How To Stop Guppy Bullying? The 128 Correct Answer

However, you must keep an eye on your male guppies as an intense fight can result in injury. These injuries are not usually life-threatening, but can lead to infection and disease.

Provide hiding places in the aquarium so that weaker guppies can hide from dominant males. Additionally, if they get too vicious, try separating your guppies.

Step 1

Watch your guppies closely when adding new fish to the tank. This is a time when fighting is likely to occur, and your guppies may attack the new fish by nibbling their fins and tails. Guppies will sometimes attack other guppies, particularly those of the same sex, and they may also attack larger, slow-swimming fish with trailing fins and long tails like mollies.

step 2

Look for signs of fighting, especially damaged or frayed fins and tails. In some cases, pecked fish can hide in your tank and you won’t see them very often. You may also spot a dead fish that has seemingly died for no apparent reason. Look closely to see if its fins and tail show any signs of damage. If so, the fish in your tank are fighting.

step 3

Separate any fish that you suspect are fighting. If you only have guppies, you may not need to remove any as fighting among them, especially males, is usually for show more than anything else. Make sure your fish aren’t overcrowded and provide plenty of hiding spots so any fish that’s being chased by an aggressive guppy has a place to hide. Plants that float on the surface of the water are particularly helpful as hiding places for guppies, as they tend to rest near the top of the tank.

step 4

You are in the right place!

In this article I will answer the same question.

Continue reading.

Ideally, you should keep at least a trio of guppy together in a minimum 5 gallon aquarium. You can keep more than one trio. Just make sure you enlarge the tank according to the number of guppies you plan to keep. One gallon per inch of fish is a good rule of thumb when considering the right size tank for guppies.

That was the short answer to the question.

But when it comes to how many guppies you should keep in your tank, there’s more to it than just tank size.

You must also decide if you want to keep male and female guppies together in the same tank. Or you only want to keep male or female guppies in your aquarium.

I am going to tell you everything you need to know to decide how many guppies to keep in your aquarium and how to successfully keep them in your aquarium.

Continue reading.

Do guppies have to be in groups?

Have you ever seen a guppy aquarium with just one guppy?

I’m guessing you may have seen very few, if any.

Guppies are small peaceful fish and look great in a group in an aquarium.

Since guppies are small colorful fish, they have many enemies in the wild.

To save themselves from the predators, guppies start practicing anti-predator tactics from a young age and they train together to save themselves from the predators.

In the wild, guppies also search for food together in groups because they find food more easily that way.

Overall, guppies live together in the wild to protect themselves and find food easily.

To keep guppies happy and healthy in your aquarium, try to mimic their natural habitat.

And that’s why you should keep guppies in your aquarium in a group.

If you don’t want to keep a lot of guppies, you should keep at least a trio of guppies in your aquarium. Of the trio, two should be female and one male.

Maintaining this ratio is important for the guppies to live peacefully in your aquarium. I’ll talk more about the importance of maintaining the relationship later in this article.

Can you only keep one guppy?

Technically, you could only keep one guppy in your aquarium.

However, as mentioned above, guppies in the wild live together to protect themselves from predators and to find food. Research was conducted where they found that guppies live together more often in regions with high predation rates. When the guppies were relocated to a predator-free environment, it was observed that they preferred to live in isolation.

Also, in your aquarium, you will be feeding your guppies regularly so they don’t have to find food themselves. So they don’t have to be in groups in an aquarium to find food.

Based on the reasoning above, you could only keep one guppy fish in your aquarium.

Is it difficult to keep more guppies in an aquarium?

Guppies are one of the hardiest fish in the aquarium hobby!

They are recommended for beginners as guppies are very forgiving of the mistakes beginners generally make with their first aquarium.

Guppies are also very cheap. So if you want to keep a lot of guppies in your aquarium, it will not cost you much money.

So is it more difficult to keep more guppies in an aquarium than if you were to keep fewer guppies, say just a trio of guppies?

It is not difficult to keep more guppies or many guppies in one aquarium.

Honestly, even if you start with a trio of guppies in your aquarium, you will end up with a lot of guppies very soon because guppies breed a lot!

You just need to follow some best practices if you want to keep more guppies (e.g. 10-12 guppies) in your aquarium.

What are the best practices for keeping more guppies?

There are a few things you need to keep in mind if you plan to keep a large number of guppies in your aquarium.

1. Keep guppies in a larger tank

If you want to keep a lot of guppies in your aquarium, you need to keep them in a larger tank.

How much tank do guppies need?

I’ll cover this topic in detail later in this article, but for now, for a trio of guppy, you should have at least a 5 gallon tank.

And then a good general rule of thumb is 1 gallon larger tank per inch of fish.

Guppies are generally 2 inches long, so ideally you should have a 2 gallon larger tank for each new guppy fish.

2. Maintain a 2:1 (female:male) ratio

If you want to keep a lot of guppies in your tank, you need to make sure the 2:1 (female:male) ratio is maintained.

For example, if you want to keep 15 guppies in your aquarium, out of the 15 guppies, 10 should be female and 5 male guppies.

If you have fewer females in your tank compared to male guppies, the females will be constantly chased and harassed by the males. This can stress the females, which can lead to disease in females!

If there are fewer females than males in an aquarium, you will also notice a lot of aggression among males, which stresses the males and can lead to disease.

3. Feed enough food

You need to give your guppies enough food if you keep a lot of guppies in your aquarium.

Giving your guppies less and less food continuously can lead to aggression during feeding time.

How Much Food Should I Feed My Guppies?

When it comes to how much food to feed your guppies, a general rule of thumb is you should feed them the amount of food your guppies can eat in one minute.

If you want to know more information about this topic, you should check out this article.

4. Maintain the ideal water parameters for guppies

They should maintain the ideal water parameters that guppies need in their aquarium. Maintaining ideal water parameters is one of the most important things in keeping your guppies happy and healthy.

Because if you don’t do this, it can lead to stress in the fish and even aggression in the guppies.

So what are the ideal water levels for guppies?

PARAMETER VALUES FISH Guppies SCIENTIFIC NAME Poecilia reticulata CARE LEVEL Single MAXIMUM SIZE 2 inches

AVERAGE LIFETIME 2-4 years

NUTRITION Omnivore WATER TEMPERATURE 64-82°F WATER pH 5.5-8.0 WATER HARDNESS 10-30 MINIMUM TANK CAPACITY 5 gallons BREEDING Livebearers

So overall it is not difficult to keep more guppies or many guppies.

Guppies are one of the hardiest fish you can keep in your aquarium.

But you need to keep them in a larger tank if you want to keep a lot of guppies.

How do you decide how many guppies to keep in your tank? (3 factors to consider)

There are a few things to consider when deciding how many guppies to keep in your aquarium.

1. How big should the guppy aquarium be?

How big an aquarium you want to have will be one of the most important things when it comes to deciding how many guppies you want in your tank.

If you want to keep a smaller tank, say a 5 gallon tank, then you should only keep 3 guppies in the 5 gallon aquarium.

On the other hand, if you want a larger tank, say a 10 gallon or 20 gallon tank, then you can keep more guppies in the tank.

2. How much time do you have to take care of your guppy aquarium?

Guppies are very hardy fish. And in general, they should not take much time to maintain them.

However, if you keep a lot of guppies in your aquarium, you also need to take care of them all and give them more time.

For example, if you keep a lot of guppies, you need to watch each fish (which is fun, by the way) to check that they are doing well. Or to see if they are showing early signs of disease.

When you have a lot of fish, there is a greater chance that each fish will develop early symptoms of the disease.

In this case, you need to take out the fish, and then treat it. Otherwise, the disease could spread throughout the tank.

If you keep up with regular maintenance of your guppy aquarium and feed your guppies a good quality food, your fish will generally be healthy no matter how many fish you keep and you will not see any signs of disease in your guppies.

3. How much money do you want to spend on your guppy aquarium?

Guppies are very cheap to come by, you can get lots of puppies for a very cheap price.

But if you get more guppies, you will also need a larger fish tank and equipment such as a fish tank heater, fish tank filter, fish tank light, fish tank stand, etc.

Also, if you have a lot of guppies, you will need more food to feed them.

Also, you need to factor in the electricity bill for running all the aquarium equipment.

Here are tables showing the initial cost of a 10 gallon guppy aquarium

Item Cost Fish $30 Tank $40 Stand $50 Feeder $12 Filter $25 Aquarium Heater $10 Air Pump $5 Fishnet $2 Water Test Kit $24 Aquarium Plants $30 Aquarium Wall Cleaner $7 Water Conditioner $7 Thermometer $5 Siphon $12 $10 gallon bucket 20 $Medications $15 Aquarium Plant Fertilizer $10 Total $304

Recurring costs of owning and maintaining a guppy aquarium

There are a few things you need to do on a regular basis to maintain your guppy aquarium.

1. Fish food

You need to regularly buy fish food for your guppies.

How much fish food is enough for your guppies depends on how many fish you keep in your aquarium.

And how much the fish food costs depends on what fish food you get for your guppy aquarium.

When it comes to fish food for guppies, you should diversify and not just feed your guppies one type of fish food.

Food also plays a very important role in guppies coloring. That is why it is very important to give your guppies good quality food

Here are some of my recommendations for guppy fish food:

Best flake food for guppies

Flake Food Features Check Price at Amazon New Life Spectrum Optimum Flakes – Contains both meaty and vegetable ingredients

– Improves the color of guppy fish

– Enhances the immune system Click here Aquacarium Tropical Flakes – Contains both meaty and herbal ingredients

– All natural

– Doesn’t cloud the water Click here Tetra Tropical Color Flakes – Very popular

– Contains both meaty and herbal ingredients

– Improves the color of guppy fish

– Doesn’t make the water cloudy Click here

Best pellet food for guppies

Pellet Feed Key Features Check Price on Amazon New Life Spectrum Float Surface Feeder – Contains both meaty and vegetable ingredients

– Purely natural ingredients

– Improves the color of guppy fish

– Semi-Floating Click Here Hikari Micro Pellets – Contains both meaty and herbal ingredients

– Semi-floating

– Doesn’t make the water cloudy Click here

Best plant-based fish food for guppies

Veggie Fish Food Features Check price at Amazon Aquacarium Veggie Flakes

– All natural ingredients

– Doesn’t cloud the water Click here New Life Spectrum AlgaeMax – Sinkwafer

– Made from seaweed click here

Besides this commercial fish food, you can also feed your guppies some human food. Here is the list of foods that you can feed your guppies.

