Subdued Male Guppy...

[SteveJH]

Hi All,

I put 6 male Guppies and 2 male balloon rams into my post cycled 125 litre tank yesterday and since putting them all in one of the guppies is just staying at the bottom of the tank not really swimming about, it came up a little way when I fed them this morning but has just gone into hiding again, is there anything obviously wrong?

 

[Aviici]

He might just be at the bottom of the pecking order of all your male guppies. Sadly the weakest fish, if you're keeping all males will most likely get a bit bullied. Have any of his tankmates chased him when he came up?
He doesn't look like he's showing any clear symptoms, are the white bits on his fins his natural colour? He's a really nicely coloured male never the less.

 

[DyArianna]

He really is a gorgeous coloring!    I'm sure others will want to know how you cycled your tank and also what was your process when you added the fish to your tank?  I noticed the white spots too.  Was also wondering if they were part of his coloration or not.. ?  Others with more experience might be able to help more.  Hopefully, he is just getting used to his new surroundings. 

 

[phoenixgsd]

yes we would like to know how you cycled your tank and what your water stats are at present

 

[Mackenzilynn]

I don't believe its the pecking order. I have 2 males and 2 female guppies and the littler male just doesn't get much action with the ladies but hes still active. Plus you seem to have a pretty good male to female ratio.
 
It seems like it has to be something with the water quality - are your other guppies active?
He might have just been a little sick when you got him too.

 

[pumpkinnose]

It could just be he's getting use to the aquarium.  I had a female platy that's been in the tank for quite awhile just decide to hang back in the bottom of my tank for a few days and then she came back out.  He may just need a little time to himself.

 

[Aviici]

1:1 M/F is a bad idea, your females will eventually get harassed, and one of the males will most likely get his fins nipped.
He's either acclimatising or there's some problems with him, and guppies do have a pecking order much like wolves, one female will be the alpha female, and you'll find that the male will spend an equal amount of time between the group of females, if they're all healthy and happy. 

 

[SteveJH]

Hi All,

I cycled the tank for 2 weeks with live plants in the cycle as well as pond snails that weren't invited so then I recruited some assasin snails to "do a job"...

The water stats are as follows
06/04 -
PH - 7.6
PH HR - 7.4
Ammonia - 0.25ppm
Nitrite - 0.50ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm

The guppy I originally posted about has joined the rest of the group and is swimming around quite happily! So that's good news and now we've added 3 green neon rasboras, 3 harlequin rasboras and 4 bristlenose catfish and all seem to be doing well!

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v155/hudspug306/2E177880-5963-456C-A920-6B5E102E281C-2511-000002BD2723632F.mp4

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Aviici]

You may have problems with all of them Bristlenose Plecos, they can grow to 5/6 inches and it's recommended to have at least 65L per pleco. Also the green neon rasboras are a very shy, tiny, shoaling fish and should ideally be kept in a group of at least 6 or 7, with dense plants, shady areas and with other nano fish, as they'll only grow to 2cm. Same with the harlequins, dense plants and even larger schools of 8-10 are needed for it to be happy.
 
If you removed some of the plecos, which I think you probably should do because they'll put a HUGE strain on the bioload in your tank; you could always stock up on more rasboras. Sorry if I sound harsh, just giving suggestions to improve your fishes quality of life