Female Guppies - Abnormal Behavior

[Bowen]

good morning. I have recently set up 2 new tanks. I let them settle without fish to make sure the water was appropriate for guppies. In my 55 gallon tank i added 14 male guppies and 2 female guppies. All have adjusted well to their new environment until the next day, the 2 female guppies we hiding in corners away from the males. Obviously, the males have tired them out… So I decided to move my 2 female guppies in the 10 gallon tank so that they can swim without being chased by all the males. They were fine for about 24 hours. They started to become very quiet and are always staying together but not swimming very much. I checked the pH yesterday and it was at about 6.2 which I thought was weird because it was at 7 when I put them in. So I thought that was the reason why they were behaving that way so I added the API Proper pH 7 in the 10 gallon tank to attempt fixing the pH. That was yesterday and this morning, their behavior had not changed. They are still staying together in one spot of the aquarium which is near the filter. (it's a box filter) and now the water is cloudy, probably because of the chemicals I added to the tank.

My questions are:
Are they behaving like this because they have just become pregnant from spending a full night with 14 males?
Will the cloudy water affect them?
Should I put them back in the big tank with all the other males? Are they just lonely?

Both my tanks have non-live plants and crushed coral and plenty of air bubbles. They are both at 80F. Anything helps. Thanks.

 

[BETTY BOO]

did you cycle the tank before you put them in?

 

[Bowen]

The 55 gallon tank had been cycled for 7 days when I put them all in. But when I realized the females were not happy in it, I immediately got a 10-gallon tank and let it cycle for 24 hours.. I checked the pH at that point and it was fine. Do you still think I should have waited longer?

 

[FishBlast]

The 55 gallon tank had been cycled for 7 days when I put them all in. But when I realized the females were not happy in it, I immediately got a 10-gallon tank and let it cycle for 24 hours.. I checked the pH at that point and it was fine. Do you still think I should have waited longer?

Unless you somehow acquired a sponge from someone with a mature tank or have used some bacteria that will help with this, your tank isn't cycled at all.
It takes over a month, sometimes even 2 months to get it fully cycled.
Do you have an ammonia and nitrite test kit?

And when I say over a month / 2 months, I mean you either must have fish in the tank for that long with filter and every day water changes of 50%-80% or without fish but pouring ammonia into it daily for 1-2 months until both ammonia and nitrite are 0. Tanks won't cycle without an ammonia source (fish or directly ammonia)

 

[Bowen]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I check the nitrites, nitrates, pH and GH everyday and the nitrites are at 0. As for the ammonia I bought a continuous reader that is in the tank and it's in the "safe" zone. So do you think I should put them back in the big tank? Isn't it bad for the fish to frequently change their environment? I just don't want to stress them out too much but I will do what's best for them.

 

[FishBlast]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I check the nitrites, nitrates, pH and GH everyday and the nitrites are at 0. As for the ammonia I bought a continuous reader that is in the tank and it's in the "safe" zone. So do you think I should put them back in the big tank? Isn't it bad for the fish to frequently change their environment? I just don't want to stress them out too much but I will do what's best for them.

With liquid test kits?
Also I don't know about the ammonia reader's efficiency. Never had one.

 

[Jayladd]

You need 1 male: 2 females, else they can get harassed to death. The pH swings won't be good for them either. I know a lot of people on here also don't like using chemicals that change pH as they can make the pH even more unstable! Big water changes will be less stressful to your fish than ammonia/ nitrite poisoning

 

[CezzaXV]

Jayladd is right, please do research on any fish you buy beforehand. With guppies you want at least two females to every male, ideally three or more.

My bet is on there being ammonia in the water. Those stick on tests are no good; they take forever to change and by the time they do it's too late for your fish. Get yourself a liquid test kit and read up on cycling, because if you knew anything about cycling youd know it doesnt happen in hours or even days. Being harassed by 14 males won't have helped them, nor will the possible pH shock. Most fish are pretty adaptable and don't mind a pH outside of their ideal range, but can suffer shock if the pH changes too suddenly. Unless your pH is going completely out of readable range, I wouldn't recommend changing it. A stable pH is much more important to your fish than a correct one It's also worth knowing that while 7 is completely neural, most fish prefer to be on one side or the other, depending on what type.

 

[Bowen]

OK I went to get the liquid test kit and tested both tanks. The viles on the right in each photos are for the 55 gallon tank and the ones on the left are for the 10 gallon tank in which the females are. All seems normal to me... Any other thoughts?

Yellow vile is Ammonia and Blue vile is Nitrite: http/www.flickr.com/photos/28099917@N03/6990702789/

pH: http/www.flickr.com/photos/28099917@N03/6990704025/

Nitrate: http/www.flickr.com/photos/28099917@N03/6990705387/

 

[Jayladd]

They will be in a new home and will take time to adapt.
Moving stress + harassment by males + moving again + pH change of .8 + chemicals to change pH back up .8 = A very stressful time I'd imagine. Give them some time and keep checking your water params.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Bowen.
So far your chemistry looks fine. You have thus far not seen a build of ammonia or nitrites. It will happen and requires monitoring but so far so good.
With an extreme mismatch like you have where males greatly outnumber females, it is best to keep the sexes separated. The females will be fine together and the males will also do fine with no females. If you mix males and females in small numbers, it is best to have at least 2 females for each male. I keep colonies of 20 to 30 of a particular fish species and do not find that ratio necessary, but small numbers always require a "female heavy" balance. In my own tanks, with higher populations, the sexes are more or less balanced and do just fine.

 

[Bowen]

Thanks for your reply sir... (don't want to call you OldMan... ) Both females have been behaving quite well by themselves in the 10-gallon tank in the last few days. No male around, only 2 female guppies. I have noticed they don't hide as much. And now they always come to me whenever I approach the tank. Probably cause they're hungry! which is another good sign, right?

Now 2 more issues have come up with the all-male 55-gallon tank:

Content of tank:
(still in its cycling phase according to many aquarists.. I thought it was ready when I bought the fish)

14 guppies (1 fancy guppy died)
3 plates
2 glassfish
4 neon tetras (5 other tetras have died in the span of 4 days)

All testings are good.

Problem 1:
My platties are very quiet. They stay at the bottom of the tank and they prefer not moving. They often stay in almost vertical position, looking upward. They have started getting better at coming up to the surface to eat but they don't eat much. Is it just a matter of patience before they get accustomed to their new home? Is there anything I can do? I do frequent water changes and add stress-zyme from time to time.

Problem 2:
The ich has developed in the tank... I have noticed small white spots on multiple fish including tetras, platties and guppies). I just purchased the API ich treatment. The guy at the LFS said I need to remove the carbon from the filter. I'm not sure it's a good idea since the tank is still in its cycling phase. Won't it "de-cycle" the tank if I remove the carbon? What are my options. How should I do this? I don't have any quarantine tank. Does the ich require immediate treatment?

Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Cazgar]

If they have Ich & you're treating them for it then you do need to remove the carbon

 

[OldMan47]

Regardless of the impact on your cycle, ich must be dealt with. If you leave it to run its course, it will decimate your aquarium and still be a hazard to any new additions. Ich treatment is basically to add whatever agent you have to a warm tank and maintain the chemical concentration until a few days after the last spot is gone from the last fish. I have a link in my signature that gives details about the ich life cycle and tells you how to treat it using a simple salt solution. I have never had any problem with using the technique but have never had to treat neons either. If you decide to use salt, you need not remove the carbon and it will not harm your cycle. Most patent medicines will do both. They will destroy any cycle that you have and will require that you remove any carbon from your filter. Do not forget to replace any chemical that you are using for ich control while doing water changes.