2. Filter media cartridge

You need to change the filter media in your aquarium filter weekly.

Filter media doesn’t cost a lot of money and can last a long time.

You can get filter media for less than $20

3. Aquarium water test kit

How often you need to buy an aquarium water test kit depends on which test kit you use.

If you get the API freshwater master test (link to Amazon), it costs something up front for a test kit. But it will last, so it’s worth it in the long run.

In general, the API master test kit lasts at least more than a year.

4. Aquarium water conditioner

You also need to buy an aquarium water conditioner on a regular basis.

How long your aquarium water conditioner will last depends on the size of your aquarium and the size of the aquarium water conditioner bottle.

For example, if you get Seachem Prime Water Conditioner in a 16.91 oz pack (link to Amazon), which is about 16 ounces and can treat about 473 gallons of water.

So if you own a 10 gallon aquarium and do say 50% water changes, i.e. 5 gallons of water every week, it can last you two years!

5. Medication

You will also need to regularly purchase medicines for your aquarium.

How much and how long the medication works depends on the application.

6. Current

Also, keep in mind that all aquarium equipment requires electricity to function.

Some devices such as aquarium filters, air pumps and aquarium heaters must be left on 24 hours a day.

And you don’t have to keep other devices like aquarium lights on 24/7. In general, you should leave aquarium lights on for 8 to 10 hours during the day and off at night.

How much the electricity bill costs depends on what equipment you use in your aquarium and how many watts they are. And also the electricity price in your area.

In general, a 10 gallon tank consumes about 150 KW of energy per year. So you could calculate the electricity bill by multiplying 150kW by the price of electricity per KW in your area.

For example, the average electricity per KW in the US is 10.42 cents. So if we multiply 150 KW by 10.42 cents, we get $15.63.

Can you keep male and female guppies together in one aquarium?

You can keep male and female guppies together in the same tank.

But there are a few things you need to keep in mind while keeping them together.

1. Maintain the ratio of (2:1) female to male ratio

The most important thing to remember when keeping male and female guppies together in the same tank is that you must maintain a (2:1) female-male-guppy ratio.

This is important because if you don’t keep the ratio and say if you keep fewer females, the females will be constantly harassed by male guppies.

This will stress the female guppies, which could lead to a shortened lifespan and more stress that could eventually cause disease in the females.

Maintaining the ratio is important not only for the females but also for the male guppies.

In general, female guppies are quite picky when it comes to mating partners.

Female guppies may not allow some male guppies in your tank to mate.

So if you keep the ratio, the male and female guppies will have more choices and most likely each will find a mating partner.

2. Add lots of hiding spots to your aquarium

If you keep male and female guppies in the same tank, even if you maintain the ratio, you will still see male guppies constantly chasing and harassing the females in your tank.

This can stress the female guppies, which can cause illness later on.

To deal with this problem, you should add lots of hiding places to your guppy aquarium. This allows the females to hide from the males in your aquarium and rest and recover.

How to create hiding places in a guppy aquarium?

There are few ways you can create lots of hiding spots in your guppy tank while giving your tank a unique look!

Add live aquarium plants

You can add live aquarium plants to your guppy aquarium to create hiding spots for the fish in your tank. Here is the list of the best live aquarium plants for guppies.

Add aquarium decorations

You can add different types of aquarium decorations like driftwood and rocks and other decorative items to your guppy aquarium to create hiding spots for the fish in your tank.

Maintain ideal water parameters

Well, that goes without saying – you need to maintain the ideal water parameters in your guppy tank to keep all of the fish in your tank stress-free and healthy.

Here is the chart of the ideal water levels that guppies need in their tank.

PARAMETER VALUES FISH Guppies SCIENTIFIC NAME Poecilia reticulata CARE LEVEL Single MAXIMUM SIZE 2 inches

AVERAGE LIFETIME 2-4 years

NUTRITION Omnivore WATER TEMPERATURE 64-82°F WATER pH 5.5-8.0 WATER HARDNESS 10-30 MINIMUM TANK CAPACITY 5 gallons BREEDING Livebearers

In addition to maintaining ideal water parameters, you should also ensure that your aquarium is free of ammonia and nitrite. And you should make sure that the nitrate level in your aquarium is less than 20 PPM.

How many males and females should I keep together?

You can keep as many male and female guppies in your aquarium as you do the following few things.

Maintaining the (2:1) female-male ratio

As I mentioned earlier, you need to maintain the (2:1) female to male ratio to deal with the aggression in your guppy aquarium.

Choose the right aquarium size according to the number of fish you want to keep in your aquarium

If you plan to keep a lot of male and female guppies in your aquarium, you will also need a larger tank to hold them than if you just want to keep a trio of guppies, which only requires a 5 gallon tank.

When it comes to tank size for guppies, a good rule of thumb is 1 gallon per inch of fish.

Guppies generally grow up to 2 inches. So two gallons for a guppy fish is a good rule of thumb.

Can you only keep male guppies in an aquarium?

Male guppies are more colorful and lively than female guppies.

But is it a good idea to only keep male guppies in an aquarium?

Well, you could only keep male guppies in your guppy tank.

However, the main problem you will notice if you keep only male guppies in your guppy tank is male aggression.

You will see the male guppies constantly chasing and harassing each other.

This can stress the fish!

But if you really only want to keep male guppies in an aquarium, there are a few ways to deal with the aggression.

First, you should create plenty of hiding places in your guppy aquarium so that the fish can hide, rest, and recover.

You should also keep any male guppies in the aquarium well fed so that they do not become aggressive during feeding time.

You should also keep at least 6 male guppies so that aggression is spread between them.

Also, for male guppies in general, you should choose a larger tank so they have plenty of room to swim around and hide.

These are some ways to deal with the aggression in a male-only guppy aquarium.

There are also a few other ways to deal with aggression.

I’ve talked in this article about all the ways to deal with aggression in a male-only guppy aquarium and everything you need to know to maintain a healthy male-only guppy aquarium.

Can you only keep female guppies in an aquarium?

You probably don’t want to deal with aggression from male guppies in your guppy aquarium.

Or you don’t want guppy fry in your guppy tank.

In these cases it might be a good idea to only keep females in a guppy tank.

And you can safely keep only female guppies in your guppy aquarium.

However, if you only keep female guppies in your guppy tank because you don’t want juvenile fish in your guppy tank, then that’s pretty tricky.

Because even if you only keep females in your guppy aquarium, there is a chance that some of the females have already been pregnant by a male. So you will end up with guppy spawn in your tank.

Another disadvantage of keeping only female guppies in your guppy tank is that the females are not as colorful and vibrant as male guppies.

How many guppies should you keep in a tank based on tank size?

Here is a chart showing how many guppies you should keep depending on the size of your aquarium.

Tank size number of guppies 5 gallons 3 10 gallons 6 15 gallons 9 20 gallons 12

Conclusion

Guppies are the hardest freshwater fish to keep.

For this reason, they are recommended for beginners and are very popular in aquaristics.

In general, you should keep guppies in groups. And ideally you should keep at least one guppy trio in a minimum 5 gallon aquarium.

You can keep more than one trio of guppy, but then you will also need to increase the tank size of your aquarium according to the number of fish you will be keeping in the tank.

There are also other factors that can influence your decision on how many guppies to keep in your aquarium.

I have covered all the factors in detail in the article so hopefully they helped you to make the right decision.

I hope you found this article helpful.

If you do, please share

Happy fishing!

From your perspective, it probably doesn’t look like either of them did. Sure, the rear one looked like the Aggressor on the surface, but it didn’t do much. Is it possible that they were just playing like children in a playground? And how do you tell the difference?

Here are a few general things you should know to help you determine what’s going on in your aquarium.

First of all, it is natural for them to swim in a row. It’s a way for them to interact, and they can enjoy it. They might also be working on increasing their small families in the near future. A fish might try to chase another fish out of its territory, but doesn’t really plan to hurt the intruder unless it has to. It just doesn’t want to socialize or share its space, and when it comes to breeding, that’s to be expected. When they fight, a fish that feels threatened is more likely to crouch in a corner rather than charge head-on. Instead of swimming towards the attacker, the fish trying to protect itself from harm may isolate itself. In other words, if a more aggressive fish is swimming towards him, a weaker fish might hide rather than fight back. There are visible signs when a fish in the tank has been attacked. Such marks are marks on its body and nips on its fins. An injured fish will shy away from the other fish to give itself time to heal. Territorial fish are likely to be aggressive towards fish of their own species that are of the same sex. They are basically trying to protect their breeding ground and a fish of the same species and sex is competition.

It is easier to understand the difference between games and fights if you compare their behavior to the behavior of dogs. Dogs that want to play or mate chase each other in a backyard. They may wrestle with each other and even sound like they’re fighting… but then they lie down on the grass, wink at each other affectionately and stare together at the roaring fireplace.

When they fight, it’s undeniable. They are noisy and aggressive dogs will physically hurt each other if given the chance.

It’s not quite as clear with fish, but the idea is the same.

Of course, fish behave differently in an aquarium depending on their breed. Therefore, in order to determine whether your fish are playing or fighting, you need to know better their characteristics and normal behavior.

