platies and guppies can it work?

[Shon]

Hello, I am totally new to fish keeping. I have two guppies both male one turquoise and one tequila sunrise. I also have two platies male one red wag and one Mickey mouse. These fish was in my ten gallon community. The issue I'm having is the turquoise guppy wont leave my male platies alone so I moved him to my three gallon with a female Sunburst platy who chases him now. Also since i moved my turquoise guppy my two male platies chase each other as to sticking together as before. I was wondering if there is anything I can do to put my turquoise guppy back in the ten with everyone else and if I get another male platy to put in there can that help if so what kind and could adding another male guppy help. I'm getting a 55gallon or bigger in a month or two so any and all advice is very much appreciated. Thank you for reading this and your time.

 

[Zimmanski]

Hello, I am totally new to fish keeping. I have two guppies both male one turquoise and one tequila sunrise. I also have two platies male one red wag and one Mickey mouse. These fish was in my ten gallon community. The issue I'm having is the turquoise guppy wont leave my male platies alone so I moved him to my three gallon with a female Sunburst platy who chases him now. Also since i moved my turquoise guppy my two male platies chase each other as to sticking together as before. I was wondering if there is anything I can do to put my turquoise guppy back in the ten with everyone else and if I get another male platy to put in there can that help if so what kind and could adding another male guppy help. I'm getting a 55gallon or bigger in a month or two so any and all advice is very much appreciated. Thank you for reading this and your time.

Ive had them do this too, as long as you dont see any real damage I wouldnt worry too much about it, the guppy is probably trying to mate with anything he sees, mine did.

 

[Shon]

Thank you for the advice. When the male turquoise guppy is in the community he chases n nips the red wag. I have a friend whos mom has a 100 gal he said to separate him but that's it. I feel bad for him since he was one of my first two fish . With the turquoise guppy in with my female sunrise platy she chases n nips at him. She wont let him eat and keeps him cornered. So my dilemma is what to do with this poor guy I really want him in my community tank.

 

[biss444]

make sure you have some places for the fish to hide, and also give the male guppy a couple female guppies to chase, to give the platy a break

 

[biss444]

its sometimes hard to get fish to get along, all the time, the smaller the tank the harder it is , chasing is normal as long as there is no severe damage to each other, the only other thing to do is to put a seperator in your tank, if you don't have a place for him

 

[Shon]

Thank you biss. I will go try to get a separator tomorrow. I'm getting a 55gal long Wednesday or Thursday. It is free from a buddy because it is over ran with algae and he just don't want to mess with it anymore. So with that said id like to move all my fish to the 55 except my ghost shrimp. Will the male to female ratio be ok for my fish? Will I be okay to run it for three days before moving my fish and do I have to float them wen I do transfer them? How can I clean the algae out the tank, pump, and filter?

 

[khoifish89]

the ratio is should always be 3f to 1m regard to livebearer.

 

[biss444]

yes three two one is the way to go. green algea, can be a pain, soak it in warm water , then some scrubbing, do not use soap, you will have to get the new tank cycled, so amonia build up won,t happen which will kill your fish, let the tank run, and some people put a couple fish in to get the cycle started , from their waste and fish food. you need to have a n amonia tester to keep an eye on it

 

[Shon]

Ok thank extremely helpful I will get some females today or tomorrow for my lil guy. I will give the tank a good scrubbing. The tank is still full of water n algae in his basement so I have to drain it. Ill try get a scraper to help . Thank you again

 

[biss444]

one think i wanted to let you know, not sure what you have in your tank, for plants, but if you want a good cheap and very easy plant for your baby fry, get some java moss, this stuff will grow with no extra work,just needs normal tank lighting, this stuff is great for baby hiding places and also in a established tank will supply your baby fish some added nurishment with small oganisms living inside , just thought id throw that out there

 

[Shon]

Biss my 93 yr old Grandma (who had a 165gallon till I was 4) told me the same thing I'm very interested in adding a live plant. I currently have a action treasure chest for my lil girl to watch and my frogs swim in the lid and round and out fun to watch as far as plants go I got a pack of glow in the dark decorations and a rock base one from Walmart. There is 5 fake plants in all and the chest. Is tank upkeep more difficult having live plants.

 

[biss444]

no extra work at all with java moss. all they need is basic light, no feedings, nothing , it will spread, i bought a baseball size bunch on aquabid, i ended up with six or seven tanks full of them, my gardinia killifish loved them they are egg layers, they would swim in it lay there eggs, and all i did was watch, babies hatched , and i fed them micro worms, when i was selling fish i would take the java moss out of the tank where killifish were in, put in other tank, and put diferent java moss in, so i had babies coming out of my ears, its great stuff, and like i said the plants after a while will have small micro organisms in it that babies will eat,

 

[Shon]

That sounds great I went to my PETCO and they are getting some in Tuesday. When it starts to spread is there a way to remove it and store it without a tank for later on? And biss I have to say you have been extremely helpful a thounds thanks

 

[biss444]

your very welcome, anytime i can help someone, to make there fish experience a good one is worth it, as far as where to put it you would have to have it in a tank with a light, i had over twenty tanks running so i never ran out of room, and i use to give a little away.goodluck

 

[Shon]

Ok so I got some Java moss and in the last few days my female platy just hides I fed them today and he wont let her out to eat. I am considering giving him to my lil brother but he only has a 1 gallon or so fish bowl. Will he do ok in there alone with out a filter or air pump. I just don't want him to kill or really hurt my other fish and I don't have anywhere for him if really sux but if he will do ok I know he'll have a good home.

 

[biss444]

the fish would need an airstone and really some kind of filter to survive for any amount of time, its normal for the male to chase the female around, normally will not do any harm, more than one female is best for each male you have, usually 3 to 1

 

[Shon]

The issue is the space. They are in a 3 gallon with two ghost shrimp and my 10 gallon is at Max capacity. I was planning on getting another f platy hoping if there was two to just him he might feel intimidated but do I have room in the 3 to do this. One of my ghost shrimp is pregnant and will be having the lil ones soon

 

[biss444]

you would have room, but if you get babies, that will be a problem for sure.

 

[Zimmanski]

A 3 gallon isn't enough room for these fish, the need at least a 10 preferably more, and a 1 gallon bowl without a filter isn't really even suitable for a betta much less a platy or guppy, sorry. Space is probably one of the reasons you're having issues

 

[Shon]

Thank you for the advice. I setup a 29L I got yesterday and plan on moving the fish from the 10 to it and from 3 to 10 but I was going to let it run and cycle till the 23rd. I didn't think the guppy could get the platy pregnant.