I know this is an axie site but have a guppy question!

[Joanne]

I know this is an axie site but everyone has such awesome knowledge of such a wide range of aquarium questions I thought I try here first

Have been using 2 guppies to start my cycling process which has been going on for 3 weeks now. Ammonia is at 1ppm, no nitrite or nitrate. I've been doing 20% water changes in a 14g/55L tank every day but still no changes to ammonia, guess it's gonna take a couple weeks longer.

I ended up with fry as both were pregnant & has resulted in 5 fry surviving. Question is one of the guppies is displaying odd behaviour. It's very thin compared to the other one & seems to spend most of the time lying on the bottom of the tank. It still is eating though. Is it dying due to high ammonia? Or is it possible that it's a male & the fry came from the other guppy only??

Any help would be fantastic :happy:

 

[Minniechild]

What's the colour of the second one? From what I understand the way to tell the difference is that the males are much more pigmented up the body, whereas the females tend to be transparent towards the head. It might be an idea to get a male to keep your colony stable (I've currently got 7 females to 2 males keeping my 4ft tank alive (Not to mention an excess of babies!!))

 

[Joanne]

Will have another look at the colouration tonight but for memory they both seem to have silver bodies but the fatter one does have a brighter more prominent tail. It's really fan like & bright orange whereas the other one has a smaller bluish tail

 

[alexx]

Male guppies are smaller, thinner in shape, more brightly coloured and have larger fins.
The females are plane coloured, larger and plumper.

Maybe they're not doing too well because an axi tank is cold and guppies are tropical? It would explain the lack of movement and staying on the bottom.

 

[Joanne]

So they both kinda look the same so I think one just isn't travelling to well, still seems to be eating so will just have to keep an eye on it. It's gonna end up as food anyway so I guess if it doesn't make it that's the way it's meant to be

 

[Colinna]

Guppies can be a little sensitive to water quality. I've had some guppies die for no apparent reason.

One good thing though, now that you've got some fry in there the cycling will go a bit faster.

Good luck!

 

[Joanne]

Alas poor guppy, looked close to death this morning so reckon it's gone to the big fish bowl in the sky by the time I get home from work. I think the other one in there was harrassing it a bit - maybe they were both females, who knows! Thank goodness the fry will help speed up the cycling! I'm on week 4 and am sooo over the daily water changes Plus I want to get my axie - been setting it all up for almost 3 months now! Well at least I'll be prepared :happy:

 

[lea]

Hang in there...it is almost over. Your axie will appreciate the hard work you are putting in for him/her.

 

[alexx]

Male guppies (especially if you have equal number of male and female, or more male) tend to harrass (rape) the female guppies. This is why it is recommended that you have more females than males in a community tank so that the harassment is spread between them and one female doesn't get too stressed. Some recommend 2 females per male.