choochiegirl

Out of all my guppies, I have one that seems to not want to eat much except what she can scape of the bottom. she tends to stay away from the others and sit on the bottom & stare. she appears healthy and will join the others sometimes, but then will go to the bottom & sit. Is this normal? I've had her for 3 weeks now

I also have another female who is a bit of a bully. She's from the same store as the one that sits on the bottom. The other 3 are newer and will hang with her, until she decides she's had enough and pokes at them till they leave. Are females normally agressive?

Sabi

The one that sits at the bottom, do you see any nip marks on her tail or fins?
It could be that she's getting bullied and a feeling weak. Is she the weakest in the tank?

choochiegirl

her tail looks fine, she seems to be the only one that my aggressive one does not bother. In fact I've seen the other guppies swim to her & the aggressive ones chases them away from her

Sabi

Hmmm thats strange. Whats your water temperature? I've noticed by livebeares stay at the bottom and sort of 'fan' themselves if the water is cold. Maybe she'l come right on her own. As long as she eats there shouldnt be much to worry about, at least this this is to my knowledge. hope i'v helped

choochiegirl

I keep it at 27-28 C

She couldn't be pregnant could she?

0morrokh

You can tell if they're pregnant (gravid) because they get super fat and have a black triangular "gravid spot" on their underside.

Does she look especially bloated or skinny?

choochiegirl

she has always been a little bigger upfront and I'm not sure what to look for. Out of 5 females, 4 of them have black on their tummy, i thought it was their innards as they are fairly light coloured

My guppies are camera shy but I was able to grab a picture of her. she now likes to sit at the top, then go down & rest for a while on the bottom, My water readings are good and all the other fish are fine

0morrokh

It's hard to tell from the picture whether anything is wrong with her. She looks a bit fat maybe, but otherwise I can't find anything wrong with her. However, hanging at the top or sitting on the bottom are not healthy behaviors. Livebearers never sit on the bottom unless they're sick or possibly if they're being bullied. All I can really tell you is to watch her very carefully to see if any symptoms develop.

choochiegirl

that's why I'm confused. She looks fine, tail in good order and when she swims she swims like the others. they all kinda seem to leave her alone. they will come hover by her for a bit then get bored and go play in the bubbles. She just started doing it recently in the last few days

0morrokh

Try to watch them at night. It could be that she is being bullied when you aren't watching.

choochiegirl

Still no change, I'd say she is sick but there are no outward signs just the lethargy and that could be a few things. I do see her eat, but she scrounges off the bottom for missed food

choochiegirl

came home from being out this am, and she's acting now like all the others, like she used to, swimming around all over playing with the others. I have no idea what caused the change in her, but I do have another one now acting odd, she stays in one spot above the bubble wand, just outside the stream. I do know she gets bullied by one of her tank mates, what do I do to the bully?

0morrokh

There are three solutions to bullying that I can think of.

1. Temporarily remove the fish that is a bully. Put him in the q tank or something for a day or two. You may want to rearrange the decor in the main tank too. Then when you put him back in the tank, it will no longer seem like it is "his" territory and he may not be so aggressive towards the other fish.

2. Get more fish. This is usually effective for fish like barbs that may become nippy if kept in groups of 2 or 3. When you get them some more friends, they will be more occupied with shoaling and less interested in bullying other species. This probably wouldn't work with Guppies that are all the same sex, but if you have problems with the males harrassing the females then the solution is to get more females and divide their attention.

3. Remove the bully. Pretty self-explanatory. But only do this as a last resort.

Sugar Bear

Choochiegirl,

I have two guppies (both male) in the same tank with a goldfish. One of the guppies always attacked both of the fish no matter what time of day or what was going on. For concern of the other fish I removed him from the tank and put him in a q tank. I have to say the other guppy seemed to be more laid back, maybe it is possible they have extreme personalities. Please let me know how your situation turns out. I am reluctant to put the aggressive guppy bank in the tank with the others.

0morrokh

Sugar Bear--just fyi, Guppies and Goldies shouldn't be kept together. Goldies are coldwater and need a large, unheated tank, a special goldfish diet, and they are also very messy. Guppies are tropical so they need a heated tank.