My male guppy is nuts!!!!!

[twinsmom]

I have been reading posts by many users that suggest certain fish are bad to pair with guppies because they will kill the guppy. Well my male guppy is the one who is doing that. He is completely relentless on all my fish. He chased my dalmation molly and nipped him so much, I found it dead yesterday afternoon, and the creamsicle molly just took the other molly's place on his hit list. He harasses the female guppy (i know thats normal) He terrorizes a dwarf gouramie that's twice his size,so she won't come out of my plants, and now my pygmy puffer is dead in a breeding net (he never recovered)I don't know what to do? I am kind of attached to the little guy, but he is making me nuts!!!! I want to get more guppies, but I am afraid to!

 

[Kiarra]

Everyone in that tank would probably be a whole lot happier if you added 1-2 more female Guppies to occupy his attention.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

How big is the tank again?
I would add some extra planting to create some more "hiding areas" to help create a more stress free enviroment and 2 more female guppys to divert his attention but be prepared for fry because guppys are notorious for breeding alot on a regular basis, on the other hand though you may have to rehome him though if his behavior continues after this because there isn't much else you can do with bully fish.
Fish are like people, while most get along together you will always get the odd bully.

 

[twinsmom]

The tank is 35 gallons and the entire right side is coevered from front to back with heavy thick plants. The female he is chasing now is pregnant and ready to pop within a few days. I will be switching her into a seperate 5 gal. tank to have her fry. I am going to do a water change later today after I move the female. Once I do that and check my water levels, I will buy 1 or 2 more females. Do you think the female being pregnant is making his behavior worse or could it be that he is immature? I am actually not to sure how old he is. How would I find that out?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Male guppys will chase a heavily pregnant female around in the attempt to make her give birth quicker or abort her fry so he can mate with her but this harrassment can also lead the pregnant fish's death so moving her to another tank before she does give birth is a good idea
If you get some more females though it will help spread his attention around more so no one female gets harrassed too much or as much, the advised minimum of male to female ratio is 1male per 2-3females in guppys, but if you can afford more and don't mind the fry, more is always better
My male guppy has 6females all to himself

 

[twinsmom]

Well, I definitely don't mind the fry More fish is better The only thing I am worrying about is if I add 2 or 3 more females for the psycho fish, and I decide to get anymore males, will I have to add more females again? I just don't want to add to many fish to the tank I already have a molly, the two guppies, a dwarf gouramie and an albino choclate pleco.....how many fish can I keep in that tank without a problem?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The basic rule for stocking a tank is 1inch of fish per gallon, guppys grow to about 1 to 2inchs long for most people, so you can for follow this rule with guppys but for the majority of fish there's alot more to consider.
The advised gender minimum for livebearers or guppys is 1male per 2females, but i advise you add an extra female for every male you get after 1 so i.e 2males per 5females, or 3males per 8females etc.
Im not sure how big choclate plecs and dwarf guoramis grow, but i'd say you easily fit another 10guppys in there.
Personally though i'd go for 7guppys and maybe 3 or 4 corys of some sort? Remember whatever you buy, to add your fish gradually over the coming weeks and not all at once so you don't put too much strain on the filter. Also, be careful not but a sick fish from your lfs, is the fish hanging around the bottom or top of the tank or away from the other fish alot? does it have any unusual white bumps and lumps or spots or frayed fins with any unusual coloring? does it look unusualy thin or heavily pregnant? these are some of the things you should look out for and try to avoid. Try to avoid heavily pregnant livebearers in particular as they suffer alot from being moved from the lfs's tank to yours and the process can cause alot of pregnancy and birthing problems- you are bound to have fry anyways with guppys .
I would go and buy a fry tank and get it cycled too, at least 6gals, because you will need it to raise the fry in and it can be used as a quarentine or sick fish tank when its not being used too .
I wouldn't stock your tank to the limits just yet as you will need some extra space for fry too incase you decide to keep any when they are full grown.