Bully Guppy?

[~heidi~]

Hi everyone,
 
I recently got a new male guppy and he is turing out to be a bit of a bully.  I have a 55 gallon tank with 2 male guppies, 4 females, 4 platies, a bristlenose pleco, 12 neon tetras and 2 yo-yo loaches. All was well in my tank until I got this new male guppy. He is constantly bumping and chasing the platies around. I am wondering if there is anything I can do about it? Do you think putting a few more female guppies in my tank would help? I just don't understand why he is bugging the platies..
 
Thank you for any help you can give.

 

[Aviici]

I had this when I added a some new females and watched them for a while. It's probably your male guppy just finding his place in the hierarchy, he's full of testosterone and in a new environment, so wanting to state his claim to the females and territory. The platies have bigger fins than the female guppies do, so he might be getting them confused with other male guppies and trying to become dominant.
The solution: Just let them settle in for a week or two. I left mine to sort it out themselves and let nature take its course, and I think that it's probably the best solution to the worries you have here. IF, after two weeks he's repeatedly chasing and harassing the other fish you could look at taking him out, as I presume the other fish were all happy and comfortable before he was in there?
 
Good Luck

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Agree with the above. He is really excited and in love with the massive women in his life. LOL

I did once have a male guppy that I would stick in a breeder net from time to time for 24hrs and he calmed down with time.