Guppy love triangle?

[adam_g]

So my aquarium is about 10 days into a fishy cycle, seems to be goining ok no fish have died yet, but im a little concerned over the behaviour of one of my 3 guppies.

I, without giving it much thought at the time bought 2 male guppies and one female. One of the males is somewhat larger than the other.

The big male and the female seem to be taking to eachother, they follow eachother everywhere and swim at breakneck speed from the top of the tank to the bottom.

Meanwhile the small male finds hiding places near the bottom and seems to stay in one spot for a long time not moving much, but still alive. I put some food in thinking it might liven him up, but he didn't budge...

Is he heartbroken?
Is he possibly wounded from a fight with the other male (I haven't seen any fights...)
Or can this be attributed to water conditions ( i am changing about 15-20% of the water every day.

Other than the guppies there are only 2 other ghost shrimp in the tank, which is 5 gallons....

Any possible explanations.... or solutions?

Adam

 

[OrionGirl]

Very easy explanation--the larger male has explained that the smaller guppy is not welcome around the female, and that any attempts to cavort with her will result in being chased and beaten.

The usual ratio for guppies is 2-3 females per male. This prevents the boys from beatin up each other, and spreads their attention out on the females, so no female gets too much.

 

[adam_g]

thanks.... but I think my tank is too small to have many more females, would 1 female make much difference?

 

[OrionGirl]

An additional female might help out; I agree that a 5 is too small to add much more. Removing the existing female would probably help more, and eliminate the odds of them overpopulating the tank on their own. Lacking a female, male guppies will usually be okay together.