Fighting guppies-will they fight to the death?  2/7/07
Hi,
My 7 yr. old son has a 10 gal. tank with 2 male guppies and 3 platys (we've just discovered one is female & pregnant).  The guppies seem to be picking at each other's tails & bodies and chasing each other (with fins up).  We've had a couple of fish losses for unknown reasons which my son has taken very hard.  Will these two guppies fight to the death?
<Mmm... is possible that the antagonism could lead to this, yes... A simple fix is to add a greater number of females here...>
Is there anything we can do to help them get along better?  They were put in the tank at the same time and have been fighting for past couple of months (well before the female platy came).  I'd hate to go through another funeral & burial if there is something we can do to avoid it.
Thanks,
Bridget
<Sex ratios with livebearing and some egg-laying fish species can be this important. Bob Fenner>

Male Guppy chasing Male Platy – 09/08/07
Hi,
I have a 65 litre tank with 4 neons, 1 guppy (two recently died), 5 platies.
My blue spotted platy is constantly being chased by the yellow male guppy.
The guppy never chases any other fish on the tank. It seems to be attracted to the area near the anal fin and seems to reach for that area or just chases it around everywhere.
I have checked other sites which say that the platy could die from stress caused by constant chasing or is ill (but I am pretty sure it is not ill as I can't see any symptoms of illness).
What should I do?
Thanks.
Regards,
Seema
<Hello Seema, There is, unfortunately, nothing you can do about this. Male livebearers are "programmed" to always be trying to make with females and chase away rival males. Evolution has pushed them towards a "live fast, die young" strategy, compared with the females, which are usually bigger, slower growing, and better camouflaged (at least in the case of the wild-type fish). Indeed, with guppies particularly females choose males with the brightest colours, apparently because any male that survives to maturity with a brightly coloured tail that attracts predators must have good genes. To compensate for this, male guppies will try to mate with everything and anything they can, because as far as their genes are concerned, tomorrow they could be eaten! In the wild, guppies prefer guppies, platies prefer platies, and so on -- but in the aquarium, where there are no alternatives, male guppies will attempt to mate with almost any other kind of female livebearer, as well as chase away any other kind of male livebearer they deem a possible rival. In other words, there's nothing you can do about this behaviour other than either [a] remove the male to another tank; [b] add two or more female guppies so he chases them instead; or [c] move them all to a bigger tank with lots of plants so the fishes can separate themselves and hide if they want to. Cheers, Neale>

Guppy help? Beh.   9/3/07
Hello, I have a week old 10 gal tank. I have checked the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate an pH, and all are fine.
<? Values please...>
I have 2 metallic blue male guppies, 2 neon tetras, and 1 balloon belly.
<... these animals all "like" different water quality...>
They are all active and beautiful. I have noticed that my guppies especially are swimming right next to the glass wall from side to side and up and down. The other fish swim around but also do the same with the walls. My guppies are very active they swim around fast and eat like little pigs. They hardly let anyone else get any food! I am just wondering if this swimming with their body next to the wall (sometimes bumping the wall, and sometimes with their mouth on the wall) is anything to worry about?
<Mmm, no... much aquatic life readily imprints on us, the "bringers of food"... Does "hang out" near the front...>
I don't want to find out when its too late. The guppies have a metallic color and their skin does look a little cloudy in certain angles, but I do not think this is any indication (Do you?).
<Of?>
I am grateful for any advise
<advice>
you can offer on this wall attraction. I love your site and am going over it with my 6 & 8 year old daughters. Thanks
so much for your time and consideration. Terri
<Terri, please do take a read on WWM re the Systems of the life you have, intend to acquire before buying... the Balloon... Molly? will not likely "stretch" to living well in the same water as the Neons... Bob Fenner>

Re: guppy help? - 9/3/07
Thanks for the response. I bought all of the fish below at the LFS and the owner told me that they would all do well together. I admit I wish I had done alot
<No such word>
more reading before going into this, but these were purchased to fulfill a promise to my girls for excellent grades.
<Mmm... then you will want to know, do what is necessary to assure their ongoing health>
They had been working toward this for more than a year. I won't rely on the expertise at the LFS as they also told me a Beta fish would do fine in the tank.
<Mmm, my "real" "advice" is to rely on no one but yourself (yes, not even I, us...) to make final important decisions>
When I put the Beta in the tank, it immediately started going after 3 other fish. Scary! I took the Beta out and it is now in a 1.5 gal tank.
<Heated and filtered I hope/trust... see WWM...>
Our larger 10 gal tank is heated at a temp aprox. 77-80 degrees F.
<A bit high for Guppies...>
I have tested the water each day and there are 0 nitrites and ammonia. The nitrates are below 20.
<Ah, good... do use this as a maximum benchmark>
The only reading I see a problem with is that the water is soft. Should I leave that alone and let it work itself out since I have read that there is a possibility that the cycling process will cause fluctuation in all the levels.
<You are wise here! I would wait on any such adjustments>
I will be doing my first water change (15%) tomorrow. You say that none of these fish like the same water quality. What would you do to accommodate the fish I have?
<Read>
Should I put the balloon belly or the neons in a separate tank?
<This would be best, yes>
I do not want any of these darling little creatures to be miserable or sick. Again, thanks for your time. We are grateful! Terri
<A pleasure to assist you in your adventure, fulfillment here. BobF>

