Guppies and Swordtail problems/questions.

[Fish826]

Hello!
I recently bought a 10 gallon tank kit to put in my room and I have some questions about the fish I got. The tank has cycled from Saturday night until earlier this afternoon without fish, and I recently added 7 new fish. I have some experience with fish, as my family has had fish tanks in the past but this is my first personal tank (other than a small glofish tank).
The fish I added were: 2 swordtails, 3 guppies (1 male 2 female), 1 Cory catfish, and 1 dwarf gourami. I have read gouramis can be aggressive towards smaller fish but so far no aggression problems.
The main problem is, I let the bags sit in the tank for about 15 minutes then released the fish into the water. The Cory is happily swimming on the bottom and the gourami seems fine too. The swords and guppies are grouped together sitting in one spot at top of fish tank. I am stressed that something is wrong, and it might be the fish are getting used to tank/water. But if you guys could tell me when they will start acting normal, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance! (Also this is my 3rd place posting it because I didn't know what category it went in... livebearers, beginner, emergency?)

 

[Olycius]

When I added my 5 guppies, swordtail, and 2 killifish from a 15g to a 120g they all did that. They stayed grouped together for a few days. After a while they went back to normal. They still group, but with their own kind now and not as often. I also have 5 dwarfs and one honey gourami. They tend to leave other fish alone, but pick on each other. Since the area is so small I don't know if it will be aggressive. It also depends on the fish and its personality as I had to swap out 2 very aggressive dwarfs. After they were replaced everyone is now getting along.

 

[Byron]

Hello!
I recently bought a 10 gallon tank kit to put in my room and I have some questions about the fish I got. The tank has cycled from Saturday night until earlier this afternoon without fish, and I recently added 7 new fish. I have some experience with fish, as my family has had fish tanks in the past but this is my first personal tank (other than a small glofish tank).
The fish I added were: 2 swordtails, 3 guppies (1 male 2 female), 1 Cory catfish, and 1 dwarf gourami. I have read gouramis can be aggressive towards smaller fish but so far no aggression problems.
The main problem is, I let the bags sit in the tank for about 15 minutes then released the fish into the water. The Cory is happily swimming on the bottom and the gourami seems fine too. The swords and guppies are grouped together sitting in one spot at top of fish tank. I am stressed that something is wrong, and it might be the fish are getting used to tank/water. But if you guys could tell me when they will start acting normal, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance! (Also this is my 3rd place posting it because I didn't know what category it went in... livebearers, beginner, emergency?)

There are some serious issues here.

First, did you do any form of cycling? Running the new tank for a few days does not establish the cycle. With fish, the ammonia will likely rise and become dangerous, followed by the nitrite. You should have test kits for these, and be prepared to do water changes of 60-70% every day if ammonia or nitrite are above zero.

There is also an issue with the fish species. Swordtails get much too large for a 10g, so you need to return those. Cories must be in a group of at least five. But before getting more fish, you need to remove the swordtails. We also need to know the water parameters of your source water, as GH (general hardness) and pH are important to fish and different species have different preferences. Swordtails need harder water than gourami or cories, but there is some overlap, depending upon the values.

Byron.