Questions about Guppies

[MikeandMit]

Hello to everyone. Could anyone who has Guppies please give us some guidance. We just started a Guupy tank. We have two in it. They are both very beautiful and very different as guppies commonly are. We were told these are peaceful, community oriented fish. Once the fish had acclimated in there new environment we released them into the tank. The tank is a 5 gallon filtered tank with plenty of foliage. After several minutes in the tank one of the guppies became very aggresive toward the other sending it into a hanging state in which it spent most of it's time in one place seemingly hanging in space with it's head up and tail down. It appeared t be struggling to move throughout the tank swimming sometimes on it's side. It should also be noted that while the two fish were in their transport container they acted just as they had in the store aquarium...peaceful. Could the issue be something with out tank. We used distilled water to fill the tank. Could this be a problem. We have now seperated the two fish, one in the 5 gallon tank and one in the old 2.5 g tank. Both fish now act as if everything is okay and the struggling fish is appearing to return to normal. Any help will be greatly appreciated as we have this tank set up for our 4 year old twins and our ten year old to enjoy.

[Northernguy]

It sounds like you have two males.If you want an all male tank you will need a few more.Some other fish in the tank would also help but seeing your tank is so tiny I do not recommend it.
Is the tank filtered? Cycled?
Here is a link to some info on them.
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If you want a more peaceful guppy tank I suggest a twenty gallon and 3 females for every male. Add some floating plants like hornswort or java moss and the fry will multiply like crazy.

[MikeandMit]

Yes the tank is filtered. It has about six different artificial aquatic plants in it as well as a fallen timber decoration. Will this size tank support 6 to 8 fish. The tank that these fish wer in at PetCo was no larger than the one we have and many many more fish than what we have.

[SkipW]

Yes the tank is filtered. It has about six different artificial aquatic plants in it as well as a fallen timber decoration. Will this size tank support 6 to 8 fish. The tank that these fish wer in at PetCo was no larger than the one we have and many many more fish than what we have.

A 5 gallon should support 6-8 small fish. I think all guppies would be OK as long as they are all male or maybe neons. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. A lot will depend on your filter and maintenance routine. What fish were you thinking of getting? Is your tank cycled?

[troy]

Your tank is too small for 6-8 fancy guppies.

[Little Embers]

We used distilled water to fill the tank. Could this be a problem.
I would not use distilled water in a fish tank as it has a lot of the essential trace elements/minerals taken out, which the fish need and it can also affect the buffering capacity of the water, it usually has no KH and has an acidic PH, guppies thrive better in an alkaline PH.

Regarding their behaviour, it is usually very normal for fish placed in new surroundings, for one of them to display dominance over the other fish, even peaceful fish form a hierarchy of sorts and it usually settles down within a few days or so when they have worked out who is boss.

As NG said, getting more guppies would help, but as NG and Troy also said, your tank is too small for that option. A 5 gallon is better suited for a single fish such as a Betta.

EDIT: BTW I think this thread would be better served and is more appropriate in the Livebearer sub-forum.

[MikeandMit]

Thank you to all have responded with our question concerning our new tank. We will be sure to post when we have made our decision on which way to go and keep you updated on the success or failures that we have.