Angry Angry Guppy!

[Daid]

Hi,

This is such a great forum, I've have learned a lot and very grateful from everyones advice and knowledge. I've finally got my tank to full cycle and everything is good.

We've got 4 male guppies (1 white + 3 blue) and 3 female guppies. The tank size is 80L (21 gal).

The white male guppy keeps harassing the females, constantly... the blue ones are so so, not as aggressive.

I've isolated the male guppies to give the girls a break and the white ones "nip" at the other blue males. I've then isolated the white one by itself in a container floating inside the tank.

What do I do? Should i let the males try to live together? i dont want the blue ones to die from the white males aggression.
Also how do i know how much attention the males are giving the females too much? should the males be trying to mate with the females all the time?

Regards

 

[samvandersteen]

I had the same problem with 2 of my male guppies - they kept attacking my angel fish (which is like 5 times the size of them). I just took the aggressive ones out of my tank - and the rest of the guppies are living quite peacefully.
Also, I would assume - like humans - if the females have had enough of the males you'd know about it

 

[Fishyfriend09]

You will find that the males will constantly want to mate with the females, the same can be said to other livebearing fishies such as platys, mollies and swordtails. The best thing to do in regards to this is to have at least 2-3 females for every male you have. As for the agression, your white male may see the others as competition and try to keep them away from 'his girls', getting more females may solve this

 

[kaiofcanada]

You will find that the males will constantly want to mate with the females, the same can be said to other livebearing fishies such as platys, mollies and swordtails. The best thing to do in regards to this is to have at least 2-3 females for every male you have. As for the agression, your white male may see the others as competition and try to keep them away from 'his girls', getting more females may solve this

+1

all livebearers should be kept at 2-3 females per male.

 

[Daid]

Thanks for the advice,

I got more guppies mix of male and female, 30 of them from a friend. 2 of the blue ones look happy swimming around and mingling.

The white one and 1 blue one are still pretty constant in their advances to the females. I think I'll be moving them to my Koi tank later this week. I keep them seperated at night to give everyone a break.

Is it a good idea to handle the fish so often?

 

[jsoong]

.... I think I'll be moving them to my Koi tank later this week. ...

I hope your koi is not too big ... guppies are yummy snacks ....

Male guppies will want to mate constantly, the other males are prob not quite mature enough, but they will prob act the same way once grown. Maybe in addition to having more females to males, you might consider adding more decor, plants, etc so the fish can hide & have a break when needed.

 

[Daid]

Thanks =)

I moved the white one to the Koi tank, the Koi's are currently the same size as the guppy. I'll move him out once the Koi's get a bit larger.

In the meantime I'll start adding alot more plants to the tank.

 

[martiniduck]

I had my guppies in a 10 gallon tank species tank. All the males where constantly harassing the females. It had lots of plants and hiding places. The males would find the females wherever they would hide. I only had 3 males and two females. I moved them to my 30 gallon community tank and now they are fine. It mostly is filled with other livebeares (mollies, swords, and platties)and 4 Cory cats. The other fish seem to distract the males enough.

 

[Daid]

Thanks

Thanks for all the advice guys.

After moving the white guppy into the Koi tank for a time out, I've had to move all my original guppies in there too (long story).

He has calmed down and everyone is living happily for the time being.