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	Guppy aggression?
EvilE Fingerling Posts: 17 Kudos: 7 Votes: 0 Registered: 09-Dec-2007	I have a mixed planted 55 gallon community tank, and I inherited a fancy fantail guppy. I had him in there, and he was picking at the other fish! Particularly the platies. Is this normal for a guppy? I always thought they were peaceful community fish. I put him in my 10 gallon QT tank for the past week, and want to add him back, do you think it would work out better, now that he has been in "timeout"? I had him before the platies and some other fish BTW.....thanks in advance
Posted 10-Dec-2007 05:05
Joe Potato Fish Addict Kind of a Big Deal Posts: 869 Votes: 309 Registered: 09-Jan-2001	Edited by Joe Potato I wouldn't give it too much thought. He's so small that if he really bothered the platies, I think that they would put him in line pretty quickly. Granted, platies tend to be some of the most peaceful fish you can own, but in my experience they will react defensively if being picked on by a similar-sized or smaller fish. I'd actually be more concerned for him because he's going to have a bad day when he finally crosses the wrong fish, and he's pretty ill-equipped to deal with it. Edit: Whoops. Deleted a part that was incorrect.
Posted 10-Dec-2007 05:15
Shinigami Ichthyophile Catfish/Oddball Fan Posts: 9962 Kudos: 2915 Registered: 22-Feb-2001	Not knowing the full situation here, I'm just curious if the male guppy is mostly picking on female platies. I mean, cross-generic poecilid hybrids aren't common, but every now and then I hear about it happening (without definitive proof that it's happened, though...). -------------------------------------------- The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.
Posted 10-Dec-2007 05:25
Joe Potato Fish Addict Kind of a Big Deal Posts: 869 Votes: 309 Registered: 09-Jan-2001	That's a good point I hadn't considered, Shini. I have heard about male guppies doing that in the absence of females. Regarding a viable hybrid...eh. Not so sure about that one. Guppies and platies have different numbers of chromosomes. Not a good place to start.
Posted 10-Dec-2007 05:40
EvilE Fingerling Posts: 17 Kudos: 7 Votes: 0 Registered: 09-Dec-2007	thanks--I guess I will try him out one more time in there.... he's a fiesty little sucker....
Posted 10-Dec-2007 05:43
Callatya Moderator The girl's got crabs! Posts: 9662 Kudos: 5261 Registered: 16-Sep-2001	yup, mine are in with platies and offspring or not (I also suspect not) they certainly try to mate and intimidate the other males! For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett
Posted 10-Dec-2007 06:08
EvilE Fingerling Posts: 17 Kudos: 7 Votes: 0 Registered: 09-Dec-2007	maybe I should buy a female guppy for him chase around? I put him back in my 55, and he is chasing around the platies again, nipping at them! I like his color, he is neat, but it's not fair to the other fish. I'll give it a day or two and see. (on a OT note, how do I set this forum so that I get email notification when there are replies to threads I post in? I click the "notify me of replies" box above the message, but still I get no notification!?)
Posted 10-Dec-2007 06:47
Joe Potato Fish Addict Kind of a Big Deal Posts: 869 Votes: 309 Registered: 09-Jan-2001	If you're going to get female guppies, get 2 or 3. If you only have one, there's a decent chance that he will hound her to death. Just be prepared for a metric buttload (bigger than a standard buttload, you see) of fry, especially since any female guppies you get will -- not might -- be pregnant. But, since you're already keeping livebearers, I suspect this shouldn't be a problem for you. Out of curiosity, what are the other fish in the tank?
Posted 10-Dec-2007 07:57
EvilE Fingerling Posts: 17 Kudos: 7 Votes: 0 Registered: 09-Dec-2007	In my 55 gallon mixed community tank I have a few platies, a few neon tetras, glolite tetras, white clouds, 2 horseface loaches, and 4 green neon glofish
Posted 12-Dec-2007 04:37


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