Male Guppies Fighting

My three male guppies are fighting! They chase each other around and nip each others tails. One seems more aggressive then the others, this one actually killed another guppy before
But now the guppies seen more evenly matched and haven't hurt each other yet.
There aren't any female guppies with them, they're in a separate 29 gallon, and the males are in a 20 gallon with two honey gouramis, and BN pleco. There is also a male feeder guppy that they don't fight with.

 

I've bred guppies for 3 years and had that problem in some of my male tanks! The best is just to remove the aggressive one. Also adding plants, and decor helps to provide hiding places so that the one being abused can hide.

 

ALL three of them are fighting….. and I only have three tanks, one of which is filled with female guppies…..
I wonder why they don't fight with the feeder guppy? Maybe they think he's a baby guppy, cause he's so small…..

 

How long have they been together? Has it just recently started?

When you have a small number of males, you'll sometimes get aggression. It might resolve on its own as they figure out the pecking order, or it might not. Adding more males to spread out the aggression may help if it doesn't clear up in a while. They probably don't fight with the feeder because the feeder is less flashy, therefore not a threat.

 

Well, Mr. Aggressive, Mars has been raised since birth with one of the two other 'fighters', Butter, and he was also raised with Lunar, the guppie he killed…. but that didn't stop him from chasing Lunar nonstop….. and the last guppie that's fighting with them, Leo, I bought and introduced to the tank later, and instantly Butter and Leo started chasing each other back and forth…. and haven't stopped since….

Well, Mr. Aggressive, Mars has been raised since birth with one of the two other 'fighters', Butter, and he was also raised with Lunar, the guppie he killed…. but that didn't stop him from chasing Lunar nonstop….. and the last guppie that's fighting with them, Leo, I bought and introduced to the tank later and instantly Butter and Leo started chasing each other back and forth…. and haven't stopped since….

Does anyone else have any suggestions??

 

Yeah as mentioned the more males you have then the aggression get spread around. What size tank is this? If its a 10 gallon you can get up to 6 males.

 

Look at my profile... its a 20 gal...

 

Well first off if you are breeding I suggest stop breeding seeing that you have fry. Sometimes its good to take a brake since getting a lot of fry every few weeks is crazy!!!

 

Umm.... I'm not really breeding...
The baby platies and gup were accidents, and the adolesents are used-to-be feeder guppies, hence my name

 

UI suggest if you don't want any more fry or if you don't have any more tanks you should give away all your female live bearers.

 

If you aren't looking to breed you shouldn't of had both male and female guppies (or any livebearer for that matter)together they breed like rabbits.

 

First of all my female guppies are in a separate tank then the males -_-

Second, even though I appreciate the advice, I'm asking why my male guppies are fighting and how to fix it.

Don't worry, I know what happens when you put female and male guppies together, that's why I'm not doing that....

 

You can't really fix it. Its life. Creatures always try to be the dominant one. THe only way is giving away 2 male guppies. I have 3 male guppies in a 40 breeder. One of them is the dad of the other 2. The 2 sons are always dueling each other. They don't nip each other fins though. Sometimes they are friendly with each other other times they aren't.

 

I'm gonna try to spread out the aggression by getting more male guppies, but I will watch them closely.The most aggressive one, Mars, has a hole in his tail and his tail looks kinda funny.... I think I will move him to a different tank...Sometimes male guppies are hard to deal with *sigh*.

 

I'm gonna try to spread out the aggression by getting more male guppies, but I will watch them closely.The most aggressive one, Mars, has a hole in his tail and his tail looks kinda funny.... I think I will move him to a different tank...Sometimes male guppies are hard to deal with *sigh*. Guppies aren't alone in that regard,with a lot of fish the males are the hardest to deal with because of aggression issues to males of their own kind though I'm not having that problem with the two guppies I have even though they are males but I did when I had multiple male mollies one was always trying to be dominant and bullying the other two.

Sent from my KFFOWI using Fish Lore Aquarium Fish Forum mobile app

 

HI all! I'm new to keeping guppies and looking for advice on some guppy fighting I have going on.

Right now I have three male guppies in a 10-gallon tank. They were introduced to the tank a little over a week ago. Two of the guppies get along fine but the third guppy is constantly harassing one of the other guys. I was hoping he'd settle down but after a week with no behavior change I'm not so sure.

I'm debating between three options:

1) Give it some more time and see if things improve
2) Return the jerk guppy and try to find a more docile guy to join the gang
3) Return the jerk guppy and stick with the two I have

Thoughts?

 

Welcome to Fishlore

Are you planning to add more? Having more may spread out the aggression. Otherwise, I would give it another week or so. The aggression may get better once they figure out the pecking order.

If that doesn't work, I'd rehome the aggressor.

 

Welcome to Fishlore!

Any of those options are viable. Another to consider may be adding more decor to break the lines of sight - that may reduce bullying.

Can you take a pic of the fish and the tank?

