Combining tanks

[AngieW]

I have two small tanks that I want to combine into a still small tank (5 1/2 gallon) and I just want to be sure that the fish in the two would survive together. Three harlequin rasbora and two guppies. Will this work? They've been in their respective 2 gallon tanks for about 6 months now but I want to consolidate to one tank. Thanks!

[Coler]

I don't think you have compatability probs with the species, but are your guppies male and female ? if so you will soon have 2,000 guppies lol

[AngieW]

the guppies have been together for a couple months and truthfully, I don't know if they are or not. How can I tell? Thanks for the reply!

[NeonJulie]

Can you leave the guppies in the 2gallon, since they appear not to be procreating, and move the rasboras in to the 5.5 gallon, and add 3 more of them? They are schooling fish and would probably benefit to have 5-6 in number.

[mcox3]

males are colorful, females are not.

[lucky777ca]

Males have the pointed anal fin (gonopodium), while the females have the fan-shaped anal fin.

[Coler]

...if you still only have 2 of 'em they are likely to be male/male or female/female

[AngieW]

Can you leave the guppies in the 2gallon, since they appear not to be procreating, and move the rasboras in to the 5.5 gallon, and add 3 more of them? They are schooling fish and would probably benefit to have 5-6 in number.

I could, though the idea was to consolidate to one tank for ease in moving in a few months.

From the replies, I'm thinking they're both males, I think. One is orange, one is blue, though they do have wide tails?

[NeonJulie]

You can combine the existing numbers temporarily, but I think you'd be better off if in the longterm, you expand the size of the school. Not that a 5.5 plus a 2 gallon is a problem to move, IMO. It's about the size of a small bucket.

I moved about six months ago, and I'm pretty sure a shelf of books and the dishes were more of an issue. ;)

[valentine]

i bred guppies as my first fish, they can be very pretty..

male guppies are usually slightly smaller, with more colourful, longer and bigger tails, that can sometimes look a little ragged. the females are slightly bigger and fatter, with usually duller silver or yellowish colours, and smaller neat fan-shaped tails. if there is a male and a female together, they would mate pretty quickly, and even if they ate all the babies you would notice the female getting really fat every few weeks or so.

usually in fish stores they have more male guppies to sell, usually in a separate tank, (well they do around here) as they are prettier and look better, so i'd say you probably got two males, because the females are very plain in comparison.

hope this helps :)

[AngieW]

You can combine the existing numbers temporarily, but I think you'd be better off if in the longterm, you expand the size of the school. Not that a 5.5 plus a 2 gallon is a problem to move, IMO. It's about the size of a small bucket.

I moved about six months ago, and I'm pretty sure a shelf of books and the dishes were more of an issue. ;)

I know, it doesn't seem like much, but add in a 75 gallon saltwater tank plus 30 gallon fuge, 3 cats and a toddler. One more fishtank is one more fragile thing to worry about, lol. And since it's going from Maryland to Georgia, it's not just a move across town where I can do it in multiple trips. All at once, blech.

Perhaps I'll give away the tank with the guppies and just school the rasboras. I actually like them better anyhow. Or maybe I'll just give away both small tanks, with the existing fish, and set the 5 gallon up when I arrive.

[AngieW]

i bred guppies as my first fish, they can be very pretty..

male guppies are usually slightly smaller, with more colourful, longer and bigger tails, that can sometimes look a little ragged. the females are slightly bigger and fatter, with usually duller silver or yellowish colours, and smaller neat fan-shaped tails. if there is a male and a female together, they would mate pretty quickly, and even if they ate all the babies you would notice the female getting really fat every few weeks or so.

usually in fish stores they have more male guppies to sell, usually in a separate tank, (well they do around here) as they are prettier and look better, so i'd say you probably got two males, because the females are very plain in comparison.

hope this helps :)

Yes, that seems to confirm that they're males. Thank you!

And thanks to everyone who's replied.