Basically just watching. If it looks like fun, it probably is.

If not, you can wish for what you have always wished for: a second aquarium! Set up a new aquarium environment and migrate the aggressive breeds into it. And now you have arranged quite a sight in your home or business.

If that’s not an option, talk to your friends who are also enthusiasts to see if they would like your fish as it might suit their environment better. As a last resort, you may be able to return your fish or sell it to the store. If you choose to go this route, be sure to make arrangements ahead of time to ensure the store will take the fish back before you take on the stress of transport.

Being able to predict with reasonable certainty whether or not fish will get along is a skill that requires years of experience. If you are curious about which fish species are suitable for your existing aquarium, ask us! We are happy to give you some suggestions.

However, fish aggression is a common problem that many aquarium owners have to deal with at some point.

Some fish tend to get quite aggressive towards their aquarium mates. If left unattended, they can disrupt the entire habitat of your aquarium.

So, here’s how to deal with aggressive fish in your aquarium.

Dealing with aggressive fish in an aquarium

Here are some tips to help you deal with the aggressive fish in your aquarium.

1. Use a net to separate the fish

Fish generally work on a pecking order basis – larger aggressive fish will definitely chase and bully the smaller ones.

Your aquarium fish need to figure out their pecking order—nature’s hierarchy.

However, sometimes the combat that leads to this result can get a bit too aggressive.

In such cases, you can quickly use a net to separate the bettas. It is the ideal temporary solution to stop aggressive fish.

2. Rearrange your aquarium decoration

A good tip for combating fish aggression is to rearrange all of your aquarium’s fixtures and decorations – hanging filters, driftwood, rocks, plants, etc. – to give it a different appearance.

Make sure you don’t put anything back in the same place.

Also turn off the aquarium lights when rearranging the landscape as this will prevent your fish from noticing what you are doing.

Habitat remodeling works because aggressive fish tend to be territorial too, setting up their territories and nests in specific areas of your aquarium.

They are much more likely to attack other fish swimming in their territory.

By disrupting the overall landscape, you are effectively leveling the playing field for all of your aquarium fish – both newly added and established fish.

Your old, aggressive fish will be tricked into believing they are in a new environment; Meanwhile, your new fish can find their territories without being harassed or harassed by the old fish.

3. Add new hiding places to your aquarium

Some fish are too passive and can easily be bullied and hurt by aggressive and territorial fish.

You need to add new decoration or vegetation to your aquarium for your gentle fish species that can act as new hiding places and protect them from the attackers.

You can add tall plants or a dense stem forest to create a safe haven for your docile fish. Be sure to add decorations that are missing from your aquarium.

If you already have a lot of low shelters, consider investing in tall plants that will give your fish a safe swimming spot.

You can also add clay pots, pillars, rock caves and castles to your aquarium to give your fish some cover and hide them from the aggressive fish.

Since aggressive fish will only attack fish that breed with them, this arrangement will definitely help keep them away from the more docile species of fish in your aquarium.

4. Separate your passive fish

If all else fails, you need to separate your aggressive fish from those that attack them.

The first step is to decide which fish to separate – the attacker or the victim.

If your sacrificial fish’s injuries are too severe, you must immediately separate them from the other fish.

If you leave it in the same tank as the aggressive fish, they will likely kill it.

However, if the injuries to the sacrificial fish are minor, do not remove them from the tank.

It only reinforces the aggressive fish’s behavior and encourages them to become more aggressive.

5. Isolate the bully

If your fish are too aggressive, you need to set up a fish prison in your aquarium.

For small to medium sized attackers you can simply buy a web breeder.

Hang it in a corner of your aquarium. Isolate the aggressive fish in the prison for about a week.

This makeshift prison allows the tyrant to see and smell the other fish, but not attack them. It will help them get used to each other’s presence.

It will also allow the other fish to establish strong territories that could push your aggressive fish down the pecking order.

6. Get a bigger fish tank

Territorial fish sometimes react aggressively when other fish keep invading their territories.

The best way to avoid this is to invest in a larger fish tank.

A small 20 gallon aquarium is too small a space for aggressive residents.

If you want to keep aggressive fish species with other fish, invest in a larger 50-gallon tank.

It will help your fish establish their territories and will also limit fighting.

7. Move the aggressive fish to another aquarium

When all else fails, all you have to do is put your aggressive fish in a separate tank.

Certain aggressive fish—goldfish, red-bellied piranhas, puffer fish, etc.—just don’t get along with other fish species.

They are so territorial, predatory and aggressive that keeping them in a community aquarium is simply not a good choice.

The best thing you can do for your aggressive fish is to provide them with their own aquarium.

8. Keep your aggressive fish in small groups of the same species

Although most aggressive fish species cannot live in an aquarium without a fight with other fish species, they can live peacefully in small, conspecific groups.

The best examples of such aggressive fish are tiger barbel and piranhas.

Tiger barbs prefer to move in groups and chase each other around.

If you simply keep them in groups of at least 6 members, they will live peacefully together.

As for piranhas, they can thrive when kept in groups of the same species.

The most common type of aggressive fish

Here are some common types of aggressive fish.

piranhas

Piranhas, particularly red-bellied piranhas, are a common choice of aquarium fish among aquarists.

They are active omnivores with big appetites, so feed them on time.

Otherwise they could become aggressive and attack each other and other small fish in your aquarium.

African cichlids

These fish can become quite aggressive if not fed properly and kept in a spacious tank.

That’s because they like to move around all the time and can grow up to 8 inches.

They are voracious omnivores so make sure you feed them appropriately.

Pig Nose Puffer Fish

Whenever pignose puffers see a new tankmate, they will attempt to assert their dominance and threaten the poor newcomer.

You’ll likely go straight for them with your mouth wide open.

The best way to deal with puffers is to get tankmates that are similar in size – around 6 inches – as they are and aren’t easy to spook.

rainbow sharks

When Rainbow Sharks reach adulthood, they can become quite territorial and aggressive.

Often your rainbow shark will attack the bottom dwellers of your aquarium to assert and claim their territory.

Find peaceful nature fish species like danios and barbel to accompany rainbow sharks in an aquarium.

tiger mullet

Tiger Barbs tend to become quite aggressive when placed in a community aquarium.

Your tiger barbel will likely terrorize your other fish, constantly chasing them down the length of your aquarium.

Do not keep fish with longer fins in an aquarium with tiger barbs. They have a habit of nibbling and biting on longer fins.

It’s best to keep the aggressive barbel in groups of 5 or 6 so they can swim in a compact school and stay away from your other fish.

Danios, Tetras and Catfish can make perfect companions for your Tiger Barbs.

betta fish

The Betta fish is undeniably one of the most popular fish species for indoor aquariums.

However, they have an aggressive nature that discourages some people from keeping them. Bettas don’t even get along with their own kind, let alone other species of fish.

So it is best to keep 2 to 3 bettas in a large aquarium without other fish species.

However, if you really want to add Bettas to your community aquarium, Catfish, Black Tetra, Squawking Gouramis and Poecilia are good companions for your Bettas.

Reasons why fish become aggressive with each other

Aggressive fish in your aquarium can fight with other fish for a variety of reasons.

So let’s look at some reasons why fish become aggressive in an aquarium.

Area

Often a fish fight breaks out over the territory.

When defending their territory in the aquarium, some territorial fish can become extremely territorial and aggressive towards other fish.

They like to occupy certain areas of your aquarium and set them up as their territories.

Such areas provide them with places to hide, rest, and breed.

Territorial fish tend to claim corners of your aquarium. They can also claim a large cave or rock in your aquarium.

Regardless of the area you choose, your fish can attack certain other species of fish if they try to invade their area.

Because of this, it’s important to rearrange your aquarium’s landscape each time you add a new fish to your tank that harbors aggressive fish.

It allows your tankmates to find new territories while preventing them from showing aggression over established territories.

meal

Aggressive fish are also more likely to fight for food with other fish. They will fight and drive away any fish they believe poses a threat to their meal.

So make sure you distribute fish food around your aquarium and try to offer a variety of food at the same time.

Aggressive fish will fight more with other aggressive fish

Aggressive fish tend to dominate in an aquarium. They will fight any species that tries to threaten their power.

So if you keep more than one type of aggressive fish together in a tank, chances are they will fight.

It’s best to introduce them together so they both have a level playing field.

This way they will try to mark their own territories rather than driving each other out of established territories.

last words

Aggressive fish can harm other fish, disrupting the overall habitat of your community aquarium.

Therefore, it’s best to quickly find out the reason for their aggression and limit their aggressive behavior.

With the above tips, you can effectively counteract aggressive fish in your aquarium.

Other aquarium related items you may find useful:

But is it possible?

You can only keep male guppies in a tank. However, if you only keep male guppies in a tank, you will see a lot of aggression and bullying among them. To spread aggression, it is recommended to keep at least 6 male guppies in an all-male guppies tank.

It is quite possible to keep a male-only guppy aquarium. But as I mentioned before, having only males in the tank can lead to a lot of aggression and bullying, which can lead to stress, illness and even the death of a fish in your tank.

Aside from keeping at least six male guppies in the tank, I’m going to share some helpful tips and tricks to solve this problem.

Continue reading…

How do I keep only male guppies in a tank?

The only problem with keeping only male guppies in a tank is aggression.

The thing is, guppies are voracious breeders. They breed a lot!

But if you don’t keep females in the tank, the males have nothing to do but eat.

So they spend their time showing off to each other and trying to prove their dominance over other men.

This can lead to a lot of aggression among males.

But in general, guppies are not very aggressive fish. They will not bully themselves to death like other fish like cichlids can do.

However, aggression can cause disease in the fish, which can lead to death.

In addition, guppies are schooling fish and like to stay in groups in their natural habitat.

However, there are a few things to keep in mind when keeping a male-only guppy aquarium.

