All Male Guppies + Some Chasing = Torn Fins?

wendywc

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I love having an all guppy tank, but because I have all males (and no females), they do chase each other some. So because of the chasing, there are a couple of torn fins developing. I guess this is normal for an all-male guppy tank. But will females help them settle down? Of course, now we would be talking about babies, but if this would make them happier and relaxed(?), then I'm willing to consider it. Unless there are other options???
 
Have you got lots of plants, hiding places etc already? Mine tend to take it in turns to have a little time out behind the filter, down the side of the moss balls or at the back of the plants before returning to the fray. Although I put a cave in which they have, without exception, completely ignored! Moving your decor around might help a wee bit.


If you were going to put females in to calm them down it would have to be two girls to every boy... then the babies... millions of them...
 
yep millions and millions,
males do this all the time, their just playing and torn fins are part of it im afraid, just add some antibacterial to aid with the healing.
 
How many male guppys do you have?

My main advice with keeping an all-male guppy tank is;
a. The more males the better as the more dispersed any agression will be amoungst them the larger the group you go for- i would aim to have at the bare minimum 5males, although more would be better. Up until recently, i had an all-male guppy tank of 18males and it worked pretty well.
b. Understock the tank and provide plenty of planting- planting makes good hiding/retreat places for guppys, and by under-stocking the tank you will help prevent the overal stress levels of the fish, the less you crowd the tank the better.
c. Only go for standard short tailed guppys- avoid the fancy types. Look for males which are large in size and have a good sturdy build to their body- fancier types of male guppys with longer tails like delta tailed guppys tend to be weaker and more prone to being picked on.
d. Provide plenty of filtration, its good to have two filters in the tank, however have the filter current turned down to medium-to-weak strength current as a strong current in the tank can tire male guppys out if they are not used to it, and a current which is too strong can cause split tails in the fancier types of male guppys.


Its normal for male guppys to try and mate with each other in all-male groups, its partly because they are very highly sexed fish, but more than anything it is not anything to do with love but rather it is an act of dominance over the weaker male.
Overal, getting all-male groups of guppys to work well can be a difficult buisness, you may have to swap different males quite a few times before you come up with a group that works.
If you go for a mixed gender groups, you need to have at least 2-3females per male minimum, preferably more females if you can. You will get lots of fry though, particularly if the 11 guppys you have in your sig are all males, you'll need at least 22 female guppys, and considering that each can produce over 30fry a month, you may find yourself quickly overstocked with guppy fry and desperate to find a solution as what to do with them all etc. Personally i would have no more than 15guppys in a 30gal.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone!

The 11 guppies in my sig are indeed all male for my 30 gallon and 7 of the 11 are of the fancy variety. I guess I didn't realize the fancy guppies were more sensitive --- makes sense though.

Here is the tank. The plant in the background has multiplied since, but I will add more planting tonight.
6.jpg


I'm also thinking of removing the cave since my pleco doesn't use it and replacing it with huge chunks of driftwood. He loves driftwood and he always stays underneath that one small piece I have. I think that might be good for the guppies too.


EDIT: Fixed pic.
 
Yep that looks a wee bit bare... I love your bright blue background though (or is it your wallpaper?!?)
Post us some more pics when you've added the plants!

I didnt know about the fancy thing either *hangs head in shame*. Three of mine have v long tails. Hopefully they'll just make fun of the short-tailed one so much he doesn't get any ideas.
 
I didnt know about the fancy thing either *hangs head in shame*. Three of mine have v long tails. Hopefully they'll just make fun of the short-tailed one so much he doesn't get any ideas.
I figured it out pretty quickly after buying a group of 6 male guppies, one of which had a less fancy tail than the others (the only one to get a name - 'Shorty') within a month he had bullied all the others, picking them off one by one :( By the time I realised what the problem was it was too late. I added some females with him instead and that seems better but as my sig says I did have some fry get through :crazy: He's mellowed a bit now (getting old?!) and doesn't seem so bothered about the other males but maybe this is because there are other females too...

I think if I had the choice again I wouldn't have added the females, Shorty seemed happy enough on his own, definitely happier than when there were other males to contend with! Also I now have the worry that my tank is slightly overstocked and that if (when?) any more fry get through I'm going to have to find a serious outlet for them...
 
Yikes! I will definitely keep an eye on Meeny then.
He is not really living up to his name so far though... in fact Mo, the smallest of the lot (with a big tail) seems to be the most aggressive, chasing the others and flaring at them. Quite often the other three are all peacefully nibbling at the algae on the airline tube, getting on just fine, until he comes zooming in!
 
Yikes! I will definitely keep an eye on Meeny then.
He is not really living up to his name so far though... in fact Mo, the smallest of the lot (with a big tail) seems to be the most aggressive, chasing the others and flaring at them. Quite often the other three are all peacefully nibbling at the algae on the airline tube, getting on just fine, until he comes zooming in!
I think a lot of it is also to do with personality too! I was obviously unlucky and got an aggressive short finned one which had a swimming advantage over the others...
 

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