Mistake Getting Guppies?

[cwa]

Went to get some more fish and wanting some bright color, we were talked into guppies. We brought home 6 males in varied colors. Added them to the tank with a bala, pleco and catfish. Upgrading to a much larger tank and will be getting even more fish, but it seems that now I can't get what I really wanted to get (angels) because of the guppies and I just read it isn't recommended to have just males because they will fight with each other. So, what can I add to my tank that will give me color and get along with the guppies? Or should I think about returning them and getting something a bit more peaceful? Hard to figure out which fish go with what. I was also wanting some smaller schooling fish or something.

 

[mbeer21]

I had four male guppies - they were a bit boisterous with each other on occasion, but there was never any real fighting. They stuck to one end (top left) of the tank and rarely wandered elsewhere, and they've never paid my Angel the slightest bit of attention. Just my experience with them, anyway not sure if that goes for all guppies.

 

[Baccus]

Guppys can be either peaceful or real little terrors of a tank, usually the more males the less likely that one will be singled out and be bullied by the other males constantly. At one point I would have had close to nearly 40 males together ( while madly selling them off to reduce their number) but they all got on fine because there where no females present. Even other female live barers (such as mollies, swordtails and platties) can be harrassed by over sexed male guppys. If you really think the guppy's wont fit in with your plans you could always go for some rainbow fish, they come in quite a few sizes and colours and tend to stay together, males can get a bit competative but that is also when you will see their best colour, as they vie for the females attention and breeding rights. Other options would be dwarf gouramis (but these can be aggro especially males), or even a nice group of sparkling gouramis which are small and generally peaceful but they do like plenty of plant cover.
It all really depends on what is readily available to your in your area, the size of your tank, water chemistry and what you like in colours and activity levels of fish.

 

[Akasha72]

if it were me I'd have gone with some platies instead. They are peaceful fish, come in some nice bright colours and will pretty much live with any other community fish happily.

I originally had 4 male guppies and they harressed the life out of my female platies - they had them backed into the corner behind the filter too afraid to come out. I ended up having to get them a female each (not ideal but back then my tank was a 48 litre and couldn't hold more) to keep them occupied but they never fought with each other. They played together in actual fact. No aggression at all toward each other - just to the platies.

Personally, I wouldn't put angel fish in with guppies as you might find they're tails disappear or the fish disappears altogether! My neighbour has 4 angel fish - I gave him some guppies (over-run with fry). They survived less than a week.


Hope that helps you

 

[Lettybetty]

Went to get some more fish and wanting some bright color, we were talked into guppies. We brought home 6 males in varied colors. Added them to the tank with a bala, pleco and catfish. Upgrading to a much larger tank and will be getting even more fish, but it seems that now I can't get what I really wanted to get (angels) because of the guppies and I just read it isn't recommended to have just males because they will fight with each other. So, what can I add to my tank that will give me color and get along with the guppies? Or should I think about returning them and getting something a bit more peaceful? Hard to figure out which fish go with what. I was also wanting some smaller schooling fish or something.

what about neon tetra's or any of the tetra's would be ok

 

[OldMan47]

What kind of water do you have there CWA? It would make a big difference to what I might recommend. Guppies in general are easy to care for and are not aggressive. They will display and even spar a bit at first but that soon settles down. There are almost no fish that do not express dominance in some fashion.

 

[cwa]

Other than my unreliable strip tests, I have no way of knowing what kind of water I have unless you mean tap or well. I have city water. My last test strips say my KH is 80 and my GH is 30.
After the suggestion of gouramis and looking at some of them, now I'm thinking a few of those would be a good fish instead of the angels. Will have to find out which ones are more friendly than others though. Would love some bright colored ones. Will do more research.

 

[OldMan47]

If you have GH and KH that low, the more common livebearers are on the edge of what you can keep. I have a GH and KH around 200 ppm each and my water is considered barely acceptable for livebearers. Your water reads more like South American cichlid water than livebearer water to me. Angels, cories and most tetras would love your tap water. Have you considered going in that direction instead? I would hate to lose a livebearer enthusiast but I bet you would find that kind of fish easier with your water.

 

[cwa]

Well I already have the 6 guppies, but won't be getting more. And if angels don't go well with them, then I will look into gouramis or tetras. Just for curiosity, is there anything that can change the hardness of the water?

 

[OldMan47]

It is easy to increase hardness by placing lots of calcium carbonate in a tank but that will be counterproductive if you ever want to keep a community mix in the tank. Calcium carbonate can be in the form of limestone, crushed shells or crushed coral. The crushed shell is commonly sold in pet shops as substrate for a salt water tank. Even a little in the filter will significantly raise the pH and hardness of a tank's water but then you would have to limit the amount of water that you change at each change so that you don't get big swings in pH and mineral content. As I started out, it is better to get fish that work in your water than try to go the other way.

 

[FishBlast]

If you have GH and KH that low, the more common livebearers are on the edge of what you can keep. I have a GH and KH around 200 ppm each and my water is considered barely acceptable for livebearers. Your water reads more like South American cichlid water than livebearer water to me. Angels, cories and most tetras would love your tap water. Have you considered going in that direction instead? I would hate to lose a livebearer enthusiast but I bet you would find that kind of fish easier with your water.

What does 200 ppm GH translate to in dgH? My tap is at 9 dgH, is that soft or hard water? It does leave deposits of limestone if I place heated equipment exposed to the surface of the water (how my heater got calcareous deposits on it), does that mean it is hard water?

 

[OldMan47]

9 degrees is hard enough for livebearers but would need supplementing for African rift lake fish. I think the multiplier is around 17 ppm per degree.

 

[FishBlast]

9 degrees is hard enough for livebearers but would need supplementing for African rift lake fish. I think the multiplier is around 17 ppm per degree.

If I multiply 9 by 17, I get a ppm of 153, which is 47 less than the 200 ppm you have recommended for livebearers though. Should I increase it? But idk what to add that would increase it gradually. I heard that limestone isn't recommended. Maybe it would be better not to add anything since the livebearers seem to thrive.

 

[OldMan47]

It is always better if you avoid modifying water. The 200 is just a round number but 9 degrees should work out fine for most livebearers. I don't think I would try mollies in that water as it is a bit low for them. Mollies can be picky about not having enough in their water but don't mind going all the way to brine in the other direction.

 

[FishBlast]

It is always better if you avoid modifying water. The 200 is just a round number but 9 degrees should work out fine for most livebearers. I don't think I would try mollies in that water as it is a bit low for them. Mollies can be picky about not having enough in their water but don't mind going all the way to brine in the other direction.

Since I'm sticking to swordies, I guess they don't mind it. Besides, I have a bunch of rocks in there (not limestone though) that might add some minerals every now and then. Wish I had something to measure my PH. Would be awesome if I had it a bit over 7. It would make my apple snails happy too.