1. Choose a large and tall aquarium

If you only keep male guppies in the tank, you should choose a larger tank so that you can keep more fish in the tank.

Keeping more male guppies in a tank will help spread the aggression. So all guppies will not target just one guppy.

If you keep fewer male guppies, say three guppies in a 10 gallon tank, then the two male guppies may always target one guppy and constantly chase and bully it.

On the other hand, if you keep 10 male guppies in a 20 gallon tank, most likely 9 guppies will not target one guppy. Instead, they randomly chase each other, which helps spread the aggression.

Also, in a larger tank, you can add lots of decorations and live plants to create hiding spots for guppies.

This allows the target fish to hide, rest and recover!

It is important for guppies to choose a high tank as guppies like to swim in the lower, middle and upper parts of the tank.

And if you keep them in a larger tank, they’ll have more room to swim.

2. Keep at least 6 male guppies in a tank

If you only keep male guppies in a tank, it is very important that you keep at least 6 male guppies in the tank.

This is important to spread aggression among the fish.

If you keep fewer than six guppies, say you only kept three guppies in a tank, there is a chance that the two guppies will only attack one guppy. This can cause stress for the target fish.

On the other hand, if you keep multiple guppies, it is very unlikely that the fish will target just one guppy. Instead, they randomly chase each other.

3. Keep fish of a similar size

If you only keep male guppies in a tank, it is very important to choose similarly sized males.

This is important because if one of the fish in the group is very small compared to others, there is a chance that all of the other fish will target and bully the smaller fish. As seen in the group.

This is a very common behavior in schooling fish.

4. Create lots of hiding spots in the tank

If you only keep male guppies in an aquarium, you will notice a lot of aggression and hunting among them.

This can cause stress in the target fish. And stress can lead to illness!

It is therefore very important to provide plenty of hiding places in a male-only guppy aquarium.

You can easily create hiding spots in your guppy tank by adding some live aquarium plants to the tank.

Not only do the live aquarium plants provide the fish with plenty of hiding spots, but there are many other benefits of keeping live plants in the tank.

You can also add decorations to create hiding spots for the fish in your aquarium.

5. Keep the fish well fed

Guppies are generally very peaceful fish, so even in a male-only guppy aquarium, you won’t see aggression all the time.

However, there are some events that can provoke aggression in the males.

Generally, you will notice aggression among males during feeding time.

Not providing the fish with enough food can increase aggression among the fish.

Therefore, in an all-male guppy tank, it’s a good idea to add a little more food than necessary.

Just make sure you’re not giving your guppy fish a lot of food many times a day.

If you notice a lot of aggression from male guppies during feeding time, just feed a little more.

And after feeding the fish, be sure to remove the uneaten food.

6. Check your fish regularly

You should regularly check the male guppies in your tank for early signs of disease in the fish.

Usually, feeding time is the best time to check the fish for signs of disease. At feeding time, all guppies are generally excited and eager for food. So it is very easy to recognize lethargic fish.

It is very important to detect signs of disease at an early stage as there is a greater chance that the fish will survive after treatment.

Also, if you caught the infected fish early, you can treat the fish right away and avoid the risk of spreading the disease to other guppies.

If you notice early symptoms of a disease, you should set up a hospital tank immediately and transfer the infected fish to the hospital tank for treatment.

I wrote an in-depth article on how to set up and drive a hospital tank right away.

You can check it here.

related questions

Do male guppies get lonely?

Although guppies are not schooling fish, in their natural habitat guppies live in groups.

And in their natural habitat, their group contains both males and females.

In addition, guppies breed a lot. Guppies can start breeding when they are only two to three months old.

Keeping only male guppies in a tank can affect their behavior and you will notice aggression among the male guppies.

Will all male guppies fight?

In general, guppies are very peaceful fish. But you will notice some fights between them. They do this to demonstrate their dominance and to impress female guppies.

In an all-male guppy aquarium, you will see more aggression among male guppies.

Can Two Male Guppies Have Babies?

Two male puppies cannot have babies. However, if you keep single or multiple females in a tank with no males, you may find that offspring come from females.

This is because the females may already mate with a male before being placed in a separate tank. And female guppies have a remarkable ability to store sperm, which allows them to reproduce two to three times without mating with a male guppy.

Why are my male guppies chasing each other?

Male pups chasing each other is their natural behavior to show their dominance.

Male guppies will hunt and attack each other to demonstrate their dominance.

Why are my male guppies dying?

There could be one or more reasons why your male guppies in your aquarium are dying.

As a rule, the most common cause is poor water quality.

In your aquarium, you should try to maintain the water parameters that are ideal for the guppies.

And make sure your aquarium is ammonia free.

If your tank contains ammonia, you can use these methods to reduce and get rid of ammonia in your tank.

Lack of oxygen in the tank can also be the reason your fish are dying. So in this case you can introduce an air pump to increase the oxygen in your tank.

I recommend Tetra whisper air pump. You can view it here on Amazon.

Also, any bacterial infection can be the reason male puppies die. So, in this case, you need to look for the symptoms of the disease and treat the fish accordingly.

20 tips for maintaining a healthy aquarium

Conclusion

Overall, you can only keep male guppies in your aquarium.

But if you only keep male guppies in a tank, you will see more aggression among them.

You should use the tips I mentioned in the article to deal with this problem.

I hope you found this article helpful.

If you do, please share with all who may benefit.

Happy fishing!

Guppies are relatively low maintenance, but that doesn’t mean they don’t require any grooming at all. In fact, like any living thing, guppies need love and care. They rely on their owners (that’s us!) to take care of them when they’re not in the wild, and also rely on other guppies to protect them if they ever need it.

This protective behavior is called training; If you’re wondering, “Do guppies school fish?” we have the answers!

Are Guppies Schooling Fish or Schooling Fish?

Guppies are classified as schooling fish; You can often see shoals, especially when observed through an aquarium. Guppies tend to go to school together when they feel threatened or have a sense of impending doom. Schooling is a way for them to protect themselves from possible harm.

Interestingly, guppies also pass for schooling fish. The difference between acting as a shoal fish or as a shoal fish depends solely on the environment and circumstances.

When guppies swim for fear of being attacked, they train together, creating a kind of barrier that can scare away the predator. If guppies are not threatened, however, they will swarm together; this is a result of their natural nature.

Guppies are social fish and will always be surrounded by their own kind. They don’t do well when kept alone, which is why if you plan on keeping guppies, be ready to buy a lot!

What is the difference between school fish and school fish?

While schooling and crushing appear similar, there is a significant difference between the two phenomena. Keep in mind that some fish exhibit both traits, and guppies are a prime example of this.

If you are new to fishing it may take a moment to understand the difference. Still, it’s easy to tell if fish are schooling or schooling just by looking at them. Here’s how to differentiate between the two:

school of fish

Schooling fish are those breeds that gather in a strict and organized manner and swim together when they sense an approaching predator. This enables them to protect themselves. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense; Isn’t it a lot easier to follow and attack a single, lonely fish than trying to hunt down a whole collection of these fish swimming in flawless unity?

school fish

Schooling fish swim together in groups simply because they are programmed to behave that way. These fish have an innate sense that commands them to swim alongside others, thus forming a large group or community where each member has the independence to forage for their own food, look out for their young and more, and yet remain within the confines of the swarm.

Schooling fish don’t swim in an organized pattern; This is the primary and most important difference between schooling and swarming. Schooling fish don’t have to swim in tightly packed unison because they don’t feel scared at the moment. However, when schools of fish such as guppies sense the arrival of a predator, they immediately shoal to protect themselves.

How many guppies should there be in a school?

Those planning to keep guppies as pets need to keep their innate training and shoaling abilities in mind. While you can keep a single guppy on your own, it’s better to get more. If you don’t keep enough guppies, you could pose a threat to their natural behavior in some scenarios. This can make your guppies feel discouraged.

It’s amazing to think that even these little fish have feelings, but they do! Guppies don’t feel well when they’re alone, and lonely guppies are more likely to get sick or get an infection; Feeling discouraged can affect their immunity and make them susceptible to disease.

It is best to keep a group of three to six guppies in a single tank. As a standard measure, try to provide one gallon of water for every inch of fish. Guppies are relatively small fish, but they still need about 2 gallons per fish.

If you can afford it, try to keep up to 8 or 10 guppies in a tank. If you are an expert at keeping fish, you can even try to keep more – but remember, never leave a guppy alone in your aquarium!

Also remember that guppies reproduce extremely quickly; For this reason, they are known as the “million fish.” So unless you plan on buying a ton of guppies right away, remember that they will be expanding their families on their own soon enough, so make sure you have enough space to accommodate their needs.

Can male guppies live together?

Male fish tend to attack each other and fight over territory and females; but does this also apply to guppies? Let’s find out!

In short, yes you can keep male guppies together. In fact, some experts even recommend doing so. Male guppies suffer lower mortality rates when kept together; This is because when kept with many females, the males will spend most of their time chasing their potential mates. As a result, the female guppies can attack their male counterparts and physically injure them.

However, you can easily keep several male guppies together. They can be aggressive at times, but they will fade within a day or two. In general, male guppies can live in peace provided there is adequate space in your fish bowl or aquarium. And as long as you have a few females with you too.

Can guppies live alone?

Yes, guppies can live alone. However, it is better to keep them together with other fish of their own kind or even other compatible breeds. Being alone could stress your guppy, especially if it was purchased from a fish store where it was kept with other guppies.

While the chances of them dying from loneliness are small, that doesn’t mean they don’t feel stressed at all. Remember that guppies are social fish that like to swarm together, so it’s best to have more than one and at least three if placing them together in a fishbowl or tank.

Can guppies go to school with other fish?

Guppies will not school with other guppies that don’t look like them, so schooling them with other breeds of fish is out of the question. However, you can always add other species of fish to liven up the atmosphere.

