Are my Guppies trying to kill each other?

[meng-chieh]

Hi,

I just noticed that two of my guppies (one bought a week ago, one bought two months ago), are having some sort of duel. I've observed them facing each other (like kissing fish), or following each other very closely as if chasing. I know that they're both males, so it can't be attraction, so are they trying to kill each other? Thanks.

 

[cloud]

Nah, mine do that all the time. They're just playing

 

[Holly9937]

Mine do that sometimes too, but they actually appear to really like each other besides the occasional duel. Plus from what I've been told its near impossible for them to really damage each other!

 

[RanchuRick]

They're just 'schooling' and playing. I added two king cobra to two existing tuxedo last night. The four of them hang out together after 30 minutes - pretty to watch.

 

[southern_gal]

guppies kissing

This thread is a little old and I'm a new member but I just wanted to add my experience. I've noticed that everyone with guppies seems to be putting them in with other tropicals but my 2 male guppies are in with a goldfish and a chinese algae eater. I have a thermometer and keep the water within the 70 - 80 degree marks. It's a 10 gallon tank. But back to the topic: my guppies play a lot. I don't see them as being aggressive at all but seem to love each other. They face one another and "kiss". Then one will chase the other and it will twirl around and it starts all over again. After reading the other posts they must be just playing. I really enjoy watching them. They were bought from the same tank. The other 2 I bought from the same tank died. But these have been with us for a few months now and are doing fine.

 

[Emg]

Hello SG....

How long have you had the goldfish with those other fish ? I don't know if you know that goldfish are a coldwater fish and should only be kept with other goldfish. 80F is definitly too warm for thier comfort and it'll end up getting sick on you. They also create alot of ammonia and are known as a very dirty fish...lol...so thier tanks need extra filtration and frequent water changes.

I don't want to seem like a know-it-all, just trying to be helpful....some folks just don't know these things and usually end up finding out the hard way. However, if you've had this tank set up like this for awhile and everyone seems fine...heck, why mess with it ! But do keep an eye on the goldfish for signs of stress from overheating.

I think the behavior in your guppies is actually guppy aggression. It doesn't seem too harmful and looks pretty mild, but they keep it up until one of them is tattered and stressed and usually ends up dieing. It's best to have a 1 male to 3 female ratio as far as pairs of guppies go. If you have just males in a tank then the more you have the less chance any one will get overly harassed.

Oh...keep an eye on that chinese algae eater.....they are known for turning aggressive towards other fish when they get larger...they try to suck the slime coat off of them.

 

[southern_gal]

Hi emg,

Thanks for the reply. I've had the aquarium for about 6 months and I take very good care of it. I do regular water changes and filter changes. I've had that goldfish the whole time. It's not a fancy goldfish so not as "sensitive" as others can be. Actually, the fish guys told me that the guppies were ok to put in there. When I was starting out setting it up I didn't know about water cycling so that's why I lost 2 of the other guppies and 2 fancy goldfish. But this goldfish and these 2 guppies never got sick so they seem to be pretty hearty fish. Also, it never gets near 80 degrees. And I try to make sure that it doesn't get below 70 to keep the guppies happy. The temp. hovers usually around 71 to 75.

I'll think about the guppy thing though. Maybe get another male or 2, however, when I had the other 2 guppies in there they still stay paired with one another and ignored the other 2 guppies.

And I have heard that about the algae eater so I'll keep an eye on him but so far he stays off to himself.

If any of these problems that you have mentioned begin to happen, we are prepared to start another tank. :thm:

 

[Emg]

Lol....always room for one more eh !

I've been on the look out for some "Siamese" algae eaters....they eat types of algae that other fish wont...namely red hair algea..which I have an issue with in one of my tanks....also, they aren't as aggressive as the Chinese variety, but, they aren't so easy to find in the lfses, at least around here.