Tropical Fish Forums

[Sophia]

To start with I had 7 male guppies (no females) that were bred from an original 2 pairs of parents. These guys all got along fine. As most of them were of similar colouring I bought a different coloured one from a shop. Since I added him, it became frequent chasing each other and showing off, mostly with the new guy but even among the peaceful ones.
I thought I could reduce the problem by getting rid of most of them - now I have 3 but still the chasing and the occasional nip. (I did originally put in here that it's non-stop but on closer observation I would say it's OFTEN but not constantly). They haven't actually done any tail damage (yet) but I'm wondering this: if I now get rid of the original trouble-causer, do you think the other 2 will go back to being peaceful?
I think I'm clutching at straws, I ruined the harmony , but if anyone has tried this I'd like to know!! Last resort will be to get rid of all guppies to a home with females.
(please don't anyone tell me to get them some females, been there and done that, I would rather have no guppies than have to deal with babies!)

[Topper]

I'm sorry that I am shaking my head from side to side with a thin smile. This is due to the fact that I have asked myself the same question you are asking now many times. "Why did I throw a monkey wrench in the works?" "Everything was fine until I...".

Anyway, there is no good answer. Possibly someone here with guppy-specific experience can lend some advice regarding hierarchy squabbles. But you are probably going to have to experiment and figure it out. For as many times as I removed a "trouble maker" and the problem was remedied, the other half it did not work at all.

Try and remove the instigator and see what happens. It certainly won't hurt the situation.
_________________
You're gonna need a bigger boat...

[Sophia]

thank you,.... I thought as much but you know, I didn't want to get rid of all my guppies just in case!!

[UncleWillie]

Haha. Like Topper said, there is no ONE solution to the problem. I have had anywhere from 2 male guppies to 9 male guppies in a 10 gallon tank. As long as there are no females, I had no problems.
However, you can either 1) try to get rid of the problem male, or 2) stock several more males and 'overwelm' him.

I don't suggest over-stocking the tank. And there is always the possibility of getting another problem male. But the logic behind this is that the problem male will have attention divided among several individuals, and by crowding him, there is no chance for him to set up his own 'territory'.

So I'm not telling you what I think you should do, I was just throwing other options out there.
Edited to Add: The problem with adding more is your problem male may just have more tails to nip - and you're out more money..

[Sophia]

haha thanks for the ideas... as I want to add a couple more of my other fish I'm going with the less is more approach to guppies! I have 2 young males (I think/hope they are) that are almost completely dark purple, just waiting waiting to see what they are going to turn out like as their tails haven't grown yet. It seems that the related ones do get on better than the one brought in from the fish shop so will see what happens. Shame about the trouble causer - he is particularly pretty with a bright red tail!

[Sophia]

the good news is that I've found someone to take the naughty guppy off my hands AND he will get to be with some girls.... every boy's dream!

[Sophia]

last night 'Randy' as we aptly named him went to live in a new tank and has already found a girlfriend. He is much more settled and so are my fish that are left behind. Fingers crossed these happy families continue