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Female guppies attacking each other!

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By kelvinrankin, Section Ask Guppylog
Posted on Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 09:20:45 PM PST
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My female guppies are fighting.



Somebody please help me. I bought 1 male and 5 females from the pet store. I know I have to have a ratio of 1 male to 2-3 females but would that cause the females to fight? They are chasing each other and nipping each other. There is 1 which isn't. What could be causing this? The male is fine and not getting attacked. The 6 guppies are in with 3 Corydoras and 2 kuhli loaches and 6 trumpet snails. If anyone could help me, it would be highly appreciated.
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Female guppies attacking each other! | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
Hey Kevin! Are you sure that (none / 0) (#1)
by unclescott on Tue Aug 11, 2009 at 08:38:16 AM PST

the nasty females are guppies? Are they attacking the bottom dwellers in the aquarium?

Take your one peaceful female out and leave her in a drum bowl or a plastic gallon water jug with a little of the top cut off... for protective custody? Then catch out the others. :)

Are the aggressive females' gravid spots round or oval - irregular in shape? If oval or irregular, they might be Gambusia. G. affinis and G. holbrooki are very aggressive. Do the aggressive females have clear fins? Does the non-aggressive female have color in her fins??

There are some neat Gambusia but those mentioned above (from the Eastern US) can be bad actors and their females can be easily confused with guppy females.

Did you get your guppies from a shop's feeder tank? That is a temptation because they are so cheap (and unfortunately often diseased). "They" often toss Gambusia in as feeders too.

Could you catch the aggressive females? If they can be identified, catch them, bag 'em up and return them. Watch the remaining pair - they may get along fine. More tips on that next comment.

Other considerations: How big is your aquarium? How is it decorated? What temperature is it at? How long has it been set up? When did you last do a partial water change?

If yours is a brand new, recently set up 10-gallon aquarium (say in the last six - eight weeks), you should start with maybe only one pair of guppies anyway. (For more on this click on the Immediate Help link to the upper left of this page. Please especially read through the section on New Tank/Cycling/Setting Up/Water Changing.)

Have you talked to your fish seller? What thoughts have they offered? Will they take back incompatible fish?

Do not throw any unwanted aquarium fish in any local water way. Local fishes are in trouble enough without having another aquarium disease introduced into their company. :(

I look forward to your answers on the nature of your aquarium and what you decide to do? Please respond. I promise to respond in turn and vote to put your post on page one. ;)

Good luck and all the best!
uncle scott



Re: Hey Kevin! Are you sure that (none / 0) (#2)
by kelvinrankin on Tue Aug 11, 2009 at 03:53:15 PM PST

well i just set up my tank this month done the fishless cycle for about 7-9 days water is crystal clear tank is very clean i have some plants most are silk and i have 2 moss balls and a bit of java moss just incase the guppies are breeding i want to keep some babbies. well the 3-5 female guppies are nipping each other and chasing each other i added some new fish 1 clown loach i am gettin 1 more because they are amazing when in groups, 1 corydora, 2 very small alge eaters, 2 kuli loaches, 1 upside down catfish and 10 guppies 3 male and 7 female this is all in a 20 gallon tank with a air pump and a great filter i thing one of the females are pregent but i am not sure and thanks for the reply

[ Parent ]


Kelvin that is terrific using the fishless cycle (none / 1) (#3)
by unclescott on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 12:52:55 PM PST

in that modest a time period how much ammonia did you put in the aquarium each day was it later in the ninth day that your test kit told you that there was zero ammonia and zero nitrites what are your current measurements for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites? a 20-gallon aquarium may indeed be the best first aquarium because it tends to be more stable in terms of temperature and chemistry though of course partial water changes of once a month to once a week will be 5 to 10 gallons and that raises the question of preparing the water what treatment are you using you mention more guppies than before did you buy more and check the ammonia level first so that there aren't any mystery deaths later since your female "guppies" still chasing others why would you add other fishes have you considered doing a partial water change what is your great filter and does it do mechanical, chemical or biological filtration or eventually some combination of those also how big is your clown loach please understand that they get so big and heavy that they shouldn't be figured in using that one inch of fish per one gallon of water in an established aquarium eventually that loach over the course of several years could grow to 6 to 14 inches live a couple of decades and need 10 to 20 gallons per fish and they like the company of another clown loach or two and so they eventually could use a 55-gallon tank though others would disagree with me and suggest a minimum of 75 gallons they also like rinsed defrosted foods (first defrosted in cool tap water) and some veggie items they are very personable will drolly roll their eyes and rest on their sides therefore scaring the daylights out of us because we think they have died I like your plants but unless you have a lot of silk plants (were these from a fish shop and intended for an aquarium so they don't release anything like dyes that might hurt the fish?) your loach and others may not have enough places to hide with the few live plants you have if there is much illumination there may be algae but although the so-called Chinese algae eaters are great eaters of algae when young they become carnivorous or at least omnivorous will become very territorial maybe 6 to 8 inches long and may tear up and kill guppies

if you have a test kit but you must because how else would you know that your tank was cycled what are the current readings for your aquarium with the new fish in there and did the measurements change after the loach was added

thanks ;)

[ Parent ]



Female guppies attacking each other! | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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