How many guppys?

[agate]

I have just completed cycling my 40 gallon tank. I want to start with all male guppys. What is the maxium a 40 gallon tank can take.

Thanks for any replies.

Agate

 

[juanveldez]

I have a 30 gal. tank and have noticed that sometimes( not always) they will nip each other to establish dominance but the most that I keep are 6 males with some other fish such as neon tetras and peaceful fish of that nature but I would say no more than 6-10 male guppies should be kept at any one time.

 

[William]

You can't keep a tank of all male guppies, they will fight and rip each others fins to shreds. In order to keep them safely you need a minimum of 2 females to each male. This is one of the drawbacks with them, if you get just 1 female per male the females will get bullied and stressed from the constant male attentions and could die.

The maximum fish it would hold is probably somewhere in the region of 40" although a more accurate amount can be given if you give us the dimensions of the tank as it is really dependant on surface area of the tank.

Welcome to the forum both agate and juan!!

 

[Thomas A. Anderson]

So why do the lfs's keep them in tanks of about 60 male guppies if they are going to fight each other?

Only asking 'cos I have 7 males in my tank.

 

[StiX]

I dont think they'll shred each other, but i believe what happens is they get abit frustrated with there not being any females to 'play' with lol

I have a swordtail that doesnt have a mate at the moment, i swear it was trying to mate with my gourami!!

 

[agate]

Thanks for the feedback. The tank is 36L x 15W x 16HIGH. Since I'm new to guppys, can their tails grow back if nipped off? Also, if you don't want to breed, will the guppys consume their own fry. If so, if they do it in volume, how do you approach their dietary needs.

This looks like a great forum. Glad to be here.

Agate

 

[StiX]

They will eat the majority of the fry, and some will probably go up the filter, but theres bound to be afew that make it

 

[William]

As stickle says there will always be a few which make it to adulthood, they live around the bases of plants and under wood/stones/gravel anywhere they can fit, they are quite resourceful.