Pair Of Male Guppies Fighting

[Adohan]

So I am currently cycling my tank using a mixture of filter medium, Api Quick start and a pair of male guppies.
So we are 10 days into the cycle my Ammo is almost zero and my Nirite is high but starting to level off.  Also there are lot of plants covering the bottom half of the tank(12Gallon).
 
So my guppies seem to be fighting with each other alot since I have added them and now there rear fins seems to be getting splits in them.  The local fish shops advice was to add more fish but I can not do that as the tank is cycling or to add female guppies but I think my tank is way to small to start breading guppies.   
 
So the option I think I have is:
Add female guppies,
Wait 20ish day to add other fish. or add something like a Zebra Danio that can handle the cycling process
Return one of the guppies to my fish store and break them up that way
Or just wait and see how they behave after the cycling process has finished.
 
I need some advice?

 

[Far_King]

I would advise returning them both and doing a fishless cycle.

 

[the_lock_man]

Nasty situation to find yourself in.
 
Guppies are boisterous little fish, they do like to fight and bicker, and theoretically, your LFS is right to suggest adding more fish - the greater the number of fish, the more spread out the bullying becomes, and it's just easier for them all.
 
HOWEVER

In your situation, you must not add any more fish. Part of your issue is that you say you have high nitrite. Nitrite enters the bloodstream, and binds itself to the haemoglobin, preventing oxygen from binding to it. Therefore, your fish aren't getting enough oxygen to their brains, and they are feeling suffocated. Literally. This is leading to increased stress levels, and like the rest of us, they are more irritable when stressed.
 
If you feel able to, please do as FK suggests, return the fish to the shop, and carry out a fishless cycle.
 
If not, then immediately take a reasonably accurate nitrite test. Multiply that reading by 15, then multiply that by the volume of water in your tank (in litres - 4.5l per UK gallon, 3.7l per US gallon). Add that amount of mg of table salt to your tank. EG if you have 2.00ppm (or mg/l) of nitrite in a 65l tank, you would add 1950mg of salt (which is 1.95g, so you'd round it to 2g). The sodium in the table salt will enter the bloodstream through the same mechanism as the nitrite, but at that concentration, it will prevent the nitrite from doing so. When you change the water, you will need to replace the salt. EG if you did a 50% water change, you would be removing 50% of the salt, so you would add an additional 1g of salt to replace that taken out.
 
By using the salt method, you can let the nitrite level stay high, to provide as much food for the n-bacs as you can, and thus the colony will grow quicker. 
 
Obviously, you need to keep an eye on the ammonia levels, if they get too high, you would still need to change water, to remove that threat.
 
You would need to test the water daily to see what the levels are. When you have seen both ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm for a week, you can consider yourself cycled. At that point, you should change as much of the water as you can, to remove as much of the salt as you can.
 
Only then can you add extra fish. When you do, start by buying one more guppy. Test water for a week, make sure that you see no ammonia or nitrite spike (hopefully you shouldn't). Assuming you don't, you can then buy another single guppy. Again, test water for a week. Again, assuming all is well, you can then buy 2 more guppies. I would say that 6 guppies in a 50l tank is a decent stocking level.
 
I would strongly suggest that you buy all male guppies, you are correct in that your tank is too small to start filling it up with guppy fry.

 

[Adohan]

Thanks for the advice, just checking salt will not harm the plant that in the tank?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Thanks for the advice, just checking salt will not harm the plant that in the tank?

The salt will have a marginal negative effect on the plants (depending on what plants they are) but that negative will be counter by the benefit it will provide the fish. The fish will die without the salt.

 

[the_lock_man]

 

Thanks for the advice, just checking salt will not harm the plant that in the tank?

The salt will have a marginal negative effect on the plants (depending on what plants they are) but that negative will be counter by the benefit it will provide the fish. The fish will die without the salt.
 

What he said ^.