Help, is my guppies stressed or?

[Rainyrainy]

Hi everyone.

3 females, 2 pregnant & 7 males, all guppies.

My guppies been acting strange since morning. Usually they are super active but since morning, I noticed that they are not swimming around & instead just wiggling their tails & hiding behind.

Can it be stress due to environment change? As theres workers coming in to paint the whole house tomorrow, we moved some furniture out, placing them next to the fish tank yesterday. Previously, theres nothing next to it.

All guppies are affected, not just one or two, which got me really worried. They are still eating as usual.

 

[Derekshatch]

7 males and 3 females is the problem males fight to much so i would maybe increase the amount of females. There should always be more females than males.

 

[Essjay]

Is there a filter and heater in the tank? I can't see any.
What are the ammonia and nitrite readings? Whenever the fish look odd or start behaving oddly, test for those, then do a big water change.

 

[Kings Park Mike aka KPM]

Hi Rainy,
I am guessing that's a 10 gallon tank ? 10 guppies is pushing the stocking limit quite a bit unless you keep up on the water quality and partial water changes religiously. As essjay asked is there a heater and a filter ? And Derekshatch is right that your male/female ratio is way off. Most will say a minimum of 2 females to each male. The males will keep trying even after the females are pregnant. None of the females will ever get a "break" from a males attention. The females will be severely stressed out and probably die.
Since you didn't provide much information I will assume you are new at this and have no heater and filter.
Get a heater and filter. Do some research into the care of guppies. There is a lot of info here and tons on the internet.
I suggest 25% water changes daily due to the high stocking levels. Mix the new water with water conditioner in a clean bucket. By clean bucket I mean buy a new bucket, rinse it a few times with hot water, and then label the bucket as "for fish tank use only !!!!" Even trace elements of some cleaners and chemicals in a bucket can be lethal to fish. Attempt to get the new water to be the same temperature as the water in the tank so you don't shock the fish. So you will need a thermometer. If the water is more than 2 degrees different than the tank, add very slowly, like a cup every 5 minutes to allow the fish to acclimate.
Get a master test kit that tests for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and PH. A hardness test kit is a good idea to. After starting your filter know it will take time to establish the nitrogen cycles so you will have to do partial water changes every day until the beneficial bacteria in the tank grow enought to have you ammonia, nitrate and nitrate reading balance out. After that you should be ok with 10-20% water changes per week.
good luck

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

some of these people are overkilling the situation. Guppies are very adaptable I hate to sound like a broken record but 1 male for every 3-4 female is best. as stated above huge issues happen if you don't have fish ratios right. and or too many fish for a tank. Daily water changes may not be needed. however, if having illness issues it's for sure a good idea to dot all your ''I'' and cross all "t" metaphorically speaking. Honestly id start with evening out male to female ratio and then go from there with things just as ph/harshness of water and daily water changes. there is nothing wrong with doing 60 percent every 5 days. To the best of my knowledge.

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

id like to add if you don't have you need need need filter and heater in the tank

 

[Barry Tetra]

id like to add if you don't have you need need need filter and heater in the tank

I dont have filter on my mollies tank and its fine, your guppies might stressed because of male fighting.

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

The purpose of the filter on your aquarium is to remove excess food, decaying organic matter, free-floating particulate, dangerous chemicals, and the fish's waste products from the water. The fish excrete waste constantly as they swim around in the water.

In conclusion if you okay with your fish getting sick and dying ya. It's fine not to use a filter...