Um do they act like this??

[Cheart99]

Hi! i got 3 male guppies for my tank and since i put them in they have stayed allong the top of the tank acting like they are looking for food. I dont think it is the oxegen level as my tank has been running a long time and my neon and glowlight tetras are swimming fine along the bottom of the tank. Guppies top, tetras bottom. I was wondering if this is normal behavior for guppies and if they will eventaully swim all over the tank, not just along the surface. Kinda sucks b/c you cant see them unless you go lower than tank level and look up.

 

[WILDER]

Can you post test resuts in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, as they should not be at the top of the tank all the time, maybe do a water change to see if that fetches them down.

 

[Cheart99]

Oh! i forgot to mention that i only put them in today. Also they do swim around the tank but tend to hang around the surface most of the time. Could it be that they are not used to the tank yet?? I wil try to get the test results soon. i have to purchase a new testing kit and it has not arrived yet.

 

[Germyzero]

Mine did the same. I think it was because they were scared or something.

 

[littlefishie]

Mine were almost always at the top when I had them.. occasionally they'd swim around the tank, but since they are a top-dwelling fish, that's where I'd expect them to be.

 

[Cheart99]

Well i think i fiqured it out. This mornign and now my 2 guppies are swiming all over the tank. I couldnt find my blue guy, well i found him but he was on the verge of dying and died a few minutes latter . What i think is that he stayed on the surface b/c he must have been sick. so the other 2 stayed on the surface with him. I just cant fiqure out what killed him but there could be mutiple reasons, stress, sickness, travel,ect.

 

[Zenn]

Right weel here is some facts thjat might help you...

Guppies are seen as Mid-water dwellers, however they body are composed into what is called a flat-top body, which means these fish dwell near to the surface of water, other flat-tops would compose of Killfish as being the most popular of flat-top fish that hover near to the surface...

Flat-top fish are normally small and so they hover near to the surface for food to get some both all the larger fish around them pushes them to one side for the food

I hope this is of help to you and i am very sorry to hear you have lost one of your guppies...

 

[Cheart99]

Thanks. That did help. I find it kinda funny though b/c they are the biggest fish in my tank. The last 2 males follow each other like the tetras do for a while then split off to other parts of the tank. Um just for clarification how exactly do you tell males and femlaes appart. Is it the find underneeth their bodys. My two their fins point straight out, kinda in a line. Is it females whos look like fans? Thanks

 

[Cheart99]

Well i am please to announce that My new guppy is going great. All three (males) are following each other all over the tank, kind like a school of fish. To me they look like they are playing tage.
One new question though. One seems to act like a dog in heat. I am 99.5% that all 3 are males but one especially seem to be "sniffing" my new guppys fins that are on the bottome of him. The one im calling "oversexed" is really going at my new guppie like that, he seems to ignore the other yellow one. My new one just keeps swimming away from oversexed. Will oversexed stop this? will it put more stress on my new guy? or is this normal behaviour for males as they seem to leave my yello guy alone?

 

[Zenn]

Ummm, this is very strange behaviour you have this time, i cants say i really had cases where a male is sniffing another males parts

Oh just so you know, yes the males have the tubula anal fin and females have fan anal fins

It would make sense of it was a male "sniffing" the females under belly, because then i can say that if she is preggy, males tend to hover behind the female at birthing to eat the fry, thats why birthing can be difficult sometimes

The only reason i can think of you male if doing this, is maybe he is a confused fish, it might be advisable to get a couple of females, it is advised two females to each male if possible, and then you male might stop doing that, becuse he will be distracted by the ladies in the tank

It is just a thought, otherwise i am not too sure why he is doing that, unless he is impling the other male smells

 

[Cheart99]

Yah they are still doing that. Hopefully they will stop it tomorrow. Just my luck I picked the homosexual fish . Oh well my friends will get a good laugh. I just hope Sam & Dave dont try to take them for their tank.
It wont stress them out to much doing this. They seem to go their sepreat ways after awhile but one guy seems to single out the newbei and zones in on him.