Chunk Missing from Guppy's Tail

A

Andrew02

AC Members
Nov 18, 2011
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When I got home from school today I noticed that this guy has a big chunk taken out of his tail fin. He's still super active but he is just so pretty I was kinda upset when I saw this. Any Idea's what could have happened?

Std. 10 gal tank.
Stock List:
4 Male Guppies (2 Lyretail's 1 Cobra and this guy)
Male Betta
Julii Cory
Peppered Cory
Black Mystery Snail

Pic of said guppy:
PB220034.jpg
 
that is normal:) guppies fight(especially males against males), it will grow back;) don't worry
 
I was hoping that it would grow back. :)

I know guppies are supposed to be 1:2 (M:F) but I really do not have the room for any fry right now, even though I don't think many would make it with the betta and the 2 corys.
 
Might have been the betta. They're not that smart and sometimes can mistake male guppies for rival male bettas cause of the dark flowing tails. I would keep a close eye on your tank and see if you can observe any nipping or other aggressive behaviors from any of your fish.
 
I have watched my tank plenty and from what I have seen the betta wants nothing to do with the guppies. He pretty much just hangs out in the corners of the tank out of any current and when he does venture around he seams to steer clear of the guppies. The boy's probably just got into it a little and since he is the biggest and has the largest fins, shows the most damage I guess. Do they grow fins back quickly? Anything I could do to help him along any?
 
Aquarium salt. Helps keep the fin edges from becoming infected. Also, try adding more places to hide so he has somewhere to escape and recuperate. Keep up on the water changes and do what you can to keep stress down so his immune system is up. Most dangerous thing with torn fins is bacteria and infection getting in.
 
I vote Mr Betta too, those long guppy fins are too tempting for even "mellow" bettas sometimes. Should heal up nicely with lots of water changes.
 
Okay cool I will grab some aquarium salt then, should I just follow the directions on the package? It won't hurt any of the other fish will it? Maybe add some stress coat to the water until he's all healed up, or is the salt enough?

Yeah I kinda think it was the betta too, even though he has never shown any aggression towards the other fish.
 
I def vote for the betta. Guppies scuffle sometimes, but they typically don't take chunks. That looks like what happens when a male betta decides that a guppy is another betta lol. Be careful with that salt and your cories. I personally wouldn't salt your tank with cories and snails in there. Cories don't have true scales and have a hard time with salt, and mystery snails do not always do well with salt either. The damage to the guppies fin is not bad enough that he is having trouble with infection or anything and it will grow back with time. I would just keep an eye on him and keep the water clean. I would also keep an eye on that betta lol.
 
Yeah I was just doing a little more research on the salt and saw that the cory's and snails do not like it. The guppy is still having no problems at all so if anything I might add a little bit on Stress-coat like once a week to help him out a little bit. This is the first time the betta has does anything like this, he never bothers the guppies at all, that's why I was so surprised to see him missing fin like that.
 
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