 

Thanks for the thoughts so far and the welcomes!

Currently not planning on adding more fish but you never know if another fish will catch our eye haha. Also want to start out slow since I haven't had a fish tank since I was a little kid so the whole family is effectively new to this hobby

I'm sure the tank could use some help in the decor category! I'm not at home now but here's some not great pics from my phone:

Guppies!

• Cary_guppies
• Apr 25, 2017

Our three guppies

Tank setup

• Cary_guppies
• Apr 25, 2017

 

Cool tank! Maybe add some more tall plants if you wanted to try the decor route.

 

Thanks! I'll swing by the store today and get some more plants to see if that helps. Can you tell a preschooler picked out most of this stuff? haha

 

I highly suggest getting another one. Are you sure they're being aggressive? I swear my guppies enjoy play time. I have 9 males and it's always the same 4. There's no biting and they've been doing it for months. If you're really against getting another one, see if you can swap one out with another.

 

Hmm it could be playing. I'll try to take a video tonight of what I'm observing to see what you all think. Not opposed to a 4th fish but also trying to be mindful I don't overstock the tank since it's only 10 gallons. Right now we have 3 guppies and 3 Amano shrimp.

 

You can have up to 5 male guppies in a 10 gal, so adding another wouldn't hurt

 

Well of course as soon as I turn the phone on they act like everything is cool haha. Around the 10 second mark you can see a little bit of what I'm talking about:

 

Can you take a picture of all of their gonopodium, just to be sure?

 

I don't know, it doesn't look like they're fighting. They look like a bunch of boys having fun. When they're fighting they're having a face-off and there's nipping at each by their mouths and their fins. These look more like they're playing a game of chase but then again you said they stopped what they were doing right when you got the camera out.

 

I think you all are right because they seem to have calmed down

 

I just added two male guppies to my 50l ( didn't want fry so no females) and they were fine with each other for about 5 days then they started chasing each other and one is giving the other jabs in the side. There seems to be a more dominant one but when the dominant isn't chasing the other, the other is swimming to it and bothering it!
I'm hoping as they're quite new this will settle down?
What can I do?

 

Plenty of (preferably live) plants in your tank will help, so they can get away from seeing each other. Adding more males will also help to spread the aggression. It will often settle down after they establish the pecking order.

 

Hello!
Are you sure those two are both males?
Agree with Susiefoo about live plants and hiding places.
What temperature are you keeping the aquarium at?

 

All male tanks are nasty places. If you keep a population of at least five males at all times, they won't damage each others' fins. But they will quietly and not as obviously fight.

 

In

All male tanks are nasty places. If you keep a population of at least five males at all times, they won't damage each others' fins. But they will quietly and not as obviously fight.

interesting, I have 2 in a walstad and it was trial end error to put together two that don't fight. They spend most of their time picking at the plants.
The remaining 3 in the main tank fight/bicker but are frequently distracted by the other fish so it's working so far. It seems to be variable and unpredictable as to how much fighting there is.
I wonder if a male guppy would prefer to be alone than fighting all day?

 

Hmm I don't know. My 3 swim around together and don't appear to fight at all. They seem to like each other as much as my schooling fish. There's certainly never been any damage. Of course I don't speak fish so maybe they are waging a cold war against each other and I am oblivious. But it doesn't seem like it. Maybe it depends on individual temperament? I won't risk adding more in case it changes the dynamic.

 

Hmm I don't know. My 3 swim around together and don't appear to fight at all. They seem to like each other as much as my schooling fish. There's certainly never been any damage. Of course I don't speak fish so maybe they are waging a cold war against each other and I am oblivious. But it doesn't seem like it. Maybe it depends on individual temperament? I won't risk adding more in case it changes the dynamic.

sounds like the EU

 

I have 4 males together and they chase each other but it seems to be playful, they dart around the plants and decor and plat in the filter current.

 

Hello!
Are you sure those two are both males?
Agree with Susiefoo about live plants and hiding places.
What temperature are you keeping the aquarium at?

Bought from male only tanks at lfs so I'd hope they were male!!
Temp is around 25 c and not having luck with my plants currently so they're all a bit short.
Have actually bought some nice taller plants to add in tomorrow, maybe this will help.

 

Bought from male only tanks at lfs so I'd hope they were male!!
Temp is around 25 c and not having luck with my plants currently so they're all a bit short.
Have actually bought some nice taller plants to add in tomorrow, maybe this will help.

The more the better!
I would always go for plants!
Good luck

 

All male tanks are nasty places. If you keep a population of at least five males at all times, they won't damage each others' fins. But they will quietly and not as obviously fight.

It's surprising really as guppies are seen as peaceful fish, and that's what I'd hoped I'd get!

 

If they are kept with both sexes, fighting is rare. But they are wired to breed, and if breeding is impossible, there is a lot of excess energy to be twisted. I have only ever seen guppy males harm each other (usually a bit of tail ripping) in single sex tanks.