Guppies are known for their positive attitude and friendly demeanor, which helps them live in harmony with other fish as long as they don’t attack the guppies first.

While guppies are omnivores, they don’t like to eat other fish; This is also due to how small they are, making it difficult to hunt others of their kind. So the probability of guppies attacking other fish is small.

However, you should know that guppies cannot live with everyone. After all, nature depends on the cycle of life to keep us all going; As a result, some fish prey on guppies, and it is advisable to keep your pets away from such breeds.

So, which fish are guppies compatible and which should be kept in a separate tank? Fish that are roughly the same size work best. Popular options are:

Armored Catfish (Armored Catfish)

dwarf loaches

Endler’s Livebearer

glass fish

Molly

Platyfish (Platy)

Rasboras

You can also add other non-fish varieties to liven up your aquarium:

African Dwarf Frogs

apple snail

ghost shrimp

Red cherry shrimp

Conclusion

Guppies are adorable little fish that flock together when times are tough. They also like to be in flocks, but can also live alone. However, it is better to keep them with other fish, be they guppies or similar sized compatible breeds. However, the best possible scenario is when you have multiple guppies in a tank; this will make them happy and make them feel safe.

Remember that guppies will only go to school together if their companions look like them. So when choosing your fish, try to buy guppies that are similar in size and color.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out the rest of the site! And if you have more questions, you can ask them in the Q&A section!

No, guppies cannot change sex, that’s the short answer, but of course we can’t end the article here as the topic is more complex.

The problem I see is that there is a lot of conflicting information online about the sex differences and sex changes of guppies. Some claim that guppies can change sex, while others do not. As a beginner, it’s easy to get confused by all of this, which can lead you to make poor decisions for your guppies based on factually inaccurate information.

So, let’s clear the subject, shall we?

All guppies are born females?

No they are not. The fact that many people believe that all guppies were born females is just an indicator that there are no visual differences between young male and female guppies. Guppies all look the same, and they all look like females. They are all neutral in color and have no visible genitalia or other indicators to help you determine gender.

This can create confusion and lead many to believe that young guppies are all female, when this is not true. That’s why when guppies grow and males start to develop distinctive traits, the same people say, “There you go, those females are going to be males now,” when the reality is much simpler.

Females did not begin to turn into males. They were men all along, you just couldn’t tell. Puzzles solved there.

When can you have sex with Guppy Fry?

The ideal moment to accurately sex your guppy brood would be when they are 4 weeks old. Some minor gender differences may be visible before this period, but they may be more difficult to pinpoint. They will become more distinct by the time the brood reaches a month, and the males will develop more distinct body shapes and color traits.

So don’t worry if your guppy brood looks like females. As a side note, some guppy males show delays in their developmental phase. This can cause them to appear similar to females for longer than other males. So have you.

Male vs. Female Guppy – How to Tell the Difference?

The differences between male and female guppies are very subtle at first, but they develop fairly quickly. By the time the juveniles are 4 weeks old, it’s pretty clear what’s what. Several indicators help you distinguish between genders:

Body Shape and Size – Females grow taller than males and display more voluminous and rounded abdominal muscles. Male guppies, on the other hand, are smaller and look slimmer. On average, guppy females can reach 2.2 inches, while males only settle for around 1.2 inches. Males can also boast larger and richer tails.

– Females are larger than males and show more voluminous and rounded abdominal muscles. Male guppies, on the other hand, are smaller and look slimmer. On average, guppy females can reach 2.2 inches, while males only settle for around 1.2 inches. Males can also boast larger and richer tails. Color and Pattern Variations – Males are typically more colorful than females and display richer patterns on their bodies, fins and tails. This is part of their evolutionary prerogatives. Males use their colors to attract females and increase their chances of mating. Females do not need such an advantage, which is why their coloring is rather dull; they instead rely on pheromones and body language to make their intentions obvious. However, not all guppies fall into this category. In some species of guppy, the females also display vivid color and pattern variations, mixing the gender differences from this perspective.

– Males are usually more colorful than females and show richer patterns on their bodies, fins and tails. This is part of their evolutionary prerogatives. Males use their colors to attract females and increase their chances of mating. Females do not need such an advantage, which is why their coloring is rather dull; they instead rely on pheromones and body language to make their intentions obvious. However, not all guppies fall into this category. In some species of guppy, the females also display vivid color and pattern variations, mixing the gender differences from this perspective. Differences in dorsal fins and tails – Males exhibit larger and fluffier dorsal fins that move with the water currents, while females’ fins are smaller and less noticeable. Tails also differ, with males having larger and longer caudal fins, while females are shorter and less imposing.

– Males display larger and fluffier dorsal fins that move with the water currents, while females’ fins are smaller and less noticeable. Tails also differ, with males having larger and longer caudal fins, while females are shorter and less imposing. The Anal Fin – Males have longer and more prominent anal fins that have a pointed end. During the impregnation process, they use this fin to get sperm into the female. The female’s anal fin is smaller and somewhat triangular in shape.

– Males have longer and more protruding anal fins, which have a pointed end. During the impregnation process, they use this fin to get sperm into the female. The female’s anal fin is smaller and somewhat triangular in shape. The Gestation Patch – Only female guppies will show a gestation patch as apparently only females get pregnant. The gestation patch is visible towards the tail in the lower abdomen of the fish. It’s simply a darker area that gets bigger and blacker as the moment of delivery approaches.

These indicators should allow you to easily distinguish between guppy males and females. Over time, you’ll find it even easier to pinpoint them accurately, eliminating any confusion in the process.

Are Guppies Hermaphrodites?

No, guppies reproduce sexually. They need a male and a female to maintain viable brood. It may seem strange for humans to ask such a question, but it’s actually justified based on one of the evolutionary traits of female guppies. Male and female guppies may not always be together in the wild. Because of this, women have developed a unique reproductive trait that allows them to store male sperm in a special area in their bodies.

The females then use these sperm to fertilize themselves every week, using the sperm reserves for up to 10 months. There are some claims of female guppies producing juveniles for more than a year without a male present. This may lead some people to conclude that females don’t need a male to produce offspring, or that guppies can even change sex on a whim.

As I have already explained, none of these beliefs are true.

Do water parameters affect the sex of guppies?

To clarify the topic in depth, I will split this question into 2 parts, each with its relevant corresponding answer:

Do guppies change sex when water parameters change? – No, both young and adult guppies keep their original sex no matter how their environment changes.

Do the water values ​​influence the sex of the future young fish? – There is no definitive answer to this. We know that different species of reptiles and amphibians react to their environmental parameters, which affects the sex of the offspring. But we have not observed this in guppies. Some studies suggest that higher water temperatures produce more males, while colder waters produce more females, but take it with a grain of salt. The studies are inconclusive.

So don’t rely on changing water parameters to affect the sex of the juvenile fish. Not only is there little evidence that it works, but you can hurt the pregnant women in the process.

Conclusion

To dispel misinformation and myths once and for all, guppies cannot change sex and are not hermaphrodites. Females need males to fertilize their eggs and produce offspring, but they will also store males’ sperm for several months if males are unavailable.

Finally, don’t worry if all your guppies look like females during their breeding period; That is normal. You should observe them soon developing sex specific characteristics, most becoming more apparent by the time the fry reach 4 weeks of age.

You are in the right place!

In this article I will answer the same question.

Continue reading.

Ideally, you should keep at least a trio of guppy together in a minimum 5 gallon aquarium. You can keep more than one trio. Just make sure you enlarge the tank according to the number of guppies you plan to keep. One gallon per inch of fish is a good rule of thumb when considering the right size tank for guppies.

That was the short answer to the question.

But when it comes to how many guppies you should keep in your tank, there’s more to it than just tank size.

You must also decide if you want to keep male and female guppies together in the same tank. Or you only want to keep male or female guppies in your aquarium.

I am going to tell you everything you need to know to decide how many guppies to keep in your aquarium and how to successfully keep them in your aquarium.

Continue reading.

Do guppies have to be in groups?

Have you ever seen a guppy aquarium with just one guppy?

I’m guessing you may have seen very few, if any.

Guppies are small peaceful fish and look great in a group in an aquarium.

Since guppies are small colorful fish, they have many enemies in the wild.

To save themselves from the predators, guppies start practicing anti-predator tactics from a young age and they train together to save themselves from the predators.

In the wild, guppies also search for food together in groups because they find food more easily that way.

Overall, guppies live together in the wild to protect themselves and find food easily.

To keep guppies happy and healthy in your aquarium, try to mimic their natural habitat.

And that’s why you should keep guppies in your aquarium in a group.

If you don’t want to keep a lot of guppies, you should keep at least a trio of guppies in your aquarium. Of the trio, two should be female and one male.

Maintaining this ratio is important for the guppies to live peacefully in your aquarium. I’ll talk more about the importance of maintaining the relationship later in this article.

Can you only keep one guppy?

Technically, you could only keep one guppy in your aquarium.

However, as mentioned above, guppies in the wild live together to protect themselves from predators and to find food. Research was conducted where they found that guppies live together more often in regions with high predation rates. When the guppies were relocated to a predator-free environment, it was observed that they preferred to live in isolation.

Also, in your aquarium, you will be feeding your guppies regularly so they don’t have to find food themselves. So they don’t have to be in groups in an aquarium to find food.

Based on the reasoning above, you could only keep one guppy fish in your aquarium.

Is it difficult to keep more guppies in an aquarium?

Guppies are one of the hardiest fish in the aquarium hobby!

They are recommended for beginners as guppies are very forgiving of the mistakes beginners generally make with their first aquarium.

Guppies are also very cheap. So if you want to keep a lot of guppies in your aquarium, it will not cost you much money.

So is it more difficult to keep more guppies in an aquarium than if you were to keep fewer guppies, say just a trio of guppies?

It is not difficult to keep more guppies or many guppies in one aquarium.

