Who's the culprit??

[kes]

I am devastated to come home and find the skeleton left of my relatively new Bristlenose. He is quite secretive (and very small) but recently he's come out a little more and I'm afraid he's paid for his bravado! I saw him last night and he was absolutely fine so I don't think he died and then was eaten..

Who do you think would be the culprit? I have a community tank of:

4 Zebra danios
3 Rosy barbs
3 Opaline gouramis
5 Platys
2 Bolivian Rams
3 Corydoras (peppered, bronze and albino)
and one Butterfly loach

I would love to get another one but I'm scared he'd suffer the same fate..

ALSO.. one of my female Platys has been hiding in the plants for the last two days and last night looked like she was 'panting'.. today I can't see her at all! I wondered if she may be having babies..

All my levels are good and the other fish all seem very happy and healthy. This is my first proper tank so I'm just a little slow in recognising some of the behaviour. Your advice would be really appreciated.

Cheers - Kes

[jeffs99dime]

before answering this we need to know your tank size and whether or not there are hiding spots (caves, plants, etc.)

[Glasstapper]

also, it may be possible that he died of someting else and other fish just ate his body. none of your community seems to be the kind to eat a pleco, but then again, I haven't kept some of the species, so I wouldn't really know who to point a finger to.

[kes]

it's a rectangle tank that measures 32x16x15 inches.. I have plenty of rocks and plants and hiding places in there. The Danios tend to race through the plants but a couple of the female Platys like to hide in there.

Most of the fish are quite bold now but I've noticed certain fish are a little territorial like the male Gourami has a favourite rock he always goes behind, and the cichlids have claimed a bit of deadwood in there to stay around.

The story gets worse though, I've just come home and my poor female Platy is dead - she was floating at the top and is completely undamaged apart from her whole abdomen has been ripped out.. my kids are seriously traumatised! I have immediately removed her. The other fish are acting just like normal and were swimming around taking no notice of her.

I have only recently purchased this female platy - this was on the advice of the LFS as my one of my two male Platys was really bullying the other one, so they said I should have a ratio of three females to two males.

Am I doing something wrong? I would really like to get another bristlenose but my LFS only tend to sell the really young ones (and they're quite expensive as it is) and I don't want to sacrifice another one..

Otherwise, my tank is doing really well, my nitrites are completely zero..I'm very aware of not overfeeding - this wouldn't be why they ate the other two fish would it?

Thanks for your help..

[jeffs99dime]

how big is your loach?

[kes]

I don't think it's her.. she's only about 4cms including her tail! All my fish are youngsters really as it's a relatively new set up. I established it in October this year and have just gradually added fish. I think I'm pretty much up to my maximum quota, d'you think?

My money would be on the rosy barbs or my male platy that's throwing his weight around.. he's still really fin nipping the other male platy.. Are the gouramis aggressive? They never seem to be bothered about the other fish but they are really REALLY greedy!

[kes]

I've got a few more plants than this now... sorry for horrendous picture quality

[AquaQueen]

I don't think it's her.. she's only about 4cms including her tail! All my fish are youngsters really as it's a relatively new set up. I established it in October this year and have just gradually added fish. I think I'm pretty much up to my maximum quota, d'you think?

My money would be on the rosy barbs or my male platy that's throwing his weight around.. he's still really fin nipping the other male platy.. Are the gouramis aggressive? They never seem to be bothered about the other fish but they are really REALLY greedy!

I don't really think the Gourami's are aggressive but they can be. I have had one for four years now and he is a slow moving peaceful fishie but he can be nasty when it is feeding time! He makes sure he is feeding on the top and everyone else HAS to eat below him...then again he has been the sole survivor of this tank for four yrs and we had a few yrs back and lost everything in our tank except him...so this is his tank.

[jeffs99dime]

loaches can get very aggressive and territorial but not until later in life. barbs can also be aggressive. tough call

[minabird]

The rams can also be territorial.

You might have to turn off the lights and watch them in the dark to see who's the culprit.