Curious

[LadyMacca1]

Ok well, after the death of one of my male Tequila Sunrise, I have finally decided to "add more" and yes.. after finding out that my 10 gallon tank is full of 6 male guppys (with some help of course, hehe) I've also decided to go back to PetSmart and see if they divided their tanks according to Gender, and if so, i'm going to be getting my little guys some girlfriends, lol.

But my question pertains to something else.
I have 4 Tequila Sunrise Guppys, should I get 4 Females?? .. or just 2?

Should I get another kind of Guppy?? .. or stick with the "Breed" I got?? (Psychadelic & Tequila Sunrise)

Now my other question is this.. if I wanted to add other fish to my tank (other than guppys) what could I add in there that wouldn't harm/eat the guppys thats already in there??

Much help is needed as i'm going to PetSmart later today around 11 and again on Wednesday with mom.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

If you have 4 male guppies then you should get at least 8 females as they can get harassed by the males, this can cause them to be stressed and when they are pregnant of have just given birth they could be harassed to death. If you could sell or give away two of your males then 4 females should be fine. Be careful not to overstock your tank and bear in mind that you will have fry to consider too.

You don't have to get the same type of guppies they will all interbreed.

In a ten gallon tank you will be overstocked if you have more than six guppies so I would not consider getting any other fish.

 

[LadyMacca1]

Correction! .. Two Tequila Sunrise Guppys not FOUR and Two Psychadelic Guppys.

Found two dead Tequila Sunrise Guppys dead and managled when I went to clean my tank this morning for its new arrivals later today

Alright, thanks Ddraig Goch, but I think now being I am down to two Tequila Sunrise Guppys I can get 4 females right?? .. And then I plan on getting a nursery tank for the fry and mommy fish. Just a smaller version of the ten gallon tank that I have, should work, actually i'll get two smaller version's of the Ten gallon tank, because I dont think my betta should be in one of those plastic betta kit tanks, right??

 

[kris-b-]

Have you not tried to establish how and why your fish are dying before adding new fish? Have you checked your water stats?

 

[LadyMacca1]

Have you not tried to establish how and why your fish are dying before adding new fish? Have you checked your water stats?

My water stats are fine. If they weren't then all of the other fish in the tank would have died as well.

I have noticed that some of the fish pick on each other, more so the Tequila Sunrise Guppys than anything. I was going to take pictures of them, but being I didn't get any batterys for the camera when the first one died, I couldn't have taken a picture (you kinda need batterys for that to work, you know) and being when the second and third guppy died, they were too mangled. One of them looked as if it were picked to death because it had a hole where its anal passage was. Or.. well "The Fish Penis' .. whatever you call it.
That G word. The other Guppy, really didn't have any other damage except its fin on the back is missing. SO they were picked to death. Hence forth, obviously I can't have Tequila Sunrise Guppys and My Psychadelic Ones together.

 

[osteoporoosi]

Gonopodium

 

[Annastasia]

Have you not tried to establish how and why your fish are dying before adding new fish? Have you checked your water stats?

My water stats are fine. If they weren't then all of the other fish in the tank would have died as well.

That's not quite true. The older, weaker fish might die first. What exactly are your water params?

 

[LadyMacca1]

Have you not tried to establish how and why your fish are dying before adding new fish? Have you checked your water stats?

My water stats are fine. If they weren't then all of the other fish in the tank would have died as well.

That's not quite true. The older, weaker fish might die first. What exactly are your water params?

Well then the first one must have been an elder. but yeah, as far as the Water Params, I dont know.
I usually eyeball the water, because well if I even start to see food on the bottom (just one pellet) then I clean the tank, and I clean BOTH tanks every Saturday, so they get cleaned every week, and well my betta is still alive, so i'm not doing anything wrong. hehe.

As far as the guppys.. well I suppose I should invest in water testers, but I really dont like to get all anal on that because i've kept fish before and they all lived for years. I just choose a different breed that obviously can't live with each other, and thank you osteoporoosi, lol.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Missing/damaged fins can be caused by pecking, but can also be the result of finrot= caused by problems in the water. If I were you, I'd check the water first. And do a water change afterwards in any case, always a good thing to do after a death.

If you now have 4 male guppys, of any breed, you need at least 8 females if you're going to have females at all. Guppies don't care what breed they are, any male will harrass any female as long as he can stay afloat, and it is very stressful for the females of they can't do jobshares. Remember females are larger than males, so take up more space, consider the capacity of the tank. And don't forget to consider the implications of 8 pregnant females month after month....

