Male Guppies And Their Behaviour

[leannethenewbie]

Hi all

I have a 27 litre tank with 2 x blue male dwarf gourami's and 5 x fantail male guppies .

I've had them for 2 days and I have noticed that one of the males guppies is behaving very agressively towards the others. He chases the others round the tank, especially one in particular and today I witnessed them having a "face off". I'm worried that I'm going to wake up in the morning and they will have all died or something!! Their tails are fully intact, no nips have been made.

Have I got cause for concern or is this normal guppy behaviour?

I've never owned them before so am a complete novice.

Thanks guys and girls
xx

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Faceoffs and chasing and harassing are all part of the norm. As long as you have a ratio of 1 male to 3 females or more you wont go far wrong. Hmm 27 litre might be too small i think.You would do better with something bigger.

 

[leannethenewbie]

I don't have any females, and don't intend to. I don't want them to breed... is that going to be a problem?

I was told I could have 12" of fish to my 27 litres by LFS, hope that's right.

Thanks for the help

 

[Piltdownpaul]

I find if i have too many endlers (a small type of guppy) they tend to bite each others tails!! I'm not sure thats right about the advice-but somebody will inform you i'm sure. What is more important is your surface area of the tank where the oxygen gets in and carbon dioxide gets out. There are plenty of fish calculators on the net to tell you how many fish you can have. They are still just a guide though.

 

[leannethenewbie]

I should say that I currently have 9" of fish
xx

 

[Piltdownpaul]

I should say that I currently have 9" of fish
xx

Yep too much-the dwarf gouramis wont tolerate that-and these days they are delicate fish at the best of times.

 

[Twinklecaz]

I have the same prob with one of my Platys (all male) Leanne. It seems to chase the other 2 all the time (kinda barging into them). One fights back but the other never does and I'm not sure he's very happy. Not quite sure what to do about it to honest. I had hoped he would settle down but he must have made the point he's "top dog" by now and he's still doing it.

 

[Liverbird36]

Sadly, the Blue Gouami's will grow to at least 5inches each so not recommended for 27ltr tank.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Nooooo they're Dwarfs aren't they?

 

[Liverbird36]

Nooooo they're Dwarfs aren't they?

When I read up on the (as was interested in getting them myself) it said that two Dwarf Gourami's need a minimum 3ft tank as are fiercly territorial. and need room to grow. Possible the website had it wrong though. Maybe they had the dwarf Blue Gourami mixed up with the Blue Gourami. Was confused as to why the other person said her 9in of fish was too much as I have done my stock list and it has a lot more in it than hers and the advisor site said it was fine.

 

[Twinklecaz]

I think it might be coz sometimes they call fish Dwarfs and they're not.

 

[leannethenewbie]

I read that the dwarfs would grow to 2" maximum... This is what happens with information overload ... blinkin' Google.

Well, I've had advice from here and I've looked all over the internet about them and it will probably be best to rehome them.

My tank is 27litres and perfectly square, so maybe not enough swimming room. I had a look at them yesterday and they are fine,(they even have their own little 'territory') but perhaps not very happy, I think the guppies are harrassing them!! What a shame... if only I had been told the truth in the first place...

I think I will leave it as my 5 guppies and get some Cherry Shrimp.

Thanks, as always

 

[OldMan47]

A so called dwarf gourami is only a dwarf compared to other gouramis. DGs can easily grow to over 2 inches long and are deep bodied fish. If you want a truly small fish in that family, try a sparkling gourami instead. They are about the size and shape of a female Betta splendens but have an interesting iridescent sheen to their bodies.

 

[fuzzynicki]

I've got a similar problem. I have a 260 litre tank with some hi fin platys. 2 male and several female. I introduced a group of all male guppies just over a week ago. Since I've had them the guppies have chased the platys non-stop. The male and female ones. They wont leave the females alone. Today I have found two dead female platys in my tank. I'm going to have to re-home the guppies. They're such beautiful little fish, but I can't be losing my lovely hi fin platys.

 

[AstonN24vantage]

its usually a better idea to buy more females than males. males fight a lot. you usually want like 2 females per male. but they do fight and harass. i wouldnt worry too much.