# kids wanted guppies, I now regret saying yes



## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

they might be pretty to look at, but they are nasty buggers. we are losing an average of 2 a day of the 20 I bought (mix of males/females adults & juvies, I bought 10 to start with, but then in the past few weeks have replaced a couple here & there, but have easily bought 20 or more) they are turning on each other. we've lost 1/2 of them. I know that we have a few baby's in the tank born in the last day but I bet within a week there will be only the "nastiest" left. 
Water parameters all 0, temp perfect, feeding NLS & Omega 1 foods x2/day, Lots of bushy plants & hide-a-ways but also lots of open room to swim.
I don't know if I should plan on shutting down this tank as soon as we have no guppies left or if I should keep it running but then what to put in it...


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## stellenternet (Dec 3, 2014)

Fin2you said:


> they might be pretty to look at, but they are nasty buggers. we are losing an average of 2 a day of the 20 I bought (mix of males/females adults & juvies, I bought 10 to start with, but then in the past few weeks have replaced a couple here & there, but have easily bought 20 or more) they are turning on each other. we've lost 1/2 of them. I know that we have a few baby's in the tank born in the last day but I bet within a week there will be only the "nastiest" left.
> Water parameters all 0, temp perfect, feeding NLS & Omega 1 foods x2/day, Lots of bushy plants & hide-a-ways but also lots of open room to swim.
> I don't know if I should plan on shutting down this tank as soon as we have no guppies left or if I should keep it running but then what to put in it...


Oh my gosh! How disappointing! Thank you so much for posting this. I was planning to add some to my aquarium tomorrow haha. :lol: 

They are so nice looking though.


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## FishLover19 (Nov 14, 2015)

I'm like the complete opposite. I have too many and I finally separated them but my females are still pregnant and will still get pregnant for a few months with out the males.


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

My girls are heartbroken their pretty little fish are so mean. & they are mad at me for not finding a way to put a bigger tank in our house so they could have kept their giant goldfish. They outgrew the 30gal....


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

Yeah there isn't much comparison between goldfish and guppies. They are personable like bettas. Why not get them bettas in 5 gallon tanks or get a 10 ]_+gallon and put a Paradise fish in it (just one they are territorial=


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

How many males to females do you have? More males means they'll be a little territorial but they usually don't kill each other....I don't mean to challenge you, just want to make sure it's all okay but, you're sure that they're all guppies, yes? Pictures will help us to help you as well if you can  Can you show us how the tank looks? 

I breed and raise guppies and never had I ever had them kill each other! The males will show off to other males and bother the females for breeding, but they don't kill each other that I've seen. It makes me suspicious of your guppies is all.


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

here is the guppy tank. I honestly don't know which are males & which are females aside from the 2 you can obviously see the black belly spot on & the very almost becoming square like tummy on the 1. They were sold to us from all 3 stores as "Assorted or misc." guppies.
I will try to get some pictures of the fish.


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

jadaBlu said:


> Yeah there isn't much comparison between goldfish and guppies. They are personable like bettas. Why not get them bettas in 5 gallon tanks or get a 10 ]_+gallon and put a Paradise fish in it (just one they are territorial=


The goldfish we had were so personable & friendly & goofy, they rocked. We had them for almost 7 years, they started out as rescued cichlid feeders that didn't get eaten in a 5gal tank & when we rehomed them the biggest was 7" long & had outgrown the 30gal tank. 

I could take my Betta Eeyore out of the 30gal community put him in the kids 10gal & then that could mean I could add something else to the planted tropical community tank...


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Guppies are actually quite easy to sex, you have to look for the Gonopodium or the lack of. Here's a nice picture of it. Actually, these are Platy outlines but it's all the same for all livebearers ^_^



But in general, the males will be much more colorful and females larger and duller in color usually. I've had some very colorful females so don't rely on that or gravid spots (dark spot on belly where fry are held).

When you find fish that are dead (or do you find them??) how do they look? Mangled or just dead? Fungus on them is normal and doesn't indicate anything other than it's been dead a while. Also, is your tank cycled or do you know about the Nitrogen Cycle? If not, we can definitely help you there too!


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

Sweet picture thank you!!!! I have to go get groceries here this morning then I have an appointment in the afternoon but I will take some time either later or tonight to really check the sex's & also try to get some pictures for you! The dead fish have their sides nipped open. No fungus "look". The tank has been running for 10 years. Prev. to the guppies calling it home it was my Betta's tank. it housed the cory's & harlequin rasbora's & a male betta. When I rehomed the goldfish I made the 30gal into the planted community tank & moved the rasbora's & the betta over. I also took the spixi snails out of the big tank & put them in the 10gal b/c the snails were eating too much of my plants!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

The tank has always had fish in it then? No random times without fish for an extended period?

Yeah, Apple snails (spixi) do eat plants and they get huge too, softball sized.

Fish will eat other fish after they died so that's likely what happened with yours, they were nibbled on after death. Before the guppies was it just the male or as you note, the male, harlequins, and corys directly before the guppies?