Abnormal female guppy behavior   – 06/19/07
Hi!
<Hello there - you've got Jorie this rainy (at least in Chicagoland) afternoon)>
Thanks for providing such a wonderful resource.
<On behalf of Bob, WWM/WWF - you are welcome.>
I have a 5 gallon hex tank with two male guppies and I recently added 3 female guppies along with some frill plants.
<I've got the *exact* same setup - the 5 gal. hex with two male guppies. My two are very active, somewhat aggressive guys, but able to hold their own against one another. I've been unable to sustain more than 2 guppies in this environment, even with perfect water parameters (no ammonia, nitrite, nitrate less than 20 ppm). In reality, I think there just isn't enough space/swimming room for more than 2 fancy guppies. Also, am unsure as to what you mean by "frill plants" - are these live or fake? If live, what sort of lighting, substrate, etc. are you using?>
For about two weeks, everything seemed fine, but about 4 days ago, one of the females became very inactive and started to hide behind the filter intake, or rest on the bottom of the tank. A day or so ago, one of the other females began to exhibit this same behavior. The ammonia and nitrite levels are fine,
<Very subjective - need to be ZERO, as measured by a reliable test kit. Also, check the nitrate levels; these need to be at 20 ppm, preferably less.>
and I checked the pH which is somewhere between 7.2 and 7.5 (do I need to get a test kit that is more specific?).
<What type of test kit are you using? If it's the "dip stick" kind, then I absolutely suggest you ditch it and get a quality liquid test kit, something like the one made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals or Tetra. Each makes a "master" kit that tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH for around $20 (US). I've personally used both and have found both to be reliable. Although there isn't a drastic difference between 7.2 and 7.5, more precise information is always good. Just remember when dealing with pH (and temperature), stability is most times more important that exact pinpoint precision (within reason, of course)>
There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the other guppies. What could be going on?
<Assuming your water parameters are as specified above, these could be weakened stock. Sadly, with so many of the "fancy" fish, they are bred over and over and over again, and during this process, their immune systems become weakened, especially when genes are being "manipulated" for certain aesthetic traits. Fancy guppies and bettas are often times just not from good stock, healthy, so many times, I've found.
Additionally, I do think you've got too many fish in that tank. Again, male guppies can be pretty aggressive, in my experience; have you seen any bullying going on? If the new female additions were "weak stock" to begin with, constant harassment will only render them more susceptible to disease.
Do you have any aquarium salt in this tank? I'd recommend adding that, or alternatively, marine salt (guppies can tolerate brackish conditions, and many times, will even thrive in such waters). The aquarium salt can help promote slime coat growth, which helps keep fish healthy. If you go the aquarium salt route, I'd suggest adding 1 tsp. to your 5 gallon tank; if you go with the marine salt (I've got a huge bucket of Instant Ocean at home for our brackish and saltwater tanks, so this is what I've done), you'll need a device called a hydrometer (a plastic box with a swing arm that measures levels of salinity- readily available at many fish stores for around $6-7 (US)), and I'd suggest raising the salinity to around 1.002 or 1.003. Of course, if we are talking about live plants above, both of these suggestions may well destroy the plants, unfortunately...>
Thanks for your help!
<Hope I have. It sounds to me like you got weak stock, but coupled with the stress of being in too small of a tank, these girls just aren't happy. Do you have a larger tank you can move them to?
Best of luck,
Jorie>

Color change fish, Guppy beh.    5/22/07
I have a guppy that is about four weeks old, the odd thing about him is that he can change from one color to another to another to another almost instantly.
<Sounds very unusual. Never seen this in a guppy.>
is this a problem?
<Probably not. Fish change colour naturally for a variety of reasons. When stressed, they often either go dark or the colours fade. When communicating with others of the species they may adopt specific colour patterns. Cichlids are famous for this. At 4-weeks old your guppy is probably developing its colour pattern and may simply be changing as it grows, in exactly the same way human hair and eye colour changes as we age.>
is this a rare breed?
<Maybe! See what happens.>
is this a completely new breed that no one has ever seen? am i just a hallucinating weirdo?*
<Can't speak for your level of weirdness. Cheers, Neale>

