Marco the guppy

[Teddy C]

Hi everyone,

My name is Teddy and I have one guppy named Marco. He is pretty cool and mischievous. I had three, but unfortunately the other two died yesterday so now it’s just me and Marco (top fish in picture) Anyways, we’re excited to be here.

Also, anyone think I should get Marco some friends? I have a 3 gallon tank, but I don’t want any bullying to happen. Also, I can imagine he is stressed from the recent carnage of his bros.

 

[Fish4dawin]

Hi everyone,

My name is Teddy and I have one guppy named Marco. He is pretty cool and mischievous. I had three, but unfortunately the other two died yesterday so now it’s just me and Marco (top fish in picture) Anyways, we’re excited to be here.

Also, anyone think I should get Marco some friends? I have a 3 gallon tank, but I don’t want any bullying to happen. Also, I can imagine he is stressed from the recent carnage of his bros.

I wouldn't add anything too the tank. I tried adding 3 pepper corys to a tank with guppys. It didn't work. Within a day two corys had lost an eye and were dead and I ended up moving the last cory to a tank where he had some friends. Yesterday we tried adding orange cherry shrimp. Within nightime we had lost two and only one survived. That last one died in the morning as we checked the tank and found nothing. I think it was one of my male guppy's who killed everything. Whilst I think this is unlikely, he does have a reputation for nipping. I also saw him biting all 3 corys dorsal fins on the second day. I might just have a bully of a guppy. I am not sure.

What is your GH (General Hardness)and your pH?

If you wanted to add anything to the tank a pair of amano shrimp could work. They might get bigger than the guppy (3-4cm) and probably won't get harassed by the guppy provided you feed him before adding the shrimp.

 

[Guyb93]

Guppy are schooling fish so I would try and add one or two more just for Marco

 

[ClownLurch]

Your tank size probably won’t be helping Marcos temperament. Take a look on seriouslyfish.com and search for guppies. All the basic info needed to keep em sane and happy is on there. Tank size, water temp, water hardness, water PH, tank mates etc.
Best of luck.

 

[Essjay]

I wouldn't add any more fish to a 3 gallon tank. If you upgraded to at least 10 gallons, you could get more fish though.

 

[Teddy C]

Your tank size probably won’t be helping Marcos temperament. Take a look on seriouslyfish.com and search for guppies. All the basic info needed to keep em sane and happy is on there. Tank size, water temp, water hardness, water PH, tank mates etc.
Best of luck.

Oh the tank is too small? The pet store said 1 inch fish/1 gallon of water. Unfortunately, I have a small place so I can’t go much bigger on the tank. Thanks for your help!

 

[Teddy C]

I wouldn't add any more fish to a 3 gallon tank. If you upgraded to at least 10 gallons, you could get more fish though.

I thought it was okay to have 1inch/1 gallon of water. Is that too crammed? Thanks for your help.

 

[Fish4dawin]

I thought it was okay to have 1inch/1 gallon of water. Is that too crammed? Thanks for your help.

Yes that is the general rule but to be honest not even a guppy is suited to that size of tank. When Marco passes I would add 4 RC shrimp.

 

[Essjay]

Never believe anything a fish store worker tells you. Most of them don't have a clue and will say anything to make a sale.

The rule doesn't take into account the size of tank needed by a fish. Most fish need a fair amount of swimming room. The minimum recommended size for guppies is 18 long x 12 wide x 12 tall inches with bigger being better. Even for a single guppy.

 

[the_lock_man]

Agree with Essjay.

The tank is really only suitable for shrimp.

 

[Teddy C]

I wouldn't add any more fish to a 3 gallon tank. If you upgraded to at least 10 gallons, you could get more fish though.

Hi Essjay, I have been thinking a lot about it and I want to get a 10 gal tank to improve Marco’s life. Is it okay to introduce new guppies to him once I switch over? Should I keep him in the 10 gal alone for a bit before adding other friends? Thanks for your help.

 

[Retired Viking]

You could also add a snail or two but it is a very small tank. I have a guppy tank but it is a 30 gallon tank. Sorry about your other guppies.

 

[Fish4dawin]

Hi Essjay, I have been thinking a lot about it and I want to get a 10 gal tank to improve Marco’s life. Is it okay to introduce new guppies to him once I switch over? Should I keep him in the 10 gal alone for a bit before adding other friends? Thanks for your help.

