also now that the Chinese algae eater is gone, my otocinclus is out from hiding and finally cleaning the tops of the clay pots!