# Sorority plus guppies?



## thePWNISHER (Jun 18, 2011)

Was thinking of stocking a 29g with 6 females and 5 guppies. I know guppies breed like rabbits but I figured I could stock them with a sorority to keep their population under control. Or would the females not get along with guppies at all? I figure if they got along with the rest of the sorority they wouldn't mind a few guppies.


----------



## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

your correct any breeding your guppies do will be live food for the bettas unless its densely planted then you may have surviving offspring occasionally.


----------



## thePWNISHER (Jun 18, 2011)

You are right maybe I should just start with 1 male and 2 females and see what happens. If I get overstocked I'll have my 10g to toss them in with shrimps, snails and plants.


----------



## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

lol or bettas to feed them too.


----------



## thePWNISHER (Jun 18, 2011)

What is the inch per gallon rule for guppies? I know female bettas are like 1.5 gallon each, what are guppies since they are smaller or do they have a larger bioload than most small fish?


----------



## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

bettas are usually 2-2.5 gals each. You want to do the full size that the fish can get per gal. So guppies would be 1-2 inch so 1-2 gal per fish. 
You could have max of 7 or so guppies with 6 female bettas. If you don't want to have any guppy fry, you could always just get female guppies as well.


----------



## thePWNISHER (Jun 18, 2011)

Don't female guppies almost always come pregnant and they can store sperm for months? Maybe all female bettas and male guppies.


----------



## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

Oh I so hate the inch per gallon theory. That's like saying a 10in Dempsey is ok in a 10gal.


----------



## Shimizoki (Jul 8, 2011)

Pitluvs said:


> Oh I so hate the inch per gallon theory. That's like saying a 10in Dempsey is ok in a 10gal.


I think its a fine theory for small fish, once it gets to fish over 3-4" it no longer applies. (or i guess for a fish with a huge bioload)


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yeah, a female guppy can spawn when she's only a few months old or about that, and she can have several spawns from one mating. You could potentially avoid that if you looked carefully at the guppies in the pet store. If the females are large and gravid, they're pregnant already. (they look like bloated) Same rule applies to any livebearer, including mollies and platies and swordtails. I would start with one male and three females or four females and see how the girls react to them before getting any more. Or, if you get one male and four females, you won't need to get anymore, they'll do all the work for you.


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Here's a pregnant guppy:








Oh, and male guppies can and will hit on your female bettas. This can sometimes stress a betta out and she might get stress stripes.


----------



## thePWNISHER (Jun 18, 2011)

Would it be better to establish the tank with a handful of guppies before the female bettas so they might have less agression with other fish around or is that not the case?


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You can try it. The guppies may act as distractions so the girls are less interested in beating each other up and more interested in checking the guppies out.


----------



## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

Hi Pwnisher - My experienced answer for you would be don't it. Not worth even trying it. I owned guppies in my 25 gal. I only had 5. They are HYPER and constantly bugging each other. Swimming a ton and bugging everything else in the tank. I had already removed my sorority at that point and the guppies were my next purchase. They were almost worse than the sorority - fighting, nipping, bugging, etc. I would never consider putting them in with bettas. The bettas will either completely stress out and either attack them viciously or hide and never come out. After a while I removed my guppies because I couldn't handle the stress in the tank. I did tons of research on them and all the seasonsed guppy owners state that guppies should really be housed alone, and only if you intend on breeding. Yes, they breed like mad and are worse than cherry shrimp when it comes to reproduction - another factor you'll need to learn a lot about. Also, if you just get males, they will eventually fight to the death. They are bred to breed, so that is their main motivator in life. A lack of females causes them to turn on each other. If you have males and 1 female, they can even accidently kill her by just bugging her death ie. bumping her, following her around, etc. They're a pretty hyper, active bunch of fish. I would just reccomend doing a lot more research before owning them and certainly I wouldn't house them with bettas.


----------



## thePWNISHER (Jun 18, 2011)

Thank you for the advice. I'm only experienced with Bettas but I've always had an itch to have a tank with some male guppies. I'm glad that I now know that they don't mix on any level and whatever the combination.


----------



## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

It was such a bad experience for me, that I don't wish it on anyone else. I too enjoy guppies. They're so colorful and such pretty little fish. I had no idea their level of energy, nor did I know they were breeding machines! Betta Sororities require their own attention, as I learned that the hard way too. Have you ever tried a sorority? If this is your first, the best option is to get females from the same fry. If they've grown up together, you'll have a much better success rate. Worst combo is to just go to Petco and buy random girls. They *will* fight each other and sooner-than-later you'll have a room full of individually cupped fish. Many of us have tried sororities and have good success for a time - some for a long time! But pretty soon the fighting begins to escalate and it gets to you. Best idea is to contact a breeder and see if you can get a handful of sisters. That's my next project, coupled with breeding. Be sure and post pics. We all love to see the girls together!


