Just 2 Guppies?

[shadiemillcool]

HI,
Was just wondering if its ok to keep 2 guppies with- 2 danios, 2 mollies, 1 black widdow and 1 catfish together. Only i was talking to a friend the other day and he said that you should keep atleast 6 guppies in a tank together. I have had them for nearly 3 months now and so far they are fine, eating as they should and swimming round the tank happily. Does anyone think i should get 4 more or will it be ok to keep just 2?
THANKS!

 

[shadiemillcool]

Oh sorry just noticed i put "Just 1 Guppie" on the title and 2 guppies on the post. I have 2 gupies, 2 girls

 

[Verminator89]

Its better to keep fish in a shoal of the same species as they can interact with one another. A singular fish is a lonely fish. Keeping different types of guppy together is fine, same with different mollies and different tetras. But try to keep them in groups.

As a daft example, put an englishman, a frenchman, a german, and an iranian scientist (why not) in a room together and they can only speak there native language. They are all going to feel rather lonely and lost.

Daft example yes, but it gets the point across

 

[Assaye]

I agree - I would always keep guppies in groups of at least 3-5 (ideally more if you have space). They are not strictly shoaling fish but they do benefit from sociaL interactions with their own kind. Same goes for mollies although single males are fine. Try to keep livebearers (guppies, platies, mollies, etc) in single sex groups unless you have a dedicated breeding set-up.

Danios, tetras (black widows) and some catfish (corys, otos, pictus cats, etc) are also group fish. Danios and tetras have definite shoaling needs and should be kept in groups of 5-6 as a minimum. The catfish's needs will depend on the species.

For proper groups of all those fish (3-5 guppies, mollies, 6 danios, 6 tetras, a catfish) you'd be looking at a 20 gallon tank. Mollies are not suitable for very small tanks (under 15-20 gallons) and some catfish need rather large tanks as well.

 

[Curiosity101]

Its better to keep fish in a shoal of the same species as they can interact with one another. A singular fish is a lonely fish.

Although I partly agree with this it can't be used as a blanket rule.
Sorry Verm.

To the OP - You should try to follow the fishes natural living conditions as much as possible. Some fish CANNOT under any circumstances be kept with others of their own species as we can't give them the right conditions/a large enough tank for them to stake out a territory they're happy with. In these instances these fish often don't care that they're kept alone, this is what they naturally want. Often it's the males exhibiting this behaviour but females of the species normally are happy enough to live alone.

In these isntances you'd keep the fish as a single specimen.

There are plenty of other fish however that seem much happier in shoals, by happier we mean more likely to breed, better colours, more active etc etc.
Danios are an example of shoaling fish so you should keep them in a group of 5 or more really (tank space permitting).
Black widow tetras are also a shoaling fish and should be kept with 5 or more of their own species (tank space permitting).
The catfish (depending on what it is) should be happy enough alone and gains it's confidence from seeing lots of little fish swimming above it. Little fish swimming about means the area is clear of predators
Guppies and mollies are sorta middle ground, they're nice in big groups.... but also pairs and trios seem perfectly happy long term. So I'd say it's up to you really.

Depending on the size of your tank I'd personally keep the danios and tetras in bigger groups. And if you didn't have room for groups of both I would re-home one of the species in preference of giving the other species a proper group.

 

[Verminator89]

Although I partly agree with this it can't be used as a blanket rule.
Sorry Verm.

No worries, i much agree. I posted rather hastily without going into mass detail, so your correct in correcting me

 

[shadiemillcool]

Thanks so much youve been really helpful! I apreciate your time and will buy some more danios and guppies. I was just wondering though if 5 female guppies would be too many girls in the tank as i already have 6 girls and only 2 boys. Although my molly has just had another lot of fry so when they are big enough i suppose some of them i can keep instead of selling them all do you think?

 

[OldMan47]

A guppy breeding population is often set up as a ratio of 1 male to each 2 or 3 females. That is not a required ratio but has been found useful in preventing a male causing stress among the females by being too demanding in his attentions. If you have enough fish, a ratio closer to one male to one female is just fine. If you have only a single pair, that can also work as long as you monitor to make sure the male is not too aggressive.
Guppies are not really shoaling fish so any total number at all will work just fine. My own guppies live in a 10 gallon colony style breeding tank with about equal male and female numbers but they really don't need that kind of situation to thrive. They do just fine if you isolate a single breeding pair in a small tank and save the fry with plenty of cover. Even a breeding set up of a single male with 4 or 5 females will work and is actually the way to maximize the production of fry.