Honestly, even if you start with a trio of guppies in your aquarium, you will end up with a lot of guppies very soon because guppies breed a lot!

You just need to follow some best practices if you want to keep more guppies (e.g. 10-12 guppies) in your aquarium.

What are the best practices for keeping more guppies?

There are a few things you need to keep in mind if you plan to keep a large number of guppies in your aquarium.

1. Keep guppies in a larger tank

If you want to keep a lot of guppies in your aquarium, you need to keep them in a larger tank.

How much tank do guppies need?

I’ll cover this topic in detail later in this article, but for now, for a trio of guppy, you should have at least a 5 gallon tank.

And then a good general rule of thumb is 1 gallon larger tank per inch of fish.

Guppies are generally 2 inches long, so ideally you should have a 2 gallon larger tank for each new guppy fish.

2. Maintain a 2:1 (female:male) ratio

If you want to keep a lot of guppies in your tank, you need to make sure the 2:1 (female:male) ratio is maintained.

For example, if you want to keep 15 guppies in your aquarium, out of the 15 guppies, 10 should be female and 5 male guppies.

If you have fewer females in your tank compared to male guppies, the females will be constantly chased and harassed by the males. This can stress the females, which can lead to disease in females!

If there are fewer females than males in an aquarium, you will also notice a lot of aggression among males, which stresses the males and can lead to disease.

3. Feed enough food

You need to give your guppies enough food if you keep a lot of guppies in your aquarium.

Giving your guppies less and less food continuously can lead to aggression during feeding time.

How Much Food Should I Feed My Guppies?

When it comes to how much food to feed your guppies, a general rule of thumb is you should feed them the amount of food your guppies can eat in one minute.

If you want to know more information about this topic, you should check out this article.

4. Maintain the ideal water parameters for guppies

They should maintain the ideal water parameters that guppies need in their aquarium. Maintaining ideal water parameters is one of the most important things in keeping your guppies happy and healthy.

Because if you don’t do this, it can lead to stress in the fish and even aggression in the guppies.

So what are the ideal water levels for guppies?

PARAMETER VALUES FISH Guppies SCIENTIFIC NAME Poecilia reticulata CARE LEVEL Single MAXIMUM SIZE 2 inches

AVERAGE LIFETIME 2-4 years

NUTRITION Omnivore WATER TEMPERATURE 64-82°F WATER pH 5.5-8.0 WATER HARDNESS 10-30 MINIMUM TANK CAPACITY 5 gallons BREEDING Livebearers

So overall it is not difficult to keep more guppies or many guppies.

Guppies are one of the hardiest fish you can keep in your aquarium.

But you need to keep them in a larger tank if you want to keep a lot of guppies.

How do you decide how many guppies to keep in your tank? (3 factors to consider)

There are a few things to consider when deciding how many guppies to keep in your aquarium.

1. How big should the guppy aquarium be?

How big an aquarium you want to have will be one of the most important things when it comes to deciding how many guppies you want in your tank.

If you want to keep a smaller tank, say a 5 gallon tank, then you should only keep 3 guppies in the 5 gallon aquarium.

On the other hand, if you want a larger tank, say a 10 gallon or 20 gallon tank, then you can keep more guppies in the tank.

2. How much time do you have to take care of your guppy aquarium?

Guppies are very hardy fish. And in general, they should not take much time to maintain them.

However, if you keep a lot of guppies in your aquarium, you also need to take care of them all and give them more time.

For example, if you keep a lot of guppies, you need to watch each fish (which is fun, by the way) to check that they are doing well. Or to see if they are showing early signs of disease.

When you have a lot of fish, there is a greater chance that each fish will develop early symptoms of the disease.

In this case, you need to take out the fish, and then treat it. Otherwise, the disease could spread throughout the tank.

If you keep up with regular maintenance of your guppy aquarium and feed your guppies a good quality food, your fish will generally be healthy no matter how many fish you keep and you will not see any signs of disease in your guppies.

3. How much money do you want to spend on your guppy aquarium?

Guppies are very cheap to come by, you can get lots of puppies for a very cheap price.

But if you get more guppies, you will also need a larger fish tank and equipment such as a fish tank heater, fish tank filter, fish tank light, fish tank stand, etc.

Also, if you have a lot of guppies, you will need more food to feed them.

Also, you need to factor in the electricity bill for running all the aquarium equipment.

Here are tables showing the initial cost of a 10 gallon guppy aquarium

Item Cost Fish $30 Tank $40 Stand $50 Feeder $12 Filter $25 Aquarium Heater $10 Air Pump $5 Fishnet $2 Water Test Kit $24 Aquarium Plants $30 Aquarium Wall Cleaner $7 Water Conditioner $7 Thermometer $5 Siphon $12 $10 gallon bucket 20 $Medications $15 Aquarium Plant Fertilizer $10 Total $304

Recurring costs of owning and maintaining a guppy aquarium

There are a few things you need to do on a regular basis to maintain your guppy aquarium.

1. Fish food

You need to regularly buy fish food for your guppies.

How much fish food is enough for your guppies depends on how many fish you keep in your aquarium.

And how much the fish food costs depends on what fish food you get for your guppy aquarium.

When it comes to fish food for guppies, you should diversify and not just feed your guppies one type of fish food.

Food also plays a very important role in guppies coloring. That is why it is very important to give your guppies good quality food

Here are some of my recommendations for guppy fish food:

Best flake food for guppies

Flake Food Features Check Price at Amazon New Life Spectrum Optimum Flakes – Contains both meaty and vegetable ingredients

– Improves the color of guppy fish

– Enhances the immune system Click here Aquacarium Tropical Flakes – Contains both meaty and herbal ingredients

– All natural

– Doesn’t cloud the water Click here Tetra Tropical Color Flakes – Very popular

– Contains both meaty and herbal ingredients

– Improves the color of guppy fish

– Doesn’t make the water cloudy Click here

Best pellet food for guppies

Pellet Feed Key Features Check Price on Amazon New Life Spectrum Float Surface Feeder – Contains both meaty and vegetable ingredients

– Purely natural ingredients

– Improves the color of guppy fish

– Semi-Floating Click Here Hikari Micro Pellets – Contains both meaty and herbal ingredients

– Semi-floating

– Doesn’t make the water cloudy Click here

Best plant-based fish food for guppies

Veggie Fish Food Features Check price at Amazon Aquacarium Veggie Flakes

– All natural ingredients

– Doesn’t cloud the water Click here New Life Spectrum AlgaeMax – Sinkwafer

– Made from seaweed click here

Besides this commercial fish food, you can also feed your guppies some human food. Here is the list of foods that you can feed your guppies.

2. Filter media cartridge

You need to change the filter media in your aquarium filter weekly.

Filter media doesn’t cost a lot of money and can last a long time.

You can get filter media for less than $20

3. Aquarium water test kit

How often you need to buy an aquarium water test kit depends on which test kit you use.

If you get the API freshwater master test (link to Amazon), it costs something up front for a test kit. But it will last, so it’s worth it in the long run.

In general, the API master test kit lasts at least more than a year.

4. Aquarium water conditioner

You also need to buy an aquarium water conditioner on a regular basis.

How long your aquarium water conditioner will last depends on the size of your aquarium and the size of the aquarium water conditioner bottle.

For example, if you get Seachem Prime Water Conditioner in a 16.91 oz pack (link to Amazon), which is about 16 ounces and can treat about 473 gallons of water.

So if you own a 10 gallon aquarium and do say 50% water changes, i.e. 5 gallons of water every week, it can last you two years!

5. Medication

You will also need to regularly purchase medicines for your aquarium.

How much and how long the medication works depends on the application.

6. Current

Also, keep in mind that all aquarium equipment requires electricity to function.

Some devices such as aquarium filters, air pumps and aquarium heaters must be left on 24 hours a day.

And you don’t have to keep other devices like aquarium lights on 24/7. In general, you should leave aquarium lights on for 8 to 10 hours during the day and off at night.

How much the electricity bill costs depends on what equipment you use in your aquarium and how many watts they are. And also the electricity price in your area.

In general, a 10 gallon tank consumes about 150 KW of energy per year. So you could calculate the electricity bill by multiplying 150kW by the price of electricity per KW in your area.

For example, the average electricity per KW in the US is 10.42 cents. So if we multiply 150 KW by 10.42 cents, we get $15.63.

Can you keep male and female guppies together in one aquarium?

You can keep male and female guppies together in the same tank.

But there are a few things you need to keep in mind while keeping them together.

1. Maintain the ratio of (2:1) female to male ratio

The most important thing to remember when keeping male and female guppies together in the same tank is that you must maintain a (2:1) female-male-guppy ratio.

This is important because if you don’t keep the ratio and say if you keep fewer females, the females will be constantly harassed by male guppies.

This will stress the female guppies, which could lead to a shortened lifespan and more stress that could eventually cause disease in the females.

Maintaining the ratio is important not only for the females but also for the male guppies.

In general, female guppies are quite picky when it comes to mating partners.

Female guppies may not allow some male guppies in your tank to mate.

So if you keep the ratio, the male and female guppies will have more choices and most likely each will find a mating partner.

2. Add lots of hiding spots to your aquarium

If you keep male and female guppies in the same tank, even if you maintain the ratio, you will still see male guppies constantly chasing and harassing the females in your tank.

This can stress the female guppies, which can cause illness later on.

To deal with this problem, you should add lots of hiding places to your guppy aquarium. This allows the females to hide from the males in your aquarium and rest and recover.

How to create hiding places in a guppy aquarium?

There are few ways you can create lots of hiding spots in your guppy tank while giving your tank a unique look!

Add live aquarium plants

You can add live aquarium plants to your guppy aquarium to create hiding spots for the fish in your tank. Here is the list of the best live aquarium plants for guppies.