----------



## bettaloverforever16 (Jan 14, 2011)

Would it be OK to keep 1 guppy in a 1.5 gallon tank? If not, please don't flame. I don't research Guppies, but might be interested in one if 1 of my two bettas died soon.


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Maybe in a 2 gallon. I don't know. They're schooling fish so they like company but at the same time, I've had other people tell me you can keep only a few in a small tank, like 3-5 gallon. I was actually wondering kind of the same thing myself. But in all reality, I'm pretty sure the only things that can safely live in a 1.5 gallon are bettas, African Dwarf frogs (one), or ghost shrimp.


----------



## bettaloverforever16 (Jan 14, 2011)

Lol I love betta fish, but when Sparky passes I might try something else, of course when that thing passed I'd go back to bettas. Not sure if i'm even going to try something else.

Sparky's old, I'm going to miss him when he goes. Whoch might be soon, but he seems nice and healthy. (Sorry for off-topic)


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

That's the sad part about bettas is their short lifespan. But like so many things, it does have that plus side that you can experiment with other fish too. You aren't making a 15 year commitment like you would with an Oscar cichlid.


----------



## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

Hello Bettaloverforever16 - I'm certainly not the guppy expert, but I know that they require a lot of oxygen. You'd need to supply a good filter and possibly a bubbler - although I've read some seasoned tropical fish owners state that bubblers are really more for looks - not actually adding much oxygen to the water. They provide more water stirring at the surface, which is really where the oxygen originates. Just as Sakura stated, they are also schooling fish, so they're most happy with at least 4 friends. Also, what I witnessed, is they poop like crazy! I'm not certain of their actual bioload, but I can only imagine you'd have to change their water every day in a 1.5 gal. Plus, they are FAST swimmers. Cupping them a lot for water changes would certainly be stressful on the fish, but on you as well! However, I'm only sharing what I experienced, as well as what I read during my research. I found some great guppy-specific websites, so I'm sure you could get some seasoned guppy answers from better folks than myself. Especially since you're only looking to keep one. My experience was short-termed, but I like to help in any way I can!


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

So would I need an airstone for guppies in 10g? Thinking about getting some but I'm not sure I want the noise of both a filter AND an air pump. My filter is an AquaClear 20, I think it's rated for up to 20g.


----------



## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

A 10-gal with a filter is just fine! An airstone certainly isn't mandatory. They don't require an excessive amount of oxygen, I just know they need more than an average betta set-up. In a 1.5 gal they would need either a filter, or a bubbler, or possibly both, depending on the set up. When I was removing my guppies for transport, the LFS was really concerned about their oxygen level, simply because they're a typical aquarium fish. They derive all of their oxygen from the water. They stated a bubbler would suffice for a short time frame. So my apologies on the confusion!


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Cool. I wouldn't mind a bubbler if my tank was elsewhere other than my bedroom. I like the pretty bubbles, hehe. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some guppies for my 10g to go along with my panda cories. Thanks, flowerslegacy!


----------



## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

You're welcome! My bubbler is kind of loud so I know what you mean! Just for future reference: If you get a bubbler, pay the extra money for an adjustable one. The first one I got for my 25 gal wasn't adjustable and when I turned it on, I thought my tank was boiling over!! It was *really* loud and all of my fish immediately freaked out and hid. I immediately returned it and got an adjustable. Although it's not exceptionally quiet (I should've gotten a whisper style!), at least it's much more quiet and the bubbles aren't blowing my plastic plants over - ha!


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Haha, poor fishies probably thought the end of the world was coming.  Thanks a bunch for the tip, I'll keep that in mind.


----------



## Tisia (Mar 15, 2011)

you can also get control valves for a couple bucks as well, or knot the hose, lol


----------



## thePWNISHER (Jun 18, 2011)

I guess maybe I'll look into a separate guppy tank and just toss the extra fry in the sorority. Too bad because I love fancy tail guppy colors as much as I do Bettas and I wish I could have both somehow.


----------



## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I'm not going to even mention airstones around my mom. I'm afraid she'd want me to get this bubbling tiki head she saw in my fish catalog. ^_^ She already thought I should get the glow-in-the-dark one. And she usually has good taste, too! Not that those aren't unique and cool but just soo not me.


----------

