Tank with multiple types of livebearers?

[PurpleFish]

Long story short: A student put soap into my fish tank and killed all my fish. Y'all here helped me deal with what can be cleaned and what to throw out. Now I have another issue... The student went and bought me new fish: two swordtails, two platies, and one guppy. One swordtail, which didn't look good from the beginning, has died but the others are alive and thriving in a 1g tank.

Question: Is it ok to have these different species together? I don't notice any bullying or chasing, even when I feed them. But they are just babies. Thoughts? I know platies but am new to the other two species.

 

[kansas]

All males or a mix? Any females are almost certainly pregnant. How big is the tank?

 

[PurpleFish]

The swordfish is a male, the two platies look like females, and I don't know about the one guppy... if you tell in the same way as the others, then the guppy is a female. Yeah, I won't be surprised by any pregnancies. He bought them from a general pet store.

They are in a 1g (or maybe 1.5) tank right now but will be moved into a 10g next week as soon as I get the previous tank rinsed well. That's the plan anyway. They are very small and don't seem to be bothered by each other though I will get them into the 10g on Tuesday.

 

[kansas]

I don't like to bring bad news, but if any of those fish are female, you're going to have to deal with fry. If the swordtail is male, it will likely become aggressive with the other fish as it ages. You should do research on a fish in cycle, as you are putting fish in a new tank that isn't ready for them.

I'd suggest you rehome all these fish if you can, and do some research on fish that will do well in that tank. I'd get a plakat betta, but there are others that could work. Good luck.

 

[PurpleFish]

I don't like to bring bad news, but if any of those fish are female, you're going to have to deal with fry. If the swordtail is male, it will likely become aggressive with the other fish as it ages. You should do research on a fish in cycle, as you are putting fish in a new tank that isn't ready for them.

I'd suggest you rehome all these fish if you can, and do some research on fish that will do well in that tank. I'd get a plakat betta, but there are others that could work. Good luck.

Yes, I know the females are probably already pregnant. We had male and female platies before and they ate all but three of the babies.

Also, they are only in the small tank until the 10g is ready, which is tomorrow. And I am doing research on fish-in cycling as I've not done that before but I do have two tanks I can use to see this one.

 

[PurpleFish]

So far everyone is doing very well - no aggression seen, all healthy and active. The guppy is particularly active and inquisitive! Doing daily testing, water changes, and adding BB waiting for the tank to cycle. Should I expect the cycling to take as long as a fishless cycling? Is there any way to speed it up? Add extra BB??? Something?

 

[Fishfur]

So far everyone is doing very well - no aggression seen, all healthy and active. The guppy is particularly active and inquisitive! Doing daily testing, water changes, and adding BB waiting for the tank to cycle. Should I expect the cycling to take as long as a fishless cycling? Is there any way to speed it up? Add extra BB??? Something?

Adding bottled bacteria can speed things up and adding filter rinsings from an established filter works even faster. Those are the only ways to speed up a fish in cycle.

 

[PurpleFish]

Ok, thanks! We’ll keep going and do that.