What to do??

[Meredith]

My sister gave me somewhere around 15 male guppies, who are healthy so far, I think they are pretty young, they are starting to show really neat color. My problem is they seem to just be chasing each other around most of the time. Im not seeing any nipping, but they get into groups of three or more and just circle around. Or one will chase another and wont give up for anything. (The angel fish has left them alone) So my question is, should I trade some of the males for some females, and will this end the aggression? I feel really bad because these are my sisters "babies" but I am not sure I even want to keep any of them. Any input would be great. Thanks.

 

[FawnN]

Sounds like they are still young and developing. You could possibly have some females in the bunch and the males are sensing that.

I personally found that with my growing fry that I am having tons more females then males and their gonopodium didn't develop until they were about 2 months.

Do you know how old they are? You could wait a couple more weeks to make sure and then call your LFS to see if they will buy them from you or at least give you store credit. Don't bother with the chain stores, your best bet is with the mom and pop stores. Good luck!

 

[hashbaz]

Given your situation I would not worry a bit. For 1 the guppies were a gift - it may or may not be a big deal if you gave them away. Second guppies are not aggressive at all (form what I have seen). The males will chase the females. This can lead to stress. But I'm figuring the stress from being annoyed is much less than the stress from being attacked. There is a chance that fish might be happier at the pet store (and later someone else's tank) - but the fish will most likely be the happiest right where they are.

 

[Meredith]

yes, at least I know they are being cared for in my tank. would adding any females to the existing number pose any problems? I was looking and looking and as far as I can tell they all but one have gonopodiums. The one female (I am assuming that is what it is) is always by herself and the others dont really bother her at all. Its weird.

 

[poppab02]

Personally I would remove all the females from the tank unless you want about 5 million guppies to care for. Just have a tank with nothing but males and I think you should be fine. Sell the females back if there are any and just have some male guppies in a community tank.