29 Gallon Tank Celestial Pearl fin nipping guppies?

[loverofloaches]

I put 14 CPD's in my tank a few hours ago. My two male guppies immediately started sparring in an unusual - more aggressive than playful way. I lowered the lights, went out for an hour and came back to both guppies having significant tail loss.

I'm not sure of what to do for my guppies. I watched for an hour and couldn't identify the aggressor and have no idea of if it's the CPD's or the guppies.

I know I need to add more plants. Any other suggestions?

 

[Lucyn]

It's often recommended to keep livebearers like Platies, Guppies, and Molly in ratios of 3:1 female to male. This is to avoid aggression between males and also not stress out females by having multiple males harass the female. I'd try to watch a little closer so you can see the culprit, as you've just added those fish and it just started happening. I've kept CPDs for years and never personally had aggression issues with them. Even with other nano fish much smaller like Scarlet Baddis, Nano Rainbows, and Pygmy Cories. Just my personal opinion, you could ask someone else and they might say differently.

 

[loverofloaches]

Thanks for the reply! I’m pretty sure the guppies did it to each other. Now I am worried one of the guppies is eating the CPD’s. I am not sure because the CPDs are so hard to count. The CPDs seemed way too big but I also don’t know how wide a guppy can open its mouth. Many sources said the two species are compatible. This is just distressing.

 

[Lucyn]

I always like to look at compatibility with other fish with a grain of salt and base it on personal experience. I've been able to keep fish together that you'd never think would work, while also having to separate fish you wouldn't believe would be constantly fighting. Kind of like if you honked at someone in traffic, you could get two totally different responses. Fish have much more vast and unique personalities than you might think. Male guppies can be a bit on the nippy side so, I believe it!