Guppies are NOT the peaceful fish they seem

[Teakwood]

My guppies are mean to each other, one just succumbed to his months of being bullied. I did only get 3 when I bought so I know the aggression wasn't distributed evenly. Now bully man is beating up number 2. Tail shredded, did a round of meds to hopefully help it heal but I know the bullying won't stop.

 

[Teakwood]

I don't think I will ever have guppies again, I don't want to add more because of limited tank space. I woolly split them up if I can. But my main tank has angels and lampeyes, known flowy tail nippers. And I don't feel comfortable adding them to other tanks because of the risk of illness spreading due to shredded tails. Oy. Guppies and snails(angels also pick on them) 2 pets I didn't realize I would have such a hard time with!

 

[khoifish89]

try getting more guppies see if that help.

 

[Teakwood]

try getting more guppies see if that help.

I will if/when I have tank space I think they would thrive in.

 

[Hobgob]

what is the male to female ratio? i believe it is something like 1:3. if you dont want them to breed you could keep two males but the tank needs to be big enough and have enough sight breakers.

 

[Teakwood]

what is the male to female ratio? i believe it is something like 1:3. if you dont want them to breed you could keep two males but the tank needs to be big enough and have enough sight breakers.

I'm pretty sure I had 3 males, I have tried adding lots of plants and caves to give options for hiding out and getting away and it never really helped.

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

All females is the best way to prevent aggression and babies

 

[MacDracor]

In the absense of females, males will bully. A 1:2 male:female is really the minimum to keep everyone happy, but 1:3 is better, as stated already.
Be wary of all female setups as a means to avoid fry. Guppies, like most livebearers, can store sperm for up to six months, dropping fry every thirty days or so.
I'm very sorry you had a bad experience with guppies, but I hope it doesn't discourage you completely. What size tank was this? You can crowd guppies a bit as long as water quality is maintained.

 

[_skyla_]

I think you just got a cranky guppy they all seem to have their own personalities. You could try separate the bully guppy and see how it goes if he's healthy and it's just the others with nipped fins. My guppies never bully each other and my ratio is way off 2male and 2 female. not that id recommend that it's best sticking to the m:f ratio. would get another female if needed but my girls are doing great strangely. I think it's just some fish a just big meanies and others are more docile like people haha.

 

[Teakwood]

In the absense of females, males will bully. A 1:2 male:female is really the minimum to keep everyone happy, but 1:3 is better, as stated already.
Be wary of all female setups as a means to avoid fry. Guppies, like most livebearers, can store sperm for up to six months, dropping fry every thirty days or so.
I'm very sorry you had a bad experience with guppies, but I hope it doesn't discourage you completely. What size tank was this? You can crowd guppies a bit as long as water quality is maintained.

They have mostly been in my 10 gallon. I put them in the 55 with young angels and the tetras to see if they would do ok but when I noticed the tails getting iffy I put them back in the 10. If I ever do guppies again I will make sure the ratio is proper, when I got them I didn't know much and as soon as I saw the aggression researched more and new what was going on. At this point I think I should make a divider for my 10 gallon sothey can heal up and get healthy. The one who passed , his tail was half the length it should have been and he's belly was larger then the others. My water params are perfect and I think he just got picked on so much he never was stress free enough to heal.

 

[Teakwood]

I think you just got a cranky guppy they all seem to have their own personalities. You could try separate the bully guppy and see how it goes if he's healthy and it's just the others with nipped fins. My guppies never bully each other and my ratio is way off 2male and 2 female. not that id recommend that it's best sticking to the m:f ratio. would get another female if needed but my girls are doing great strangely. I think it's just some fish a just big meanies and others are more docile like people haha.

My old betta, though old and showing it, totally cool with being housed with other fish, my bully guppy... Oy I also had a murderous gaurami once. I think I have bad luck getting aggressive little stinks.

 

[Wiggles24]

Guppies can be incredibly mean towards other male guppies and smaller fish. I had to move mymale Molly into another tank cuz they bullied him so bad he was almost dead!

 

[Bigzmey]

kept guppies for years, males only. Never had problems with aggression. Right now I have 5 males in 12 gal tank. They are playing with each other, but no aggression.

Stressed fish tend to become aggressive, if you feed them well and keep tank clean they should mellow out. Also, fish are more aggressive in smaller tanks, you can try to move your bully male to larger tank if possible.

 

[jmay33]

I've had this same experience with my guppies. No fatalities, but I bought 3 females per male and they were so rough that I had to return the females. I will say, they're some of my favorite fish! As a matter of fact, I'm about to start a 55 gallon fancy guppy tank. Guppies are not as beginner as people think they are, as far as aggression goes.

 

[Bigzmey]

Yes, fancy guppies definitely not beginner fish. They are quite fragile and it is better to add them once you tank is well established.

 

[jmay33]

Yes, fancy guppies definitely not beginner fish. They are quite fragile and it is better to add them once you tank is well established.

Yep! I have. 30 gallon community tank that has fancy guppies in it. My bio load wouldn't handle female guppies without separating the males into different tanks, which I did for a few days. It didn't work well. So, it's a good excuse for a larger tank.

 

[Bigzmey]

Yep! I have. 30 gallon community tank that has fancy guppies in it. My bio load wouldn't handle female guppies without separating the males into different tanks, which I did for a few days. It didn't work well. So, it's a good excuse for a larger tank.

I have to keep my male mollies in a separate tank for the same reason. Long term you probably want to keep females in a separate tank. It does not take long time for livebreeders to overrun 30 gal, which I learned hard way

Luckily our local fish store took surplus of my hands.

 

[Fishy Smell]

Put your bully Guppy in with a Convict and see if he still wants to bully.

Seriously though, early in my aquarium days i bought 7 males and they totally irritated me, squabbling constantly. They made the place look untidy. I ended up taking 5 back and i got 4 or 5 females. Things settled down quite nicely after that.

 

[Teakwood]

I have an empty 10g I could set up just haven't figured out space for it yet. It's tempting to throw the bully in with the angels but then I would just have 2 raggedy looking guppies

 

[MacDracor]

I figure the easiest way to keep livebearers from overrunning a tank is to include fish that will eat the fry even when they're half grown.