Male Guppies

[madmom]

I seem to have a problem keeping male guppies. They don't live to long. A week at most. The females are just fine .They have been in the tank 2 mo. without problems. I quarentine the males for two weeks they're fine. Put them in the community tank and bam dead within a week. I don't think my swords or platties like male guppies. I guess if I want guppies I'll have to put them in another tank by themselves or only have females.

 

[Annastasia]

Male Guppies are extremely weak from being inbred so much. Don't blame yourself too much. There may be more ammonia, or nitrite in the main tank from more fish, and that could be killing them. It's hard to say, since their immune system is so compromised. It's also possible they are recieving aggression from Swordtail or Platy males. How many males and females of those do you have?

 

[madmom]

I have 1 male sword/w 2 females and I have 3 male platy one of which changed sex to male (latebloomer)/w 3 female platy. Oops forgot about Pinky. make that 3 female sword

 

[donna123]

hi,
try adding more female platy if you have room, i know swords do mate with platy but males can be so fustrated, 1 male sword-3 female is good , 3 male platy need 2-3 wifes each. ive had the same problem male guppys dont seem to last in my main tank long either, its a shame but im not adding any more,im staying with platy and sword for now, its strange but my daughters tank has no problems with her guppys at all. all the best with your fish donna .

 

[magafish18]

thats wired because my male guppy has been a live for about a year!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

My longest lived male guppy live for just over two years !

I have 1 male sword/w 2 females and I have 3 male platy one of which changed sex to male (latebloomer)/w 3 female platy. Oops forgot about Pinky. make that 3 female sword

How many gallons/litres is your tank?

Male platies and swordtails can compete over the same females, you should sort out your swordtail/platy stocking depending on how many gallons the tank is- you should have 2-3females per male platy.
Adding a single male guppy to the tank isn't good, they are social fish and prefer some female company.

 

[LouiseRat]

we have had a male cobra guppy for almost a month now and he is fine and he lives with 2 other swordtail males

 

[jonny-5]

Dont worry peeps your not alone,i cant keep male guppys in my main tank either,i have a 15 gallon which is a little overstocked at mo,but no problems in it and the males seem just fine in there within a week of moving into the big tank they die....i have 2 females in the big tank that are fine and prob a little over a year old! I have my own guppys,born and bred in my 15 gallon,there 5 months old now and theres 7 of them 5 fem and 2 males and there just fine...strange bout the tanks i know

 

[Rafael Dilone]

Well when you move your male to the main tank try to duplicate the tank you are holding him to the same as the main tank. So when you move him it will have no shock to his immune system since both tanks are the same. You should have 1 male live bearer and about 3 females for than one male( for each type of live bearer). Hope that you will be able to have better results in the future. A male guppy can live up to 6 years from the day he is born if he is treated with a good care.

 

[africantigerfish7]

I've read on different sites, about people with the same problem. Most people reccomend you keep 3-4 male guppies, and 2-3 females per male. Also, swordtails have a tendency to attack male guppies, especially as the swords get larger.

 

[madmom]

I do have 2 female guppies. A half black female and one with a red tail. They have grown rather large though since I got them a little bigger than the platies but slightly smaller than the swordsmaybe 2 1/2-3" .

 

[Qays]

i had 5, now i have 2 in just 3weeks. Its because theyre weak. It is very sad they have been inbred so much

 

[africantigerfish7]

I do have 2 female guppies. A half black female and one with a red tail. They have grown rather large though since I got them a little bigger than the platies but slightly smaller than the swordsmaybe 2 1/2-3" .

Sorry if I sounded confusing, but they say you should have 3-4 males, which means 6-16 females per tank. This doesn't work with 1 male and 2-3 females for some reason. Try a new tank without swordtails, or take the swords out.

 

[madmom]

Thanks all. I watched the tank yesterday and the male sword seems to be the culprit. He rams the male guppy. I will put the guppies in their own tank.

 

[Alexis]

Currently, we have 1 guppy. He seems fine. We've had him for almost a month now. Although we did have another, and he died after a couple of weeks. I think they are definitely much weaker than other livebearers, such as platies and swordtails.