Will an all-male aquarium be a problem?

[amit.rajaram]

Hi,

I am new to the fish habit and have just finished cycling my 36g bowfront with 4 guppies and 2 platys. I did not want to have to deal with breeding and fry's so all my fish are male. I'm also planning on adding a male swordtail and a male sailfin molly soon. I just wanted to check if there was a potential problem with a tank having only males. Are there any species where you can mix males and females, but the females could not breed in normal freshwater conditions? If so, I could get some females in the tank too without having to worry about my kids seeing adult fish eating the baby fish.

Also, any thoughts on good tank mates for guppies and platys, that are not live bearers and make good display fish?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Luananeko]

Keeping all males can be hit or miss, but is doable. The key to success is to have a larger number of the same species so the territorial aggression is spread out across all the members rather than focused on one or two weaker ones. It also helps to re-home any bullies that emerge and decorate the tank with lots of hiding holes and broken lines of sight.

Live bearers (guppies/swords/mollies/platies) are some of the most prolific fish in the aquarium world. Most fish will take a little more effort to have babies (require conditioning with live/frozen food & spawning triggers like frequent water changes, temperature swings, etc) and are safe to have both sexes without risking fry. There's a lot of compatible tank mates that don't usually breed by accident. Tetras, barbs, rasboras, rainbows, cories, loaches, the list goes on. Just research them before you buy to make sure they're compatible.

 

[amit.rajaram]

Thanks for the info. I actually researched all those fish, but did not note that they would not just 'automatically' breed, as most articles focus on how to deal with the fry.

Would Angelfish or a Dwarf Gourami keep the peace with the guppies/platys? I am unable to get a consensus from across the internet, everyone seems to have a different opinion.

Ideally, I would like to add an Angel and a DG instead of the Swordtail and Molly, but many websites suggest that both are capable of killing the guppies.

 

[Luananeko]

Angels are usually fine, just add them while young so they grow up with them and are less likely to try to eat them. In that size tank I would stick to a single angel. A M/F pair would work as well, but they're nearly impossible to sex and can bicker if you guess wrong.

Gourami are hit or miss. Most get along with live bearers fine, but some individuals don't tolerate the flashy fins and colors. Again, stick to one to avoid territorial issues.

 

[amit.rajaram]

Thats what I was thinking - so my stocking will look like this now -

5 x Guppy
2 x Platy
1 x Angel
1 x Dwarf Gourami
4 x Emerald Green Cory

Now, AqAdvisor tells me that my stocking capacity is at 96% (for a 36g bowfront). Is 96% too much? If so, are there any other bottom dwellers that dont need to school (which would allow me to use just 1 or 2 and reduce my stocking capacity level).

I do have 2 filters in play, so filtration is not a problem.

 

[Rivers2k]

usually the best way to avoid aggression is to have an all male tank. Females mess up everything

Your stock is fine. I would add a couple more Corries. Aquadvisor is a little on the heavy side with stocking.

 

[amit.rajaram]

usually the best way to avoid aggression is to have an all male tank. Females mess up everything

Did I mention I live with my wife, mother-in-law and 2 daughters?

 

[Luananeko]

Stocking looks fine, just be prepared for tons of fry if you have any females Aqadvisor always is pretty conservative on it's stocking percentages, so 96% is completely fine.

 

[Angela1108]

Honestly even if you got guppy fry having some of those larger fish the fry will get eaten if you don't take specific measures to avoid them being consumed.


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[amit.rajaram]

Well, the guppies and platys are definitely all male, so as long as the angel, gourami and corys dont have frys (fries?) I will be happy. Per Luananeko's post above, they probably wont have any unless I provide the specific conditions needed, so I should be good (fingers crossed).

 

[Angela1108]

Yeah chances of non live-bearers having babies are pretty slim. I wouldn't worry too much


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[amit.rajaram]

Is it also true that livebearers produce more bioload than other fish of similar size?

 

[Luananeko]

Not really. Live bearers only produce extra bioload if they're having babies

 

[michellev512]

Honey gourami are very peaceful...


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[Coursair]

Is it also true that livebearers produce more bioload than other fish of similar size?

I've always thought so. They seem to be little pigs and seem to live their life very fast paced, eating, pooping breeding, eating pooping breeding.
But I have no scientific proof to back that up ?

Great fish, don't get me wrong.

We've all had Livebearers at some point I think. My favs were my brilliantly Red Swordtails and my Black Sailfin Mollies, males had red along the top fin. But the females get big.

Now all of mine are egg layers.
Emerald Cories are actually a cousin.
Brochis splendens. They get bigger than some Cories. They are very hardy, love soft sand to dig in.
If you want to have more Cories, you could go with a slightly smaller species also.
This is not my tank. C paleatus get decent sized as well, just an example of healthy Cory behavior.
http://youtu.be/tPOvOije4vQ


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[amit.rajaram]

That's an awesome video. Unfortunately I have rainbow gravel at the base of my tank ( 2 daughters - 5 and 3 years old). Will the emerald green Cory's like it here or do they need sand only?

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[Coursair]

That's an awesome video. Unfortunately I have rainbow gravel at the base of my tank ( 2 daughters - 5 and 3 years old). Will the emerald green Cory's like it here or do they need sand only?Sent from my Nexus 5 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

They can handle smooth gravel. Keep it clean tho or they can lose their barbels from a dirty substrate.

Perhaps in the future you can show your girls the video and they'll let you put sand in some part of the tank as a sandbox for the fish to play in.







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[Angela1108]

I bet if you mention sand and tell them it will be like a sandbox for them and show the video they might let you change it to sand! And I have seen sand in some rainbow-ish colors too


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[amit.rajaram]

Never thought of that and its sure to be an instant hit. Question is though, how do I remove some of the gravel and add sand to the bottom of the aquarium without removing all 36 gallons of water and all the fish? I've just about finished cycling, so dont want to mess about with huge water changes.

 

[Coursair]

You can use dividers to part a section for sand. Use a clean plastic tube, you can gently pour sand where you want it.


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