Male fancy attacked by a pack of females??

[Ron]

I have a 5 1/2 gallon tank that is quite spacious. I did that new theory on how many fish to put in there and it came out that I could put 8 fancy guppies in there with still plenty of room. I had 1 male fancy and 5 females in there. Today I left for 6 hours and when I came back my Male was dead. He was on teh bottom inbetween rocks. He looked fine, except his tail. His tail, usually bright red was now pale, and it was kinda, 'cut', so it was fringy. Was that too many females in there with him and tehy just over powered him, or what? Please help!!
Ron

 

[suemack]

hi Ron - how long has your tank been set up - have U got a filter in there or airstone aand how long have the fish been in the tank - think that's all my questions

 

[Ron]

I have a main tank with mollies, but I found out that mollies and guppies don't get along...the hard way. So I have the tbak with to very astablished tanks water in it. I have an airstone in there, but no filter (i'm going to get a small psonge filter tomorrow.) I do about 30% water changes every day and fill it with teh very established tank's water. Everything seemed great. He didn't harass the females, the female weren't afraid of him, and they weren't agressive either. I don't know what could have happened. I don't test that tanks water, (I'm sorry) so maybe there could have been a spike, but I have a wierd little contartion to instantly kill amonia and nitrates in the water. It just floats around. He's teh only one that died...No others seem even sick. So I don't know whats happening. I've had fish in that tank for a week now. Thanks for the response,
Ron

 

[MountGuppy]

well one thing is for sure you have to many guppies in your five and 1-2 gallon tank.The rule of fish is to have one inch of fish per gallon of water.The inch is measured for the full size so even if they are little now they will get bigger .On to your other problem im thinking the females harrased the male if the fin had jagged edges on the male.THe ratio to livbeares is two-three females to one male so they preobly harrased him.Hope the info helped.

 

[Kissifish]

IMO, I'd set up a 10 gallon a least and use the 5.5 for a quarantine tank. Your fish may be fighting for territory.

 

[Ron]

Thanks, I think I'll get another 5 gallon and have 2 female to 1 male in there, and the in teh other 3 to 1 male. Is this a good Idea? I'm not going to get another male for about a month, so are the five females okay with eachother in teh 5 gallon for now? I put 6 fish in there because of teh post that said, that the 1 inch per gallon thing didin't work, and the 2 inche fish requires 6 inches of space and to use teh amount of square inches in your tank to find out how many fish to have in your taank. It came out for me to add 8 fish in, so I only added 6. I don't know what to do!!!
Ron

 

[suemack]

hi Ron - I've got a 5 gall that been set up for about 3 yrs now - have found that the best combination in that small a tank is one male, one female - my girl's are pretty bossy. There's water sprite floating in the top of the tank. I found when there were 2 females I got too many babies for me and the water to cope with. I end up doing lots of w/c's especially when there are babies there. I have an u/gravel filter and a corner box filter. The UGF wasn't enuff to keep the water in OK condition. (I overfeed)

 

[Alien Anna]

I'm surprised by all this. For a start, I keep mollies and guppies together in a tank and they get on just fine.

Secondly, 6 guppies in a tank sounds somewhat over-crowded, although I appreciate you are diligent about water changes. Still, an over-stocked tank and poor water quality tend to go together, particularly if the tank is not cycled.

My suspicion is that that tank is not cycled and the male guppy caught that guppy tailrot disease that wipes out guppies in a matter of hours (I've lost guppies through it myself). Poor water quality is the most common reason for contracting such infections.

Although you put matured tank water in the new 5.5 gal tank, the vast majorityof the beneficial bacteria you need for cycling are in the gravel and filter. Since you haven't got a filter on that tank, and the gravel is new, I'd be almost certain you've got an ammonia and/or nitrite spike in that tank. Do check your water and confirm if my suspicions are correct.

In the meantime, can you get some gravel and filter media from your established tank and put it in the 5.5 gal? Also, put some salt in there - it will help keep tailrot at bay and help the females cope with the stress a little.

 

[Ron]

Thanks Anna, That was very helpful! I moved them into a different, 15 gallon aquarium. I used the aged water from the main tank. I put 2 teaspoons of salt in...do I need more. I also put my 1/2 invh molly fry in there with them. I don't use gravle in my guppy, fry, and birthing tanks becasue incase if I miss a birth, teh guppy fry don't get traped in teh gravle, same reason for no gravle in teh other tanks. I have a sponge filter in there with them, and airation going. I'm going to wait to get another male untill all 6 females in there gave birth at least once. What else do I need/need to do?

Yes, my mollies and guppies hate eachothers guts!!! Its rediculous!!!
Ron