Aggressive Guppy

[KieranP]

Hi
I have a 15 gallon tank with 3 male guppys, 3 ballon mollys, and 5 glowlights. but one of my guppys keeps being extremely aggressive to the other guppys and the balloon mollys, as soon as one comes close hell chase it, and try to attack
is this normal behaviour for a fairly new tank? (4 weeks but have had the guppys a week)

Thanks
Kieran

 

[AdAndrews]

2 of mine chase after the similar colour platies, maybe they like them?, i dont think they can do any harm though

 

[Annastasia]

What sexes are your Mollies? Guppies and Mollies can technically breed together, so if this is a female Molly, he may be chasing it for that reason, especially seeing as there are no female Guppies in the tank. In terms of him being aggressive towards the other male Guppies, that's really normal. It's common to have aggression between male Guppies. Just make sure there are places for the others to hide, and enough little "territories" for everyone to have.

 

[KieranP]

yer i think the mollies are female, so that would make a lot of sense, although hes just attacking rather than trying to mate.
but could that just be part of the breeding behaviour?
well i would definatley like to see the babys if they could breed!!

Thanks
Kieran

 

[chrisandmarie]

if it the male guppys then get 6 females as they dont go great males on there own

 

[nuttyJD]

KieranP,

Where are you? If your in the Norfolk area give me a shout as I've got juvi female guppies you can have (free or a small donation )

Leanne

 

[KieranP]

Hiya,
Thanks very much for the offer, but the problem is if the guppies were then to breed then my tank would become overstocked
The male is now only going for the mollys rather than the other males.

 

[OldMan47]

Kieran, the chances of a successful cross happening by accident, even in your situation, is quite low. The mollies could well be carrying sperm from before you got them so they may give birth to molly fry. If you are that close to being overstocked, you need to be aware that molly fry are large enough at birth that some will survive predation by the guppies and predation by mollies is not nearly as common.