A 10 gallon is a lot better for Marco. As for tankmates (if you want babies) I'd go for 3 females and then maybe some sort of smaller cory such as Corydoras pygmaeus. If you are to go with those, 6 would be a good number. Or you could do a pair of larger cory's such as Corydoras aeneus or Corydoras sterbai.

I'm not sure if you'd need to cycle the 10 gallon first. Maybe someone else can answer that.

 

[Essjay]

If the 3 gallon has a filter, that can be moved into a bigger tank - or the media 'persuaded' to fit inside a bigger tank's filter. However, there will only be enough bacteria to deal with the waste from 1 guppy so adding more fish means growing more bacteria. But if the bigger tank also had live plants - fast growing ones or floating plants rather than slow growers - they would help by removing a lot, if not all, of the ammonia made by the new fish.

The main problem with getting female guppies is fry. Each female will have fry every months. Not all of them, and maybe not any of them, will be eaten, so the tank would soon be grossly overstocked. I would stick with more males.


The only cories suitable for 10 gallons are the three dwarf species. Cories must be kept in groups of at least 6, and 10 gallons is too small for a group of the larger species.
Cories are also soft water fish while guppies are hard water fish. Other members have asked about the water hardness, but we've not had an answer yet. @Teddy C can you find out how hard your water is please. Look on your water provider's website to see if they give it - you need a number and the unit of measurement. If they don't give it, take a sample of tap water to a fish store and ask them to test it got GH. Make sure they give you a number. If it turns out you have soft water, it would be better to get soft water fish and while it's not ideal for Marco, just let him live out the rest of his life in a bigger tank with soft water tank mates.

On the subject of testing water, we haven't established why the other two guppies died. It is not advisable to get more fish whatever the tank size until we know why they died. Can I ask a few questions:
How long has the tank been set up?
Did you cycle it before getting the guppies - in other words did you add ammonia until the good bacteria had grown?
What are the ammonia and nitrite levels in the water?
Were the guppies ill before they died? Did they show any signs such as white spots, white patches, ragged fins, swollen bodies, whatever?

 

[Teddy C]

If the 3 gallon has a filter, that can be moved into a bigger tank - or the media 'persuaded' to fit inside a bigger tank's filter. However, there will only be enough bacteria to deal with the waste from 1 guppy so adding more fish means growing more bacteria. But if the bigger tank also had live plants - fast growing ones or floating plants rather than slow growers - they would help by removing a lot, if not all, of the ammonia made by the new fish.

The main problem with getting female guppies is fry. Each female will have fry every months. Not all of them, and maybe not any of them, will be eaten, so the tank would soon be grossly overstocked. I would stick with more males.


The only cories suitable for 10 gallons are the three dwarf species. Cories must be kept in groups of at least 6, and 10 gallons is too small for a group of the larger species.
Cories are also soft water fish while guppies are hard water fish. Other members have asked about the water hardness, but we've not had an answer yet. @Teddy C can you find out how hard your water is please. Look on your water provider's website to see if they give it - you need a number and the unit of measurement. If they don't give it, take a sample of tap water to a fish store and ask them to test it got GH. Make sure they give you a number. If it turns out you have soft water, it would be better to get soft water fish and while it's not ideal for Marco, just let him live out the rest of his life in a bigger tank with soft water tank mates.

On the subject of testing water, we haven't established why the other two guppies died. It is not advisable to get more fish whatever the tank size until we know why they died. Can I ask a few questions:
How long has the tank been set up?
Did you cycle it before getting the guppies - in other words did you add ammonia until the good bacteria had grown?
What are the ammonia and nitrite levels in the water?
Were the guppies ill before they died? Did they show any signs such as white spots, white patches, ragged fins, swollen bodies, whatever?

Before I got any fish, I took a cup of my water to the fish store and they said it was ok for guppies. I can find out the GH as I didn't ask about it at the time.

The tank has been set up for 5 months.
I don't think I cycled it, I added bacteria from the fish store and a water treatment for a week before I added any of my guppies.
I don't know the specific levels of anything, but I took the water to the fish store after the week long set up and they tested it, said it was good to go.
The guppies were not ill, but when I got them, they were all different sizes. I didn't think it would be an issue at the time. Unfortunately, the smallest one (Gideon) got attacked by the biggest one (Bubba jr.); after more research I think he was bullied, but at the time I thought they were just chasing each other for fun. Then, my little teenaged sister saw Bubba jr attacking Marco so she took Bubba out of the tank, panicked, and flushed him...!