Strange Guppy Behavior   5/5/07
Hi There,
  I have a peaceful 80 gallon community tank with platies, Cory cats, zebras, cardinal tetras, monk tetras and furcata rainbows with my 6 fancy guppies.  I recently treated for ich after bringing home a new marble horned Pleco which was evidently affected with it. (No, I didn't QT the Pleco... big mistake).  The fish store recommended Quick Cure.
<Mmm...>
  The directions on the bottle recommended treating with a half-dose for tetras and scaleless fish, which I did.  After several treatment cycles, about 9 days, the ich was still present so I went to full dose and increased the temp to 85 degrees.
<This last was a good idea>
It took 10 more days to finally (hopefully) eradicate the ich.
<The temp. alone...>
I have done many water changes, about every 3rd day, removed the charcoal as directed, and added aquarium salt to the water, and I hope we are through with ich, but my guppies are now acting strange.  Several of the females seem to have a humped back and are swimming stiffly.
<Poisoned... mostly by the formalin...>
  They also seem to be absorbing their unborn fry.
<Effects/ditto>
They look very uncomfortable and almost lethargic. I have had the guppies for over 6 months and they have been healthy till the ich breakout.
<... not the ich... the treatment>
I lost one of the males today so I know something is really wrong.  The other members of the community seem to be OK.  
  I have tested the water and it seems in good order.  Ammonia 0, Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, Hardness in the moderate range, PH about 7.6.  Temp is still set at 85 degrees as I read that the ich cannot reproduce at this temp in case there is any still lurking.  Any ideas what may be wrong with the guppies???
<Toxified>
  I really don't want to lose them.  Could it possibly be stress from medicating for so long?
<Mmm, yes>
  Thank you so much...  I have been searching for answers but have been unable to figure out what is wrong.  
  Thank you!!
  Sharon
<See WWM re the product... Malachite and Formalin. BobF>

Guppy behavior  4/26/07
Hello,
<Howdy.>
First let me say your site has been VERY helpful to me when setting up my first fish tank.
<Thanks!>
I have a 35 Gal Hex tank. Its been up and running for 2 months now. It is live planted and I am using an under the gravel filter. I have stocked it with 5 Black Skirted Tetras, 2 Dwarf Sunset Coral Platys, 1 Red Tailed Shark, and 7 Fancy guppies.
<Some nice fish there... but I can tell you that [a] black skirt tetras (if by these you mean Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, what we Brits call "black widows") are *notorious* fin-nippers, so choose any additional fish with care. They will, sooner or later, nip the guppies. Also, [b], red-tail sharks become increasingly aggressive with age, and a 35 gallon "hex" tank is likely too small to satisfy its territorial (or even swimming space) needs. They get to about 12-15 cm long when mature depending on the species.>
I have been doing 10% water changes every week since I started the Tank. I have vacuumed the gravel once in that time. I do weekly water checks before and after my water changes. Water temp is about 75 F.
<Vacuuming the gravel weekly is probably overkill. Every 2-3 weeks give it a gentle stir with the handle of the net you have and then siphon off the "mulm" (detritus) that comes up. However, water changes could be ramped up a bit. 10% per week is not much, and nowadays "the more the better" is generally recommended. I'd certainly suggest 25% a week, and many aquarists change 50% a week or more.>
So here are my main Q's:
1. My PH has been steady between 7.2-7, Ammonia has always been 0 ppm, but lately my nitrites have spiked to 1 ppm and the nitrates is at 5 ppm. To my understanding this is caused by excess food and waste in the tank. The fix is supposed to be 10-20% water changes daily till the levels go down and feed less. I have started doing both of those things in the last week and a half and I haven't seen any change in the levels. Am I wrong? Should I be doing something else? I am using Amquel to treat for ammonia, chloramines and chlorine when I do the water changes. I am also adding API Stress coat during water changes.
<For one thing, stop vacuuming the undergravel filter so much. If you agitate it too much, you will keep removing bacteria from the gravel. What you want to do is remove the mulm, because this clogs the flow of water, while leaving the gravel basically alone. What depth of gravel to you have? The gravel is the filter medium, and for a typical aquarium this needs to be at least 6 cm in depth. Now, a complicating factor here is you have a "hex" tank, which is one of the worst designs on the market, and second only to the goldfish bowl in its shortcomings. Specifically, the problem with a hex tank is that it is tall and narrow. This means that compared with a plain rectangular aquaria, it has a smaller area available at the top to absorb oxygen (and lose CO2) and a smaller area at the bottom to be used as an undergravel filter. It is entirely possibly your aquarium is overstocked, not because of the volume of water you have, but simply because the undergravel filter is working at its limits. Adding an additional filter, ideally one that draws its oxygen from the air not the water, would help remedy this problem. A filter would also agitate the water at the surface and increase the movement of water from the top of the tank to the bottom, improving the availability of oyxgen.>
2. My guppies act strange (or at least I think its strange). Several of them have started diving into plant and springing themselves off them. I had read that this is called "flashing" and can be a sign of Ick or that they may be "itchy". I have been watching them for the last week and there has been no change in condition or appetite. No spots, listlessness, nothing that I can see wrong. Are they just playing or is something wrong? I have only had 1 death recently (1 of the platys) that I put down to shock from being introduced to the tank. I am feeding 2 times a day once with flack and once with dried brine shrimp.
<Treat for whitespot anyway, ideally using a combination whitespot/velvet/Finrot remedy to nip any one of the possible problems here in the bud. Whitespot is invisible at first, and if it attacks the gills (as it usually does) you won't see those parasites anyway. So when fish show persistent "itching", then it is always worth pre-empting the problem. Fish also do this when water quality is poor though, so fixing the nitrite problem may fix the itching. Regardless, I'd treat for whitespot anyway.>
3. I am having problems getting my Tetras to eat flaked food. I was told they would eat when they were hungry but that I could offer them frozen bloodworms if I was concerned. I tried that and they don't seem to be enticed by them. They also don't seem to care about the brine shrimp. Is this ok and I am worrying over nothing? I have had them for 2 weeks with no noticeable problems other then disinterest in food.
<Fish will go off their food if water quality declines. Now, I'll add a few general comments about food. Firstly, flake food goes "off". Would you eat 2-month old cereal? No. But we expect our fish to do so. I find my fish stop being interested in flake food a couple of months after the tub is opened. So instead of letting the flake go stale, keep it in the freezer in an airtight package, and only remove a portion to last a week or two at a time (keep this "on the go" flake in another tub). Secondly, fish don't like to eat the same thing day in, day out. Get 2-3 different brands, and cycle them through the week. Space them out with frozen foods, live foods, and especially kitchen scraps: blanched lettuce, sliced cucumber, cooked peas and spinach, shellfish and white fish, hard boiled egg yolk (in tiny amounts, very messy), and so on. Almost anything without animal fat in it is worth trying: some fish even like boiled rice! If you are up for it, fish love houseflies and mosquitoes, so if you find any in the house, grab 'em and use 'em. In the wild fishes will be eating literally dozens of different things each day. Another thing I've found is not all brands of foods are equally popular. Some brands of frozen bloodworms are greedily accepted, others almost ignored. So try out a few different sorts, and see which they like! Don't be afraid to experiment either. I tried out frozen lobster eggs (used to feed marine filter-feeding animals) and discovered my various fishes adored them!>
Any think you have to say is appreciated.
Sadie
<Happy to help. Neale>

