55 Gallon Tank What's with my Guppy luck?

Hey everyone,

I've always loved guppies. I love their beautiful look that they add to a community tank without taking up much space, and I always loved the fact people told me how hardy and easy to keep they were. But somehow, for some reason, I can never seem to successfully keep them. My first attempt was with a group of all males, which didn't work. I didn't want the babies and the research I did said it should work, but problems could arise. Problems arose, and I had to take them back. Fair.

This time around I had a bigger planted tank (55g) with lots of space and an itch for guppies again. I got a group of three (1 male, 2 females) and the male died within a week, one female died shortly after, the last still lives in the tank. Fast forward a few months, I got a bigger group in the same tank with 2 males and now 6 females to be on the safe side, and one male died within a few weeks, and just one female died around that time too. So that brings me to the present, where this one male now has a group of 5 ladies to himself.

Should be safe right? Nope. This male guppy chases all of the females. What's worse is he also now chases my neon tetra school. I've never heard of guppies being this hard to keep, and I have no idea why I can't make it work. I've seen rundown tanks that look like they've never been cleaned before that have housed a peaceful group of guppies for their entire lifespan. What gives? Is there any possible reasons why I have aggression and death issues with guppies?

My tank is 7.8 PH, 72-75 degrees, and 55 gallons.

 

I don’t have any advice, but I’ve had a similar experience. My local fish store said all males would be fine, so I got three. They constantly harassed one of my female platys even though there were other female fish in the tank. They stressed her out so much that I ended up taking them back. It’s sad, they’re such pretty fish

 

I feel that. It's incredible that a 3 year old girl and her parents who've never kept fish before can keep these fish but more experienced keepers can't. If anybody else has any ideas of why this is happening please let me know.

 

Not sure about the aggression. I have 7 guppies (all male) and a pair of male endlers who love each other and are very playful getting along...almost ‘schooling’ together.

I will say this about the deaths, while a hardy fish that can live in a wide arrange of pare meters it is absolutely a must to acclimate guppies from wherever. Slowly drip acclimate or replace small amounts of the water from their bag.

Failing to do so will open them up to stress this leading to disease and parasites. Trust me when I say this will help immensely. They’re also very social and love to be in groups of really any kinds of guppies and endlers.

If you’re already doing this, don’t have much else to offer. They are the most peaceful live bearers in my tank...platies and swords on the other hand can be a pain, mollies a hit or miss.

 

Way to make me jealous... haha. I did the water replacement method for these guys, so I don't think that's killing them. Though on that topic, both my LFS and a FishTube channel I watch say drip acclimating/water replacement is a horrible idea. (KGTropicals). I've always been interested in that conflicting info, and the reason they give is it adds additional waste from the tank to the already nasty bag. What's your thoughts?

 

Hey Molasses do you know the GH of your water?
Guppies need high GH / hard water .Especially those raised overseas in ponds with a lot of salt water used. Sea water is cheap in some countries fresh water is not cheap.

A GH of around 100- 200 ppm is needed for Guppies.
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Way to make me jealous... haha. I did the water replacement method for these guys, so I don't think that's killing them. Though on that topic, both my LFS and a FishTube channel I watch say drip acclimating/water replacement is a horrible idea. (KGTropicals). I've always been interested in that conflicting info, and the reason they give is it adds additional waste from the tank to the already nasty bag. What's your thoughts?

After 20+ years of fishkeeping, replacing water slowly is, IME, very effective. Every breeder and high quality fish store does it and recommends it for a reason especially when you’re talking transporting fish.

That reason does not make sense to me because your tank should be filtered properly and should not be adding ‘additional waste’. Not sure how just dumping a fish in a tank full of waste would be any different to adding it to their bag. A bag from a fish store, which the fish is already acclimated is not already nasty from 30 minutes.

On that topic, if a fish has been shipped, there is additional waste in the bag. So it is important to not just add tank water, but replace it, or switch it out.

Same with drip acclimation. I don’t really prefer drip over replacing somewhat larger amounts (1/8 cup). It’s important to replace water not just drip in. If the bag is nasty from shipping and you spend hours slowly dripping I can see that presenting an issue.

Regardless, something like recommended dose of prime to the water will give you plenty of time to properly acclimate. There is really no other way to gradually get the fish used to the water it will eventually live in...and just plop and drop will be very risky, hit or miss, as your fish will be fine for a few days or maybe a week or so and then die from shock.

 

Hey Molasses do you know the GH of your water?
Guppies need high GH / hard water .Especially those raised overseas in ponds with a lot of salt water used. Sea water is cheap in some countries fresh water is not cheap.

A GH of around 100- 200 ppm is needed for Guppies.

I haven't tested in like 2 years but I had hard water in the upper levels of that range. Good point though, would that make them aggressive if it was too low?

After 20+ years of fishkeeping, replacing water slowly is, IME, very effective. Every breeder and high quality fish store does it and recommends it for a reason especially when you’re talking transporting fish.

That reason does not make sense to me because your tank should be filtered properly and should not be adding ‘additional waste’. Not sure how just dumping a fish in a tank full of waste would be any different to adding it to their bag. A bag from a fish store, which the fish is already acclimated is not already nasty from 30 minutes.

On that topic, if a fish has been shipped, there is additional waste in the bag. So it is important to not just add tank water, but replace it, or switch it out.

Same with drip acclimation. I don’t really prefer drip over replacing somewhat larger amounts (1/8 cup). It’s important to replace water not just drip in. If the bag is nasty from shipping and you spend hours slowly dripping I can see that presenting an issue.

Regardless, something like recommended dose of prime to the water will give you plenty of time to properly acclimate. There is really no other way to gradually get the fish used to the water it will eventually live in...and just plop and drop will be very risky, hit or miss, as your fish will be fine for a few days or maybe a week or so and then die from shock.

For water replacement, what's your method? How much water do you put in, how many times, and over how long? I've always done mine arbitrarily, so having additional wisdom from somebody would be useful. Thanks.

 

For all but the most extremely sensitive fish, I add prime (very small amount per instructions) and put in 1/8 cup tank water to floating bag. Wait 10-15 minutes and then take out 1/8 and add 1/8. 10-15 minutes later repeat. I do that for at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half (so 4-6 swaps). More is better though if I have time especially because of my co2.

I mean technically you could do this for 4-5 hours as you’re providing fresh water. The only stress is the fact they’re in a bag.

All stores use salt, and probably other stuff. Commercially it makes sense. Salt will hide a lot of issues. I do not, at all, less there is an issue. Just my personal opinion, but this causes issues just as well as the parameters and is why acclimation is such a must.