Is there something wrong with my guppy?

[freshy]

Hi,
I posted yesterday in the Emergencies board because I noticed one of my female guppys hiding in one corner of the tank, not moving much and I got worried 'cause last month I lost my female platy after showing the same shy attitude. So I checked my water and got: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 25 nitrates, PH 8 and the temp is 26 C. But now I'm a bit confused. Other than the hiding behaviour she doesn't look evidently ill, and she eats as soon as she spots the flakes. However she doesn't look fat to me, and her gravid spot is not really dark.
Could she be about to give birth or something without showing it much? Or is she just stressed because of the male guppy attention? They've been after the female guppys showing them their gonopodium! (horny little devils!) To top it all my male platy seems fond of the guppy girls as well. and today I noticed a bit from her tail is missing!!!

When I got these fishies I didn't know about the male-female ratio, and as you can see on my signature my tank is not that big. I really want to keep my fish as happy as possible. Would you recommend getting more females?

Any advice will be very welcome and appreciated
Thanks in advance!

P.D. Right now she's hiding literally under a rock, in a very small hollow space between the rock and the gravel. I have a few plants and I "built" a small cave with some rocks as a hiding place but none of the fishes seem to like it

 

[Mr_Ramirezi]

I'm still a beginner but usually they suggest of having two or three females per male because yes they are quite horny....

 

[ferrikins]

could she had already had the fry, and the stress of birth on top of the males harrasing her. She Could be very stressed.

You could add a little stress coat. That may help a little, apart from that I not shore what to suggest.

 

[WILDER]

Don't add stress coat it isn't proven that it works, it's 3 females to 1 male.

 

[freshy]

You know, I think ferrikins just hit the nail on the head. Her gravid spot is not "gravid" anymore. I mean it used to look dark brown and now it is gone, plus she looks thinner. I've also noticed that she seems very weakened. She eats quite well, but when she swam to the bottom of the tank to look for more food, she kinda "plummited" to the bottom . Well, not really plummited but she went down pretty fast and brushed herself against the gravel as if she was a catfish or something. She stayed ON the gravel for a little while, then after the food was gone she retired again to her corner.

Oh man, it really saddens me to see her like this
Would you guys suggest getting one or two more females? Would this reduce stress? What else can I do for her?

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

[lizard]

It could be that she is getting chased If you have good filtration, do fairly frequent water changes, and keep a close eye on your water params, you could probably add a couple of female Platys. Another option is to see if the store would take back your male Platy. You could also see if the store would take back one male Guppy. Or perhaps getting a couple more female Guppys would help. There are a number of options You could take back both male Guppies and get a couple more females, or get a couple of female Platys.

If you have a breeder net, or another tank you can put her in, that wouldn't be bad for her - it would give her a chance to rest-up without being bothered by those silly boys Stress coat won't hurt her at all - I'd add some if you have it.

Hope that helps you some. Good luck Keep us updated, please

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[freshy]

All right! A trip to the LFS it seems. Well. I have a powerhead for a tank twice its size and I always try to be diligent with my water changes (1 a week) and testing my water (1 a week for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates). The stress coat did seem to help, she looks a LITTLE more lively than yesterday.
Thanks for all the help guys!