My male guppy is...

[Amphitrite]

Well my male guppy is following the other fish (my one platy and the female guppy) around and it looks like he's nipping at their bellies.

Is this normal, is it courting, or..?

 

[wwestar2000]

hes making them abort there fry and eating them. simple as that.

 

[Amphitrite]

Was that a joke?

Edit: I'm watching him and he's nibbling their faces too. Maybe he's just hungry?

 

[wwestar2000]

No im not joking hes doing that to stress them out so they abort and he could eat the fry.

 

[Amphitrite]

Oh jeez. What should I do with him then? Move him into a tank alone?

 

[wwestar2000]

um idk thats tough....... how many tanks do u have. If you can split males with females cause i think putting him with himself will start to depress him.

 

[Amphitrite]

I thought you couldn't have males together because they fight?

 

[wwestar2000]

Im not sure, I heard they only fight if they have to fight over females.

 

[Amphitrite]

Well he killed the other male that was in the tank before we got the female.

 

[Amphitrite]

Hm.. I think he was just trying to mate, according to this site http/caspar.bgsu.edu/~courses/Ethology/Labs/Guppy1/

 

[wwestar2000]

Idk your the one who has the tank. But if your not going to take my advice dont ask the question.

 

[abstract]

wwestar you are right and wrong...nipping is just what male guppies do..that is why you are recommended to have 2 or 3 females per male guppy, so that the harrassment is spread out....they do nip so that the female will drop the fry quicker, but in most cases they don't eat them, so it is not correct to say that this is the sole reason for the nipping

EDIT: oh, and as for the males fighting...they may chase each other a little but generally speaking male livebearers are prefectly fine together int he same tank...so people even have all male tanks so that there are no fry to worry about...maybe the other male guppy died for whatever reason and the other one was eating him..

wwestar: no need to be rude about it...you shouldn't scare people so much

 

[Amphitrite]

Hm. Seems he was nipping the male platy not the female. Anyways, I didn't even know she was pregnant, will he stop once she has her fry?

 

[abstract]

Hm. Seems he was nipping the male platy not the female. Anyways, I didn't even know she was pregnant, will he stop once she has her fry?

well guppies can get confused...and it doesnt mean your other fish are necessarily pregnant, like i said it is just what males do...they will do it most of the time...maybe get a couple more female guppies to keep him occupied?

if you want stocking advice let us know the size of teh tank and the fish in there!

 

[Amphitrite]

They guppies and platies are in a 35 gallon tank right now.. I've got 4 platys and two guppies.