killer guppy

Eric.F

AC Members
Feb 16, 2005
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I went to petsmart about 2 weeks ago, I brought home 2 male guppys.For the next 2 days the bigger guppy seemed to pick on the smaller one.Then I come in and find the smaller guppy dead.Then I went to superpet and got a female guppy(hoping to solve the problem).The male chased her all night she died the next morning.Is the larger guppy a murder? and why is he so mean.I thought guppys were calm fish.
 
Guppies are not calm fish--they are very active, and males can be very aggressive, both to other males (competition), and to females (persistance). It's best to keep a ratio of 2-3 females per single male to reduce the attention directed at any single female.

Is the tank cycled? Any hiding places?
 
yes and i have one little cave like thing 3 amazon sword plants and two green mondo grass
 
Many people tend to get just male guppies for their tanks for the color and plus they do not want any females due to breeding. Well part of the problems with that is what Oriongirl has stated they are hyper lil fish. They want to breed all the time and will bully your other fish be it a male or female guppy. The only way to prevent this is to keep trios, 1 male: 2 females, 1:2. The reason why your fish died? well the problem with many live bearers is that they are over produced, kept in poor water conditions and then sold off to be placed in crowded store tanks and again kept in poor water conditions. This causes alot of stress on these guys so when added to a new tank, many perished. Now many will say you need to add salt to your tank for any live bearers. Well do not belive them. Salt causes more problems for live bearers in the long run.
 
I have a guppy that has lived in my SW nano tank for almost a year now (10.5 months). She was supposed to be food but has out smarted the other fish and now is too big. Last week her smaller tank mate (another female guppy) was attacked and eaten by my Orange Spotted Goby.
The Large guppy has had a few litters(?) of babies each producing 5 -6 babies.
The flounders end up eating the babies.
She reporduces with any males that I place in the tank. They don't last but one day. I not eaten I have to take them out and throw them away, usually only one or two are missed. (Feeder Guppies)
 
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