 

[Annastasia]

Well then the first one must have been an elder. but yeah, as far as the Water Params, I dont know.
I usually eyeball the water, because well if I even start to see food on the bottom (just one pellet) then I clean the tank, and I clean BOTH tanks every Saturday, so they get cleaned every week, and well my betta is still alive, so i'm not doing anything wrong. hehe.

As far as the guppys.. well I suppose I should invest in water testers, but I really dont like to get all anal on that because i've kept fish before and they all lived for years. I just choose a different breed that obviously can't live with each other, and thank you osteoporoosi, lol.

I'd still get the water tested every once in a while. It's just good to know.

All Guppies are the same breed. You can't pick two breeds that don't go together, there is another problem. I'm thinking it's the numbers. You should have at least 5-6 male Guppies, to spread the aggression out. More is better. I'm personally thinking you shouldn't stick females in there, because you would need a lot and that's a LOT of fry for a small tank. Plus, it would probably overstock your tank in no time. And the females wouldn't have much room to get away from the males, which would stress them out. I'd get more males, and stay away from the females for now.

In response to what can go with your Guppies, Cories are usually a good choice. Pygmy Cories would be great if you could get them, but Albino or Bronze could be okay too. Just remember, Cories need to be in groups of at least 3. You MIGHT be able to get a school of a small Tetra or Rasbora, but that could be pushing it. If you have a good filter, it might be okay. Sounds like your water changing schedule is good. Those are what I can think of off the top of my head, but what kind of fish were you looking for?

 

[LadyMacca1]

I dont know what kind of fish I was looking for, but every fish that I thought of, I knew that they would be to big for my guppys. Like Molly's, too bad, Catfish would also be to big, so i'd have to stick with Guppys or.. Tetra's it seems, which is fine. I have about 4 guppys in there now, so I guess now I just have to get two more from what your saying Annastasia, as it doesn't matter the breed. The other guppy's probably started picking on the other ones, when they died.

I guess I just thought I had to stay with the same breed of Guppy, because that's what the person at Petsmart, which is why I bought 5 TS and 2 Psychadelic, because she said to keep them in groups of 4 to 6, as they are a community fish and would get lonely or something.

But yeah, I always liked the idea of baby fish, hehe, watching them grow up, and just watching the miracle of life before my eyes.

So now.. I have 4 guppys in all, so stay with all males still?? Because I was planning on buying several smaller tanks for nurserys.

 

[Annastasia]

Not all Catfish will get too big, some species of Cories will be fine. Especially Pygmy Cories, as they only get to about an inch. If I were you, I'd look into some of those. Or if you want to go Tetras, that's fine. Just research and make sure the ones you want aren't nippy, or post in the Cyprinids section on here, or even post back in this topic and I'll tell you what I know and I'm sure others will too. Rasboras would also work, just to keep your options open.

2 more sounds good. Above that, in that size of tank, I think might cause more problems then it helps as males tend to want their own little 'area'. Any type of Guppy should get along with any type of Guppy. They are all the same species, they have just been bred differently. Get whatever colors you like. Though, you may want to get the same kind of tail. Otherwise, for example, you could get some shorter tailed males that can move faster and then your longer tailed ones would get nipped on more. Just an example, I believe from what pictures I have seen you have shorter tailed ones? In that case, get more shorter tailed ones.

If you really want to have babies, since you are prepared to get more tanks, I'd say get more males for this tank, along with another fish, and then use one of the tanks you are planning to get for 3 females and a male. A 10 gallon should be sufficent for that. Just an idea. Or you could even take a male from the fish you have now and get females, if there is a certain one you'd like to breed. Keep in mind though, you might not get any kids of his for a while, because females can store sperm from one mating for up to 7 pregnancies. And usually, they are already pregnant when you get them at the store.

Good luck! If any of this doesn't make sense...just tell me. I kinda started rambling, sorry! )

 

[LadyMacca1]

Oh goodness! .. hahaha storing sperm, she must really love her guys!

I think i'll stick to the shorter tail guppys now then the long ones. Because I have two "Psychadelic" fancy tail guppys that have.. well long tails, and my Tequila Sunrise Guppys have a smaller tail and well I thnk their cute, hehe. But yeah deffintly sticking with the shorter tail.

And now that I think about this whole fry situation, I think I might even wait on being Grandma, lol, because not only do I not have a job, I really don't have the room for 20 ten gallon tanks, I live in a 2 bedroom apartment! .. quite small actually, lol

Thank you Annastasia for all your help, if I have any more questions, i'll be sure to send you a pm as you've helped me quite alot, thank you!