Add aquarium decorations

You can add different types of aquarium decorations like driftwood and rocks and other decorative items to your guppy aquarium to create hiding spots for the fish in your tank.

Maintain ideal water parameters

Well, that goes without saying – you need to maintain the ideal water parameters in your guppy tank to keep all of the fish in your tank stress-free and healthy.

Here is the chart of the ideal water levels that guppies need in their tank.

PARAMETER VALUES FISH Guppies SCIENTIFIC NAME Poecilia reticulata CARE LEVEL Single MAXIMUM SIZE 2 inches

AVERAGE LIFETIME 2-4 years

NUTRITION Omnivore WATER TEMPERATURE 64-82°F WATER pH 5.5-8.0 WATER HARDNESS 10-30 MINIMUM TANK CAPACITY 5 gallons BREEDING Livebearers

In addition to maintaining ideal water parameters, you should also ensure that your aquarium is free of ammonia and nitrite. And you should make sure that the nitrate level in your aquarium is less than 20 PPM.

How many males and females should I keep together?

You can keep as many male and female guppies in your aquarium as you do the following few things.

Maintaining the (2:1) female-male ratio

As I mentioned earlier, you need to maintain the (2:1) female to male ratio to deal with the aggression in your guppy aquarium.

Choose the right aquarium size according to the number of fish you want to keep in your aquarium

If you plan to keep a lot of male and female guppies in your aquarium, you will also need a larger tank to hold them than if you just want to keep a trio of guppies, which only requires a 5 gallon tank.

When it comes to tank size for guppies, a good rule of thumb is 1 gallon per inch of fish.

Guppies generally grow up to 2 inches. So two gallons for a guppy fish is a good rule of thumb.

Can you only keep male guppies in an aquarium?

Male guppies are more colorful and lively than female guppies.

But is it a good idea to only keep male guppies in an aquarium?

Well, you could only keep male guppies in your guppy tank.

However, the main problem you will notice if you keep only male guppies in your guppy tank is male aggression.

You will see the male guppies constantly chasing and harassing each other.

This can stress the fish!

But if you really only want to keep male guppies in an aquarium, there are a few ways to deal with the aggression.

First, you should create plenty of hiding places in your guppy aquarium so that the fish can hide, rest, and recover.

You should also keep any male guppies in the aquarium well fed so that they do not become aggressive during feeding time.

You should also keep at least 6 male guppies so that aggression is spread between them.

Also, for male guppies in general, you should choose a larger tank so they have plenty of room to swim around and hide.

These are some ways to deal with the aggression in a male-only guppy aquarium.

There are also a few other ways to deal with aggression.

I’ve talked in this article about all the ways to deal with aggression in a male-only guppy aquarium and everything you need to know to maintain a healthy male-only guppy aquarium.

Can you only keep female guppies in an aquarium?

You probably don’t want to deal with aggression from male guppies in your guppy aquarium.

Or you don’t want guppy fry in your guppy tank.

In these cases it might be a good idea to only keep females in a guppy tank.

And you can safely keep only female guppies in your guppy aquarium.

However, if you only keep female guppies in your guppy tank because you don’t want juvenile fish in your guppy tank, then that’s pretty tricky.

Because even if you only keep females in your guppy aquarium, there is a chance that some of the females have already been pregnant by a male. So you will end up with guppy spawn in your tank.

Another disadvantage of keeping only female guppies in your guppy tank is that the females are not as colorful and vibrant as male guppies.

How many guppies should you keep in a tank based on tank size?

Here is a chart showing how many guppies you should keep depending on the size of your aquarium.

Tank size number of guppies 5 gallons 3 10 gallons 6 15 gallons 9 20 gallons 12

Conclusion

Guppies are the hardest freshwater fish to keep.

For this reason, they are recommended for beginners and are very popular in aquaristics.

In general, you should keep guppies in groups. And ideally you should keep at least one guppy trio in a minimum 5 gallon aquarium.

You can keep more than one trio of guppy, but then you will also need to increase the tank size of your aquarium according to the number of fish you will be keeping in the tank.

There are also other factors that can influence your decision on how many guppies to keep in your aquarium.

I have covered all the factors in detail in the article so hopefully they helped you to make the right decision.

I hope you found this article helpful.

If you do, please share

Happy fishing!

There is no doubt that every guppy owner tries to have as many guppies as possible. The reason is simple. Male guppies are more colorful and show more patterns, adding variety and unique traits.

The problem is that male guppies are more aggressive and territorial than females. This can lead to constant fighting, especially if you have a lot of males in a tank that is too small.

Is it okay to only keep male guppies?

Yes it is. Tanks filled only with male guppies exist, but there’s a catch. An exclusively male guppy population will inevitably lead to war, aggression and bullying. Males are also territorial and display a ferocious temper in the presence of females.

Your main goal should be to prevent aggression and provide guppy males with a safe and comfortable environment to avoid these problems. You can do this by choosing a larger and taller tank with more water volume and overall space available.

This minimizes interactions between fish, giving your males a sense of territorial dominance and reassuring them.

You should also create a rich aquatic environment with caves, rocks, driftwood, and plants. All of this breaks line of sight between fish and provides a variety of hiding places.

Can you only keep 2 male guppies?

Absolutely not. You need to understand that male guppy aggression is not a random occurrence. It’s not that some guppy males are aggressive while others are peaceful and swim kumbaya style. All guppy males show aggression towards other males.

Just having 2 of them in the same tank will quickly spell disaster because they will fight to the death. They may not even intend to kill each other; Death can simply be the result of injuries caused by constant bullying and attacks.

Therefore, I would not recommend keeping only 2 male guppy in the tank.

How many male guppies keep together?

The default recommendation would be at least 6. This is not a random number, but one based on observation and experimentation. If you have fewer than 6 males, say 3, there will be a power imbalance that will result in 2 males attacking the third.

In this situation, it is not the attacks that are the problem, but their frequency. The victim is subjected to high levels of stress, which can lead to a weakened immune system, infection and disease. Not to mention, frequent attacks result in injury and increase the chances of your fish catching deadly infections along the way.

The same situation applies to 4 and 5 guppies, but changes as the number increases. Having more than 6 males in a tank greatly reduces the chances of the same fish being attacked by the others. Instead, the males attack each other at random.

But even with more than 6 guppies in the same tank, smaller fish can still become targets for the others. I suggest periodically reviewing population dynamics, identifying targeted bullying behavior, and dealing with the situation quickly. When several males focus on the same fish, the situation can get grim pretty quickly.

Are Male Guppies Aggressive To Each Other?

Yes, they generally are. Guppy males are territorial and will fight over females 24/7. Even when females are not available, males have an innate higher level of aggression that they are more than willing to display at any given opportunity.

This is one of the reasons why all-male guppy aquariums don’t have the most peaceful dynamics. Adding a few females to the mix could make things worse as it introduces another reason for guppy males to compete.

To ensure stable and peaceful aquarium dynamics, I recommend having 1 guppy male for every 2 or 3 females. If the males have enough females, they can all mate, reducing competitive aggression.

I understand that a mixed tank is less impressive than an all-male one. But sometimes, in addition to the aesthetic factor, you also need to consider the safety of your guppies.

Will Male Guppies Kill Each Other?

Usually they don’t do this on purpose. Guppies are all similar in size and have no teeth. This reduces the chances of them killing each other. Not to mention that they don’t actively fight each other. Rather, 1 or 2 males will urge another male to hide, nibble his fins and poke him.

When death does occur, it is almost always the result of injuries from constant bullying and stress. Left untreated, injuries can lead to infections that can soon prove fatal. Stress is another major problem as it weakens the victim’s immune system and opens the door to infections, parasites and various diseases.

At the same time, guppy males can directly kill each other if the size difference allows. The larger males will bully and even kill the smaller ones to give themselves better access to food and mates. It’s a biology and there’s nothing you can do to change it.

The only thing you can do is to prevent male aggression by controlling the number of males and eliminating obvious size differences, among other things.

Can male guppies live without a female?

Yes, you can. Females are not necessary as they do not directly affect the lifespan of males. However, a tank with no females will have different dynamics than a mixed one.

When no females are around, male guppy will divide their activities between eating and bullying. After all, they have to channel their aggression somewhere. The presence of females will keep the males busy, reducing their aggression and replacing them with breeding attempts and mating games.

The moral of the story is – don’t let your guppy males get bored. Keep them busy, preferably by setting up a mixed tank based on a 1:3 male to female ratio.

How to stop male guppies from fighting?

Here’s what you can do here:

Consider a bigger and taller tank – The size of the tank works wonders in that sense. The usual rule is to have 1 guppy for every 2 gallons of water. I say keep one guppy for every 4-5 gallons of water. And while you’re at it, get a bigger tank. This will minimize interactions between your husbands, leading to fewer episodes of violence and bullying.

– The size of the tank will work wonders in that sense. The usual rule is to have 1 guppy for every 2 gallons of water. I say keep one guppy for every 4-5 gallons of water. And while you’re at it, get a bigger tank. This will minimize interactions between your husbands, leading to fewer episodes of violence and bullying. Provide Adequate and Regular Feeding – Hungry guppies are grumpy guppies. Keep your guppy males on a regular and varied diet and they will show less aggression overall. It’s harder to fight with a full stomach.

– Hungry guppies are grumpy guppies. Keep your guppy males on a regular and varied diet and they will show less aggression overall. It’s harder to fight with a full stomach. Get Guppies of Similar Size – As I mentioned earlier, the larger fish can kill and eat the smaller ones. Guppies are no strangers to cannibalism; Mix this with men’s obvious propensity for violence and the result is always death. To minimize this problem, I recommend reducing the size difference between guppies.