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

We literally took the betta & harlequins out of the 10gal, but left the cory's in, transferred them to the bigger tank. the tank has always had fish in it, even when we've taken time to mourn the loss of a betta (our's have averaged 2-5 years with us & most have been "runts", there was always cory's & rasboras in it. Took the 1st drive to the Petland here in town & the girls got to pick out the 1st 10 guppies, that was almost a mth ago. They seemed fine for a couple days then the bullying started & we lost 1 or 2 for 3 days straight. then it went down to 1 every couple of days would be dead. Right now I counted there are 6 of 20 purchased & I saw 4 baby guppies hiding by the heater. I looked at them it seems there really are only 2 females 1 looks about to pop she's starting to square off in her belly & another that is nice & fat but still round. 
Just throwing this out there as I had the thought go thru my head.... Could they be killing baby's as females are giving birth then continuing to attack the female?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I still have never seen such aggression in Guppies...not doubting you of course, it's just so very strange. Guppy fry are often eaten, not out of aggression but it's just free live food and helpless so it's an easy target is all.

Was it only females that have died?

It's also very possible they were sick from the store. Fish know when other fish are sick and in that case, they will pick on them until the fish dies and then they'll eat what they can of it just because fish are opportunistic eaters; they don't know they'll be fed every day or not  This doesn't mean you should feed them more, fish will gorge themselves out (rarely resulting in death) even if they really aren't that hungry.

Have to go, will comment more later, especially if you can get pics when you get home ^_^


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

When we fed tonight I managed to get a photo of them all together. So far we have gone all day today & last night with no deaths.
I know from experience with "feeder" goldfish health quality, if the misc guppies are really "feeders", I see your point about them probably being sick. 
I am pretty sure most of the dead ones were females except for 2. I had bought a beautiful yellow cobra lace tail male & then an amazing dark blue almost purple with a huge tail which likely was a male.


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## Kyle15 (Apr 22, 2015)

Hello, I own 130 Guppies / Tiger Endlers / Endlers

If they breed you *need* to have more females than males due to the males harassing the females and the females die of stress.

If you do it for color and beauty then get only males as the females will suffer.

If you do selective breeding only have 1 male and 1 female in a *Seperate* tank


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

Hubby & I decided tonight that we are going to call the store here in our town & ask if we can bring the guppies in to them. Our kids are traumatized by their fish killing each other. Both our girls have had nightmares the past couple of nights. I will then do a 100% clean of the tank incase there is any disease & I think I am going to reset it up as a planted home for my male betta with a group of Cory's & some Otto catfish. That will free up my big community tank for some more Molly's.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I've had problems with pet store guppies, too. They never attacked each other, but the females who were close to birth did get really nippy. I had several that appeared to have internal parasite problems and died before the medicine had a chance to help out (within 2 days). I've kept the fry, and they're doing great. I think they get more stressed from all the changes (breeder to infected pet store tank to home).

Good luck with your mollies and otos! I love my otos. While not all bright and colorful, I find it a treat when I see one.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

My roommate's pet store guppies have also been attacking each other. I don't know why - it's not my tank. It's heavily planted ... and by heavily I mean you can't see three inches in without getting an eyeful of plant.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Wow guppys attacking each other? I'm glad I haven't had that issue. I've only had the adults eating the fry problem. I'm not having troubles with my adults. Just that the females are taking turns giving birth to a lot of undeveloped fry which die a week or two later


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

OK so update... This morning we had another killing we called the local store & they really recommended trying to just bring in the rest of the females & see if that calms down the tank & then if not to bring the males in too. We are moving the tank from the downstairs family room up to my breakfast bar. I will update later but the plan is to do a planted tank & try putting our male betta in with the guppies & cories


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## Sylverclaws (Jul 16, 2012)

Alright, first off...I'm shocked at a lot of this. I've always had guppies, and though males are big-time nippers, it's extremely rare they'll go around killing ONE let alone everyone having a free-for-all, and also extremely unlikely unless something is very amiss. 

So, important questions:
How big is that tank, is there a filter, what's the temp, what are the water parameters(like PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate most importantly)?

How many did you add at once? 

If you have too may in a tank, they're gonna fight. The inch per gallon rule doesn't work with these fish, and for ten of them you need at least 25+ gallons of well planted tank with a lot of hiding, and that's just for the guppies. If you have other things in there you need more space. Oh yes, many people cram them in because they're small, but it's not a good thing to do and unlike some fish, will cause MORE aggression, not less, will also overwhelm your biofilter. 

Speaking of the filter, I can't SEE one, I assume you do have one though. if you don't, you need to get one and cycle your tank before getting anymore fishies. 

I can see you have several males. You'd be better off getting ONLY boys, or only girls. Otherwise they bicker over each other and breed. 

Water parameters being off and spikes will cause problems from severe aggression to illness.

