Male Guppies In One Tank?

[Lazerus]

Can a group of 5 or so males live in harmony together in a comunity tank with no females?

 

[ox5477]

hmmm... im no expert... but I dont think they would mind eachother. All they care about is females. If you put in a single female into that, the female would prob be dead within 24 hours of being stressed by the males to breed. Post in the livebearer section and you will prob get a better answer than this.

Ox

 

[dave1987]

should be fine but if you want to add any females later on id say 10 minimum

 

[orange shark]

yes you are normally fine with that, but you need to keep an eye out incase one of the guppies is overly aggressive, but it is done regularly so you should be ok!

 

[Lazerus]

Thanks Ox!!!

Its funny because I did a 'search' before I posted this....and found nothing on it.

But as soon as I posted it there was loads of topics on it at the bottom of the page! Doh!!

So, yes, apparently males can live in peace with each other....but one snif of a female and the friendship is over!

Ok, thanks!

I realised anyway, that I probably can't have guppies in my tank, as I have cardinals....and I forgot that they tend to nip fish with fancy tails.

So thats the guppies ruled out....I thought I was onto a winner there.

Onto Plan B.

Thanks Dave & Orangeshark too....

 

[orange shark]

It depends on how big your group of cardinals are, if it is largeish the aggression is spread out between them so you should be fine

cardinals are that bad with nipping though

 

[Lazerus]

Well...I only have 6 Cardinals. But was thinking of getting about 3 or 4 more eventually.

I had a Betta in the tank and they left him alone....but then he was so much bigger than a guppy. (My poor betta is sleeping with the fishes now though )

I only have a 10gal tank. I'm finding it very hard to come up with stocking ideas.

 

[orange shark]

what is your filteration like?

going by the inch per gallon rule you have 6 2" fish = 12" so your at your limit unless you've got decent filteration

 

[Lazerus]

Its a Fluval Plus 1 filter.

Yes, I was working out the maths there off another thread about stocking levels and it seems 6 Cardinal tetras are the limit alright. Thats a bit disappointing.

I was hoping for:
10 Cardinal tetras
2 Dwarf Gourami / Honey Gourami or 2 of something similar
3 Otocinclus affinis.

But its the end of the road for me now it seems.

Its just I've been reading other threads with people having similar stocking levels in their 10gal and I thought I'd be ok.

 

[lilfishie]

i'd say you could get away with a single dwarf gourami as cardinals are light waster producers, then maybe a few shrimp

 

[orange shark]

just remember that dwarf gourami's are prone to disease aswell

 

[Lazerus]

Thanks guys!! All input welcome....its such a mine field for stocking. Don't want to make a terrible mistake out of lack of knowledge.

Yes, I'd been looking into Amano shrimp instead of the otos, they are low waster producers also I think. I've more reading to do. I liked Ghost shrimp too, but they are not algae eaters apparently, more ground waste eaters.

I'd been told about the draw backs of Dwarf Gouramis in that they are very sickly fish....Honey Gourami might be more hardier perhaps? Or I'll go for a different fish altogether...just one if I can get away with it.

Anyway...I've some more reading up to do alright. If I'm going to put anything else in this tank, it won't be for a few weeks. My tank only stabalised in its cycle this week.

 

[jennakid]

you mean like.. just males in a tank together?
should be fine. pet shops do it.
xo

 

[backtotropical]

I have kept a group of male guppies without any females with no problems at all. Its the best way to avoid being over-run with fry.

Go for it!!