Hi,
A few months ago I decided to transfer my two yellow-bellied sliders (turtles) into a new 50 gallon tank. So, the 10 gallon tank I had them in before I decided to put it into good use and begin keeping fish instead. I bought 3 male guppies, a tuxedo, blue (half-black) guppy, and a orange sunshine guppy. They've always been quite interactive, followed themselves around the tank. Over time their behavior became a bit aggressive, they would once in a while bump each other constantly as they ran across the tank. Because this wasn't necessarily constant I just assumed they were playing, but then again, I might be wrong?
Two days ago I decided to buy females to change the dynamic of the tank. I ended up buying three females (to have a one on one ratio), a yellow tailed, a blue diamond, and an orange female guppy. The first day, the females sort of bundled together meanwhile the males tried to interact with them, after a while, the males left them alone and the yellow and orange females decided to slowly go down the tank and explore their surroundings. They quickly interacted with each other and began swimming together, the blue one however hid behind the filter, and secluded herself in a corner, the next day this behavior changed and she began interacting as well. However that same day the yellow one began adopting the same behavior, she hid herself behind the filter. Today, she's just hanging around the surface, swimming lightly, and running away from the males when they occasionally approach her. The females occasionally swim near the surface with her (moral support maybe?), and after a while come back down and interact with the rest. The yellow female hasn't changed her behavior still, and somewhat worries me.
They all seem to be pregnant, as their gravid spot is dark brown/black. Which is why I believe the males have somewhat ignored the females now, and leave them be. The males still occasionally court them, but I think is just for sport (they start shaking, and bending their body in a strange S shape, and sometimes compete by swimming against the filter's current). The males however began to chase each other quite aggressively, not sure if to establish dominance, or again for sport (they only do this occasionally, not constantly).
I might just be overreacting, as I've never kept male and female fish together, and I'm not very familiar with guppies either (I've made sure to thoroughly read about them however). I'd appreciate some feedback, though.
A few months ago I decided to transfer my two yellow-bellied sliders (turtles) into a new 50 gallon tank. So, the 10 gallon tank I had them in before I decided to put it into good use and begin keeping fish instead. I bought 3 male guppies, a tuxedo, blue (half-black) guppy, and a orange sunshine guppy. They've always been quite interactive, followed themselves around the tank. Over time their behavior became a bit aggressive, they would once in a while bump each other constantly as they ran across the tank. Because this wasn't necessarily constant I just assumed they were playing, but then again, I might be wrong?
Two days ago I decided to buy females to change the dynamic of the tank. I ended up buying three females (to have a one on one ratio), a yellow tailed, a blue diamond, and an orange female guppy. The first day, the females sort of bundled together meanwhile the males tried to interact with them, after a while, the males left them alone and the yellow and orange females decided to slowly go down the tank and explore their surroundings. They quickly interacted with each other and began swimming together, the blue one however hid behind the filter, and secluded herself in a corner, the next day this behavior changed and she began interacting as well. However that same day the yellow one began adopting the same behavior, she hid herself behind the filter. Today, she's just hanging around the surface, swimming lightly, and running away from the males when they occasionally approach her. The females occasionally swim near the surface with her (moral support maybe?), and after a while come back down and interact with the rest. The yellow female hasn't changed her behavior still, and somewhat worries me.
They all seem to be pregnant, as their gravid spot is dark brown/black. Which is why I believe the males have somewhat ignored the females now, and leave them be. The males still occasionally court them, but I think is just for sport (they start shaking, and bending their body in a strange S shape, and sometimes compete by swimming against the filter's current). The males however began to chase each other quite aggressively, not sure if to establish dominance, or again for sport (they only do this occasionally, not constantly).
I might just be overreacting, as I've never kept male and female fish together, and I'm not very familiar with guppies either (I've made sure to thoroughly read about them however). I'd appreciate some feedback, though.
