Moved female guppy’s now male guppies aggressive

[HakuSpirit]

So here’s the situation.. I have a 9G Fluval tank, the first one in the pic and my first tank, which was supposed to be a male only guppy tank containing 5 guppies. Fast forward to two of those ended up being female; then low and behold, 5 baby guppies are swimming around now and eating flakes and getting bigger.

In the interest of not having a million guppies as I was not intending to breed, I’ve moved the two females to my newest tank, the second one in the pictures, 15G which I plan to stock soon for nano community tank. The third tank in the picture is a 10G that’s been cycling with snails basically.. I was planning on shrimp and chili Rasboras, but anyways, that might be some other fish I’m not sure yet…

The main current issues is, the three males in the Fluval tank are now freaking out the ladies are not in there anymore. They are glass surfing a lot and the one is really showing a lot of posturing and aggression. But because the ratio was off they were pestering the females.. I was planning to wait until the babies are old enough to sex them and move them to attempt just male female only tanks.

I’m wondering now if I should have moved the males to the 15 not the females.

OR should I move the one most aggressive male to the 10G basically snail tank.. I was not planning to have guppies in that one though.

Should I switch the males and females at this point? Would that be too stressful for the females? Or will the males eventually figure it out until the older ones develop…

looking for advice from people with experience with guppies

 

[HupGupp]

A group of only males will be very active. They won't spend much time slowly gliding around. It might be on the aggressive side initially in a small group especially if the pecking order isn't yet established. Small groups in a small tank are tricky as there is little room to get away from a bossy fish asserting his dominance. If you can give it time to sort out on its own before you take further steps.

It is possible you won't like a male only small tank. I have mine in a 30G which is much better as the behaviour in a larger group in a bigger space is just chaotic rather than aggressive.

 

[HakuSpirit]

A group of only males will be very active. They won't spend much time slowly gliding around. It might be on the aggressive side initially in a small group especially if the pecking order isn't yet established. Small groups in a small tank are tricky as there is little room to get away from a bossy fish asserting his dominance. If you can give it time to sort out on its own before you take further steps.

It is possible you won't like a male only small tank. I have mine in a 30G which is much better as the behaviour in a larger group in a bigger space is just chaotic rather than aggressive.

I liked it when it was 5 guppies total, but then once it became apparent two were actually females and I’ve removed them, I’ve upset the pecking order balance… I’m just waiting at this point… haven’t noticed any actual fin nipping, just chasing and glaring at this point. I’m hoping once the babies get to juvenile and bigger it may sort itself out…

In retrospect, I feel I may have been better off moving the males into the standard 15G cuz I’m wondering if it’s the shape of the Fluval that is causing the glass surfing.

 

[emeraldking]

Well, what's happening in your tank is dominance of those males. A hierarchy will be formed in this tank of yours. Once everyone knows their place, the peace will return.

Btw, glass surfing is a normal activity that should not be worried about.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Congrats on the new guppy colony in the larger tank ...


Those ladies are gonna keep having babies. Best option would be to move the males into the larger tank and keep the females in the small one, moving males out as they develop.