Do I have too few fish in my tank?

[Ellebogen]

Hi, all! Just a few facts about my fish tank: I have a cycled 10g that had four male guppies in it. Water parameters are 0 ammo, 0 nitrate, 15 nitrite.

Recently, one of my fish died. He was blind from what I believe to be ammonia burns from the lfs. I tried to feed him in many ways, but unfortunately he passed from malnourishment.

My question is, if I just keep three male guppies in a 10g, will they be okay, or will they be lonely? I really don't want to have to go through the process of getting new fish. I just want the originals to stay. Thank you!

Tl;dr: Will three male guppies be lonely in a 10g?

 

[azmodan]

3 guppies by themselves would be fine. And just to confirm you meant 0 nitrites and 15 nitrates, right?

 

[Mebbid]

Agreed. 3 guppies will do just fine as the only tank inhabitants.

 

[Ellebogen]

Whoopsies. You're right. 0 nitrite, 15 nitrate. Silly cell phone.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Elle...

A 10 G is very small and not a good choice for active fish like Guppies. If you can only keep a small tank, then choose a fish that doesn't move around much like a Betta or some kind of Loach.

Small tanks are also more difficult to keep clean. The water chemistry can change quickly, so if you're not changing half the tank water every couple of days, you should consider it.

B

 

[tnfinfan]

I completely disagree. A fraternity of guppies is one of the few stocking choices appropriate for a 10G. They are small and don't swim very fast with their big tails. And three of them are fine so long as they are living peacefully. I'd be mostly concerned with territorial issues as they mature if they are young fish now.

 

[BBradbury]

Keeping Guppies

If you've kept Guppies for any length of time you'll see they thrive in larger, species only tanks and with many females and males together. By keeping males in cramped tanks with no females, they'll survive alright, but you want them to thrive and in large numbers, like they live in the wild. I've kept these fish for several years and there's nothing like seeing 100s of them in large, well planted tanks with no other fish to bother them. The colors and different tale shapes are really amazing. The females also develop unusually bright colors.

The poster is welcomed to keep his or her fish in whatever environment they choose. But they ought to see them in larger tanks and how nature works.

B

 

[tnfinfan]

If you've kept Guppies for any length of time you'll see they thrive in larger, species only tanks and with many females and males together. By keeping males in cramped tanks with no females, they'll survive alright, but you want them to thrive and in large numbers, like they live in the wild. I've kept these fish for several years and there's nothing like seeing 100s of them in large, well planted tanks with no other fish to bother them. The colors and different tale shapes are really amazing. The females also develop unusually bright colors.

The poster is welcomed to keep his or her fish in whatever environment they choose. But they ought to see them in larger tanks and how nature works.

B

I'm sure this is true of all fish. The very nature of an aquarium is limiting to the natural tendencies of fish.

 

[Mebbid]

Hello Elle...

A 10 G is very small and not a good choice for active fish like Guppies. If you can only keep a small tank, then choose a fish that doesn't move around much like a Betta or some kind of Loach.

Small tanks are also more difficult to keep clean. The water chemistry can change quickly, so if you're not changing half the tank water every couple of days, you should consider it.

B

In most instances I would agree with you b. They are very active fish however if you watch them closely you will quickly realize that they swim without any real rhyme or reason (aside from mating)

For a few males only I would say that a 10g is acceptable as they don't really care what direction they swim while most fish greatly prefer horizontal swimming room. If you're adding females into the mix then you absolutely need a larger tank to help reduce their stress.

Fish also don't stress out when they don't have breeding partners.

 

[Ellebogen]

If you've kept Guppies for any length of time you'll see they thrive in larger, species only tanks and with many females and males together. By keeping males in cramped tanks with no females, they'll survive alright, but you want them to thrive and in large numbers, like they live in the wild. I've kept these fish for several years and there's nothing like seeing 100s of them in large, well planted tanks with no other fish to bother them. The colors and different tale shapes are really amazing. The females also develop unusually bright colors.

The poster is welcomed to keep his or her fish in whatever environment they choose. But they ought to see them in larger tanks and how nature works.

B

I tend to agree with finfan. If I could buy a massive, heavily planted tank with hundreds of guppies that would make hundreds of guppy fry, I would. But the fact is that that's not something that's really attainable for most people. I'm a full-time student, and I don't think it's fair to my pets for me to bite off more than I can chew right now... I did about six months of research before I got my fish, and though I'm not an expert, I know that my fish are happy and healthy and that I take care of them to a point where they won't just survive, but thrive. They don't need mates to do that.