Concerns With Future Guppies

So I am getting guppies today but I am honestly rethinking them. Why? Because all they want to do is breed like crazy. My problem is I don't want to breed these fish. I just want to keep them. But there is literally no way to do so because if you keep all males they will fight and if you keep all females they will switch gender and begin breeding. What in the world do I do to keep these fish? They're one of the most popular fish yet they are such a pain to keep.

 

So I am getting guppies today but I am honestly rethinking them. Why? Because all they want to do is breed like crazy. My problem is I don't want to breed these fish. I just want to keep them. But there is literally no way to do so because if you keep all males they will fight and if you keep all females they will switch gender and begin breeding. What in the world do I do to keep these fish? They're one of the most popular fish yet they are such a pain to keep.

Uhh? False info here, Male guppys will not fight together in groups. I have 5 male guppys and they are happy. I once had only two and they never fought.

 

Uhh? False info here, Male guppys will not fight together in groups. I have 5 male guppys and they are happy. I once had only two and they never fought.

So I could get 4 males?

 

So I could get 4 males?

Yep! The more the better. Once I was down to two the rarely even bug each other.

 

Yep! The more the better. Once I was down to two the rarely even bug each other.

I really hope your right because I have heard males will will bully one to death and it will go on until the one bullying is the last one left. I have even seen post on it.

 

Uhh? False info here, Male guppys will not fight together in groups. I have 5 male guppys and they are happy. I once had only two and they never fought.

Agree with CanadianFishFan -- male guppies rarely fight or become aggressive in the absence of females--at most they do some minor chasing or a little fin nipping (although I have never experienced that, and I kept guppies for over five years in what is now considered tiny aquariums). It's the same as setting up any other community--introduce them at the same time, observe them closely as they are settling in, and have a backup plan in case you do have an aggressor. But the benefit of guppies is being able to BUY them as a community, and so you can pick ones from the fancy tank which are not displaying either aggression or damage.

Oh, and the females don't switch genders?? What CAN happen is that a male can be a mock-female in certain situations...but it is rare, exists only in very young guppies (the females quickly outgrow the males, and there is no hiding that) and you should still be able to tell them apart by the analfin shape. If you're buying from a mature female tank to begin with, that won't be an issue because mock-females only exist in young, mixed-gender setups.

 

Agree with CanadianFishFan -- male guppies rarely fight or become aggressive in the absence of females--at most they do some minor chasing or a little fin nipping (although I have never experienced that, and I kept guppies for over five years in what is now considered tiny aquariums). It's the same as setting up any other community--introduce them at the same time, observe them closely as they are settling in, and have a backup plan in case you do have an aggressor. But the benefit of guppies is being able to BUY them as a community, and so you can pick ones from the fancy tank which are not displaying either aggression or damage.

Oh, and the females don't switch genders?? What CAN happen is that a male can be a mock-female in certain situations...but it is rare, exists only in very young guppies (the females quickly outgrow the males, and there is no hiding that) and you should still be able to tell them apart by the analfin shape. If you're buying from a mature female tank to begin with, that won't be an issue because mock-females only exist in young, mixed-gender setups.

They actually can switch genders I looked it up and here I'll qoute what it says for you. " Most of the livebearers can change sex if required. Swordtails, platties, mollies,guppies. Females changing to males although I haven't seen males change to females."

But since they apparently don't have aggression towards one another I will be getting 4 males today. That's if the store does not say I can't have them for some reason. Like incompatability.

 

I'm planning out one of my South American tanks and putting guppies in, the plan is to make sure to include something that will eat some of the fry but also provide some space for hidey places for some of the fry as well and not to give the pregnant females any special treatment (no breeder boxes) to preserve the fry. Since they'll be fancy guppies if I DO end up with a fair few, I can always net them and sell them to the local fish shop or trade them for equipment/fish (this seems like a dangerous road to ending up with 6 tanks again...) but that's not the goal, just the back up plan.

My daughter's calling it the Darwin tank and convinced it will breed super guppies.

 

They actually can switch genders I looked it up and here I'll qoute what it says for you. " Most of the livebearers can change sex if required. Swordtails, platties, mollies,guppies. Females changing to males although I haven't seen males change to females."

But since they apparently don't have aggression towards one another I will be getting 4 males today. That's if the store does not say I can't have them for some reason. Like incompatability.

That seems like false info. Dont just go by one source. When ever I look at the female guppys in all the stores I go to I have never seen any babys. But said females can give birth 5months AFTER being with a male. So males are a great choice. Make sure to buy from the assorted male guppys section.

 

They actually can switch genders I looked it up and here I'll qoute what it says for you. " Most of the livebearers can change sex if required. Swordtails, platties, mollies,guppies. Females changing to males although I haven't seen males change to females."

Can you link to what you were quoting? Because guppies, like humans, have sex chromosomes. What happens is that all guppies (all poeciliidae livebearers for that matter) appear female from birth, and individuals can have different rates of maturing into appearing male. They don't actually change sex--they can't. What these people are seeing is a male who took longer than average to develop their external sex characteristics. (And..ha, not getting into a human sexuality/gender discussion here, so please just take what I said at face value--"female" guppies who develop into male were genetically male all along.) Look at Dan's answer here for the full explanation: female guppy gender change?
Still, it IS a risk when attempting an all-female group, so if you absolutely don't want any breeding, going with known males is the best option.

 

I'm planning out one of my South American tanks and putting guppies in, the plan is to make sure to include something that will eat some of the fry but also provide some space for hidey places for some of the fry as well and not to give the pregnant females any special treatment (no breeder boxes) to preserve the fry. Since they'll be fancy guppies if I DO end up with a fair few, I can always net them and sell them to the local fish shop or trade them for equipment/fish (this seems like a dangerous road to ending up with 6 tanks again...) but that's not the goal, just the back up plan.

My daughter's calling it the Darwin tank and convinced it will breed super guppies.

That also works but can go wrong of course and ending up with many tanks. In bigger tanks many people do this and like 12/90 fry survive. Yet my mom thinks that's not humane for them to be eaten by other fish.

 

I'm planning out one of my South American tanks and putting guppies in, the plan is to make sure to include something that will eat some of the fry but also provide some space for hidey places for some of the fry as well and not to give the pregnant females any special treatment (no breeder boxes) to preserve the fry. Since they'll be fancy guppies if I DO end up with a fair few, I can always net them and sell them to the local fish shop or trade them for equipment/fish (this seems like a dangerous road to ending up with 6 tanks again...) but that's not the goal, just the back up plan.

My daughter's calling it the Darwin tank and convinced it will breed super guppies.

She could be right:

 

Ahhh I'm thinking my Apistos are going to thrive BEAUTIFULLY with guppies fry snacks.

 

Got all males

 

Got all males

Awesome! What type? A mix or assorted colors? I got 8 from petsmart and 6 died in a week. Never buying guppys from petsmart again!