Re: Female Bullies?   4/15/07
I have a 20 gal tank.
in there are a 2 Mickey Mouse Platy (F/M), 1 Loach Clown, 1 Zebra (M), and the 2 Male Guppy I told you about, the other 3 are in the bowl, while I figure things out.
<Mmm, the reasons I asked re other tankmates is your photo shows an apparently large/r fish... perhaps a barb/minnow of some sort in the foreground, in front of the hiding male... and the guppy does appear to be hiding from it>
I have the correct PH levels, and all,
<... can't read your mind/heart... Need to read/see actual test values>
water temp is OK, salinity is OK.
<...>
From your email, I think the females are the ones being the bullies.  The males swim and they charge and bite their tales.
Paul
<BobF>
Re: Female Bullies?
Woops, must've pressed the wrong key, a 10 gal tank.
<Mmm, should be big enough for the species, numbers you list. BobF>

Newby guppy owner: worrying behaviour – 03/17/07
Hi,
<<Greetings, Sharon. Tom with you this morning.>>
I have today acquired two minnows and a guppy and have put them into a 30 litre BiOrb tank, with the provided ceramic media in the bottom of the tank rather than gravel.  I am slightly worried because the guppy has twice dived into the media in the bottom of the tank and got itself stuck: why is it doing this?  Do guppies need to be able to burrow, or was it just looking for a dark place?
<<Likely looking for a place to hide out, Sharon. Provided the tank has “cycled” properly and water conditions aren’t an issue, your Guppy may be looking to steer clear of the Minnows for now or, may just be stressed by the new environment.>>
I am worried that I will come downstairs in the morning, or return from work at the end of the day, to find it dead.  Is there anything I can do to stop this happening?
<<The quick solution would be to provide a more suitable hiding place for it. An inexpensive decoration or even a piece of PVC (plastic) pipe from the hardware store would serve the purpose. The less-handy solution would be to remove the ceramic media and replace it with gravel but this really doesn’t address the root of the issue. Right now, it just wants some place to feel safe and secure.>>
Thanks
Sharon
<<Happy to help, Sharon. Best of luck. Tom>>