Adding too many at once like you did causes a rise in acidity which can kill, and also cause aggression, they get ticked off when parameters bounce because it's very uncomfortable. You should not have added more than 3-5 per week and need to do a water change when you add five at once of at least 25%.

High temps cause them to be far more active, they are tropical and need it warmer of course, but when you keep them with fish that like it warm they get a nice boost and need more food, it heightens their metabolisms and makes them energetic, but they prefer it between 74-76 or so. They can do it cooler or warmer, but you'll want preferable.


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

The tank is filtered I just can't stand the look of them so always hide them with plants. As I explained in the earlier post the problem was obviously the mix of males & females. As soon as the females were removed everything settled down, we will watch over the next couple of days if things stay settled the males can stay (otherwise our local pet store will take them & give us store credit). 
The tank has been changed over to have live plants in it instead of the silk that were there & our male betta. If the male Guppies can live in harmony with him they can stay otherwise on Sat I will return them to the local pet store. I am not game for exposing my kids to ongoing aggressive fish. It seems they are a fish either people have no problems with or extreme problems. 
I appreciate all the help everyone gave sharing their experiences!


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## bandit1994 (Sep 24, 2015)

I know I have a lone male guppy that I am afride to add more out of fear that I will bring something in to my tank


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

My kids want me to replace colours they had but I am hoping to convince them guppies just aren't worth it. I want to let these live out their days then be done with them. They aren't my type of fish.


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## AccaliaJay (Feb 5, 2015)

Wait are your guppys in a tank with your betta? If so are you sure its not him killing them?


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

They were in a tank by themselves when all this crapshoot went down. But since getting rid of all the females everything has settled down no more deaths


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

I also found out that you have to make sure you get the gender you asked for.


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

Sadist I will make sure if I ever buy any more guppies I double check to make sure that we've got males! the diagram that was posted earlier in this thread Rocks! but the girls are really loving the look of the molly's I bought myself & I showed them that they come in all different colors, so I think I can slowly sway them away from the guppys LOL But for now they are ok in the tank where they are.


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## Sylverclaws (Jul 16, 2012)

Might be better off trying out black-bar endlers, or other endlers. They're like smaller more colorful guppies(they are COUSINS, not guppies, many people mistake this), and MUCH more peaceful. They can still be nippy, but it's much more rare. I've got some Japan Blue Endlers myself. Smaller, easier to care for, and much more placid. ^_~ They're a little more expensive though. The black-bars are really nice and more common. <3


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

Interesting I will keep it in mind but considering I now have an angelfish in this tank I'm not sure smaller than a guppy is a good idea LOL eventually the full grown guppy could be considered food! (don't worry the angel has YEARS of growth to go b4 then!)


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## Sylverclaws (Jul 16, 2012)

lol An angel is going to eventually eat your guppies too, mind.


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## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

Just make sure you have a filtered tank ready for the angel to go in when it grows!


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

These guppies will have long lived a full life expectancy by the time the angel is big enough to consider them a meal. Yes by the time the angel needs to be tank upgraded I will have my wished 55gal in the family room


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## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

Lol, good way to get a bigger tank and force your family to agree. Get a fish that grows big.


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

LOL that's how we ended up with the 30gal. the kids "feeder goldfish" outgrew the 5 gal, then 10gal..... but no eventually the plan is I want to redecorate the family room but right now we have too many toddler toys still to make it "doable". that's why the goldfish had to be rehomed. they were 6 & 7.5" long & they needed more room to swim than my 30gal could give them


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## Crash (Jul 19, 2015)

I secretly hate guppies, my mom breeds them and the males are just so annoying to the females and other fish. I'm much more for calmer fish :lol: Not to mention my dad shoved like 5 or so baby guppies into my sister's tank, they ended up all dying and mucking up the water. sigh.


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## Sylverclaws (Jul 16, 2012)

Crash said:


> I secretly hate guppies, my mom breeds them and the males are just so annoying to the females and other fish. I'm much more for calmer fish :lol: Not to mention my dad shoved like 5 or so baby guppies into my sister's tank, they ended up all dying and mucking up the water. sigh.


Go for some Mbuna Cichlids. ^_~ Kidding of course, aggressive little brats, most of them. But they're so preety. <3


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

update; it's been a week & the remaining male guppies are happily living in the "sick tank" water conditions have stayed "perfect". I'm going to make the oldest do a 25% water change today anyways. She's talking about adding some yellow tails & maybe finding a solid dark blue again. I reminded her that she will have to pay for them herself but she's fine with it as she has a paperroute.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

Wow! One thing I'd advise is making sure she can tell the males and females apart and having her double check what the clerk puts in the bag. That way, you don't have any more violence. The clerks will blindly scoop fish out of the male tank and not be able to tell the females apart from the males.


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## VillagerSparky (Dec 1, 2015)

A friend of mine had a problem very similar to this with his Guppies, but oddly enough he kept nothing but females, one killed the rest. He is keeping her alone now.


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## Fin2you (Mar 5, 2012)

we checked out our local Kijiji & found someone who breeds fancy guppies I am considering this option!


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