– As I mentioned before, the bigger fish can kill and eat the smaller ones. Guppies are no strangers to cannibalism; Mix this with men’s obvious propensity for violence and the result is always death. To minimize this problem, I recommend reducing the size difference between guppies. Increase the number of males – If you are determined to have a male-only tank, make sure you get at least 6 males. This minimizes aggression towards a specific fish and instead spreads it across all.

I would set up a mixed tank instead of an all male tank. A mixed tank inevitably makes for a healthier dynamic, as male-female interactions have a different energy than males.

Conclusion

Male-only tanks are definitely prettier and livelier, but they also have significant drawbacks. On the other hand, mixed tanks provide more stable population dynamics and allow for breeding if you plan to increase your number of guppies.

In the end, there are pros and cons to whatever you choose, so choose accordingly. If you are interested in understanding how to set up a tank, control your guppy population, or understand selective breeding or feeding, read my other articles or comment below.

In general, aggressiveness is not associated with guppy fish. They are known and marketed as peaceful, sociable fish that make a great addition to a community aquarium.

Therefore, it comes as a surprise to many, and especially to aquarists who are new to guppies, that these fish can become territorial and aggressive.

What gives? Why would an otherwise peaceful fish like the guppy suddenly become aggressive and territorial? And are guppies aggressive to each other or just other fish? Is their behavior dangerous?

These are the questions I will address in this article on guppies aggressiveness. I will start things off by saying that guppy fish are indeed generally peaceful, but if certain conditions are not met you can push these fish to the limit and they will show signs of aggression.

Here are some scenarios where you might notice this behavior in action:

Guppies chase each other

It’s not at all uncommon to see guppy fish chasing each other. In fact, it is normal mating behavior. You will usually see males chasing female fish all the time as they try to mate.

If you see slightly smaller and more colorful fish with larger tails chasing the slightly larger, less colorful fish with smaller tails, you are observing normal mating behavior and is generally not a cause for concern.

Aside from that, this constant harassment can become stressful for female guppies, especially when they are outnumbered, and stress is another worm you may have to deal with.

Some female fish may become exhausted or sickly, they may hide or sit at the bottom of the tank. Therefore, it is not a good idea for male guppy fish to outnumber female guppy fish.

But even in aquariums without female fish, you can find male guppies chasing each other. This isn’t uncommon either, as they compete for mating privileges and try to establish their dominance, a pecking order of sorts.

Unless fin biting or fighting accompanies the hunt, this is part of their normal behavior and you should not be overly alarmed.

You can add a few larger plants to the tank to provide hiding places for weaker males and to make it harder for other males to find them.

You should also ensure that there is plenty of space in the aquarium and that your tank is not overcrowded, which can help relieve tension between your fish.

While chasing is usually just for show and nothing serious like fin biting or fighting that can cause injury, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the tank to see if this behavior wears off or not.

If things stall and you notice injuries and fights, you should immediately make the necessary adjustments (separate racquets, add females, adjust female-to-male ratio).

Male guppies fight

Male guppy fish are wired to mate, and in a male-only guppy aquarium, the males will become aggressive towards one another if there are no females around.

Aggression can go as far as fighting between male guppies. Even then, these fights may not be dangerous, and most aquarists report that they are more for show.

Males are simply trying to assert their dominance and power by resorting to bullying and territorial behavior.

Whenever you notice this type of behavior in your male guppies, the first thing to do is to look for injuries such as injured fins, tails, etc.

If there are no signs of injury, it’s probably just a harmless scuffle between your male guppies, but if your guppy fish start hurting other male guppies or other similar fish, consider separating them or adding females to the mix.

Male to female guppy ratio

Whatever the reason for aggressive behavior, you should do your best to curb these behavioral manifestations so that you don’t want to have problems with infection from injury later on.

A good way to ensure a peaceful environment in your aquarium is to not only keep male guppies in an aquarium and to be aware of the correct ratio of guppies between males and females.

Guppies should not be kept alone, but neither should they be kept in numbers where males outnumber females. It should be the other way around – female guppies should outnumber male guppies.

Therefore, the ideal guppy fish group has 1 male guppy for 2-3 female guppy fish. This ensures that there are not too many males competing for very few females, it also reduces the number of pregnancies and puts much less stress on female guppies.

Overpopulation in a mixed-sex guppy aquarium can become a serious problem if there are too many males and if guppy fry are not properly managed.

You can leave unwanted fry with their parents in the tank if there are not too many, as the adult fish will eat them. Alternatively, you can save the fry by separating them from the adults.

Can Male Guppies Kill Each Other?

Although I haven’t seen it in my aquariums, male guppy can kill each other and even other fish, especially if those other fish are later added to the tank.

Therefore, guppy fish can cause deadly injuries to each other, and even if fish don’t die from the injury itself, they can die from the secondary infections caused by the injury.

What happens is that either a guppy bullies other guppies or multiple guppies associate with a single guppy. In both scenarios, the bullied guppy may die from the injuries.

When guppy fish nibble the fins of your other guppy fish, opportunistic bacteria or parasites can enter the body or bloodstream of injured guppies and cause their death.

However, I should also mention that this is extreme behavior in guppies and should not put you off keeping guppies.

If you decide to keep guppies, make sure you follow certain housing requirements, such as:

Keep guppies at a 1:3 male to female ratio (this makes them less competitive and eliminates aggressive behavior models);

Avoid keeping only males in an aquarium (see the Fighting Male Guppies section above);

Provides enough space for all your guppies to avoid overcrowding and associated stress;

keeping guppy fish with compatible tankmates;

feeding them adequate food;

Separating pesky fish to eliminate the risk of injury.

If you meet these requirements, you shouldn’t have any problems other than the normal mating behavior that male guppies exhibit when preying on females.

Can you keep guppies with other species of fish?

Yes, you can keep guppies in a community aquarium with other fish species, but they should be compatible fish. Therefore, aggressive fish, slow-moving fish, fin-biters and larger fish are not suitable for guppies.

Nonetheless, there are many fish that guppies can get along with, including platies, mollies, swordtails, honey gouramis, armored catfish, harlequin rasbora, cardinal tetra, bristle catfish and otocinclus catfish.

Fish that are compatible with guppies have similar water parameters, have similar dietary needs, and are peaceful in nature.

It is important when setting up a community aquarium to provide a stress-free and healthy environment, and to consider the specific needs of all the fish species that are to be kept together.

Make sure you set up a spacious aquarium, that your water parameters are in the optimal range for these fish, and that you have all the equipment necessary to keep the water at stable temperatures.

What to do with bullied guppies?

Depending on the severity of the bullying in your aquarium, you may need to take different actions. If there is no injury yet but the fish causing the problem is desperate to attack your other guppies, your best bet is to remove the pesky fish for a few days and try to acclimatize it again later.

If there are signs of injury, you need to quarantine the injured fish and monitor its health. If there is a disease, you must also apply a treatment.

As for the pesky fish, you’ll need to separate it from the other fish for a few days to see if it calms down and to prevent further injury in the aquarium.

If problems continue even after separation and re-acclimation, you may need to part with your pesky guppy. You can sell it conditionally or give it to friends as a gift.

Conclusion

There is a good reason why you should always strive to create favorable conditions for your fish, avoiding stress and keeping them in their normal social groups.

Guppies are social fish that need company and do not do well when kept individually or when kept in groups that are not natural to them.

As you have seen in this article or witnessed in your own aquarium, guppy fish can have an aggressive side that shows when their housing needs are not met.

However, aggressiveness is not typical of guppy fish and if you follow my advice on keeping guppies, you are unlikely to encounter these types of problems.

From your perspective, it probably doesn’t look like either of them did. Sure, the rear one looked like the Aggressor on the surface, but it didn’t do much. Is it possible that they were just playing like children in a playground? And how do you tell the difference?

Here are a few general things you should know to help you determine what’s going on in your aquarium.

First of all, it is natural for them to swim in a row. It’s a way for them to interact, and they can enjoy it. They might also be working on increasing their small families in the near future. A fish might try to chase another fish out of its territory, but doesn’t really plan to hurt the intruder unless it has to. It just doesn’t want to socialize or share its space, and when it comes to breeding, that’s to be expected. When they fight, a fish that feels threatened is more likely to crouch in a corner rather than charge head-on. Instead of swimming towards the attacker, the fish trying to protect itself from harm may isolate itself. In other words, if a more aggressive fish is swimming towards him, a weaker fish might hide rather than fight back. There are visible signs when a fish in the tank has been attacked. Such marks are marks on its body and nips on its fins. An injured fish will shy away from the other fish to give itself time to heal. Territorial fish are likely to be aggressive towards fish of their own species that are of the same sex. They are basically trying to protect their breeding ground and a fish of the same species and sex is competition.

It is easier to understand the difference between games and fights if you compare their behavior to the behavior of dogs. Dogs that want to play or mate chase each other in a backyard. They may wrestle with each other and even sound like they’re fighting… but then they lie down on the grass, wink at each other affectionately and stare together at the roaring fireplace.

When they fight, it’s undeniable. They are noisy and aggressive dogs will physically hurt each other if given the chance.

It’s not quite as clear with fish, but the idea is the same.

Of course, fish behave differently in an aquarium depending on their breed. Therefore, in order to determine whether your fish are playing or fighting, you need to know better their characteristics and normal behavior.

Basically just watching. If it looks like fun, it probably is.

If not, you can wish for what you have always wished for: a second aquarium! Set up a new aquarium environment and migrate the aggressive breeds into it. And now you have arranged quite a sight in your home or business.

If that’s not an option, talk to your friends who are also enthusiasts to see if they would like your fish as it might suit their environment better. As a last resort, you may be able to return your fish or sell it to the store. If you choose to go this route, be sure to make arrangements ahead of time to ensure the store will take the fish back before you take on the stress of transport.

Being able to predict with reasonable certainty whether or not fish will get along is a skill that requires years of experience. If you are curious about which fish species are suitable for your existing aquarium, ask us! We are happy to give you some suggestions.