Grumpy Guppy

[Pescadita]

I have four male guppies in a 27L tank..there were other fish, but after an evil infestation of Velvet I have only these guys left. However, the biggest one of them is harrassing all of the others, no matter where they are in the tank. He "buzzes" them and swims away fast, before harrassing another one at the other end of the tank!
I have tried to separate the grumpy old thing, but it doesn't make any difference. Does he want a Girlie Guppy, I wonder? Or is he just being possessive about "his" tank? What should I do with him? I am worried about the other three as they are constantly flitting around, looking for the bully, and getting stressed.
Any advice gratefully received.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hi and welcome to TFF
Do you any other fish in the tank other than the four male guppys?
how many gallons is your tank?

There isn't much you can do about bully fish, usually the best course of action is to either rehome the bully fish or rehome its victums to prevent any more stress for them.
Are you positive they are all male? When you say he "buzzes" them what exactly do you mean?

Adding a female will only add to more stress as livebearers/guppys need 1male per 2female minimum and will cause the current males only to fight each other more.

 

[Pescadita]

Welcome appreciated. Greetings to you

I have only the four guppies at present, and I am fairly sure they are all males...they have pointed fins underneath.

The tank is about 6 Gallons, if my measurements are correct; it is a two foot long tank, fully filtered and heated at 23-25 degrees. I have done some water tests and the only thing I can notice as being really wierd is that the Kh and Gh all seem to be 0-1 in measurement, as the test water changes colour at the first drop of tester. I think I have to get some Interpet treatment for this?

The "buzzing" I refer to is a charge towards the victim-fish, followed by several loop-the-loops around it really quickly, before the running (?!) off to another fish to do the same thing.

I won't be getting them girlfriends, now! Perhaps a larger pair of fish to take away the dominant role?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Kiarra]

Males will frequently challenge each other for dominance, and that's likely what he's doing. One course of action that would probably solve the problem is adding 8 female Guppies, to bring the ratio of male to female up to 1 male to 2 females.

If that isn't an option, then provide PLENTY of hiding places for the other male Guppies. That will at least allow them to get away from their tormentor.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Here's a good pic of a male and female guppy just to make sure you don't have any females as if you do you probably don't have enough which will be causing the agressiveness between them;

http/fnp_guppy.tripod.com/guppy/guppy12.jpg

The female is on the top and the male on the bottom; note the gravid spot the female is also showing at the back of her tummy indicating she is pregnant.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

ps: i was also gona say 6gals doesn't sound right for a 2ft tank...What is its measurements?
Depending on how many gals it holds will help us find out wether it has the room for any females.
If it is a 6gal its already at its max stocking limits in which case i would leave getting any females and just rehome the bully male.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Oh and here's another link with a pic of a male and female platy- the sexual organs are the same for platys as are for guppys; the female guppy below also shows a gravid spot;

http/fish.orbust.net/livebearers.html

 

[Pescadita]

Thnk you for all your advice about the Guppies. I have checked their fins, and they are all male. the Grumpy one is still very Grumpy. When I separate him from the others, though, the other ones start harrassing each other instead! Today I am going to buy some plants that they can hide in. Is there a particular plant that guppies like?
My tank measures 24cm deep, 50cm long, 30cm high.
Thanks again.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The best types of "hiding plants" for any fish are ones with lots of stalks and lots of fine packed leaves on them- anything basically that offers alot of cover realy.