New guppies...they are bullies!

[taralm13]

So I got some new guppies yesterday...was supposed to be 8 males but I think there are ten. They are so pretty and all seem healthy (good thing cuz I do not yet have a quarantine tank) but they are fighting amongst themselves and the old guppies and they started all the guppies fighting....I am a little worried about this. Will it eventually work itself out or is there something I should do to stop this behavior?

Thanks,
Tara

[Northernguy]

Guppies fighting? I have never seen that.I have seen them chase each other relentlessly but there is usually a pregnant female dropping fry that is being chased.She can get nipped pretty bad this way.
The males are looking for a free meal.
When its all males they still chase each other around!lol They do not usually nip at each other though.
Are you sure there are no females in there?

[taralm13]

No the new ones are just all males...I have plenty of females too...and tons of fry! But soon after I put the new males in they started chasing eachother around and flaring up their tales and stuff and it almost looks like they are nipping eachother but I can't be sure. Well once they started this all the other fish seemed to join in....I was thinking maybe they are just trying to figure out who is the dominant fish but I am not sure and I don't want any of them to get hurt.

[rich311k]

I would imagine they are establishing a pecking order. Give them a few days to settle down.

[taralm13]

Thanks! I was hoping it was just something like that.

[Northernguy]

That is probably it. It should stop soon.