All Male Guppy Tank???

**Asherbonnie** · 01-11-2013, 03:31 AM

Hey, I currently have a 300 Litre Cichlid tank and I love my cichlids but sometimes they just seem like a lot of work but I do want another fish tank, but something 'easier'.

I was thinking of maybe a 2 footer and I want a community tank and I was thinking of a bunch of male guppies for the centre piece or maybe a school of neon tetra's as I have always loved those little guys.

I love guppies, but not my tanks being infested with them! So I remembered that I saw somewhere while I was searching the web one day something about an all male guppy tank. Is it possible? Without any females there I guess they would have nothing to fight about but would they all get along together?

I am still undecided on the size tank but I know I don't want something to big and I think I would like a school as a centre piece.

I think as background fish I would have a few corys and a couple of balloon mollys too.

I just want to get some idea's from people, I want something that will be a great combination but fish that are 'easy' to care for.

I just miss having a tank of fish that I don't have to worry about expensive fish being eaten or attacking one another and finally have some beautiful plants again!

**Dennis Bissett** · 01-11-2013, 07:28 AM

Why not a mix of balloon molly's and platys with a big school of cardinals or neons, the colour/pattern mix you could get would be spectacular, although you would probably need to go a bit bigger than a 2 footer for the school sizes

**Tiari** · 01-11-2013, 12:45 PM

You can do all males, but not loads of them. I currently have four in my tank, and they do well. The trick is EVEN numbers. Never have an odd number of male guppies in a tank. They tend to form teams of two, anyone singled out will be the odd man on the playground.

**steeler1** · 01-11-2013, 05:05 PM

A lot of people go all male with guppies mostly because of there brighter colors.

If your tank is not planted to heavy you won't have a problem with overpopulation as the parents will eat the fry with no remorse if you go the mixed route. You just have to keep a ratio of one male to two females so the females do not get pestered to much.

Males will still pester each other.

**imma24** · 01-11-2013, 05:44 PM

I agree with Tiari about the #'s - the males tend to stick together in pairs - they are very cute to watch. There are many types of fancy tail guppies to make a colorful tank.

**Sandz** · 01-11-2013, 07:57 PM

What about a 29gal standard tank and you can absolutely do guppys and any other live bearer for that matter. I would recommend as a centerpiece a red sword male group of 4 maybe? They are active, get decent size and go GREAT with the bright green plants.

**SueD** · 01-12-2013, 12:16 AM

I had an all male guppy 5 gallon tank as I kept removing the males from a 10 gallon mixed tank. For several months this tank was quite overstocked with up to 15 or more at times - not recommending this overstocking - but just sharing my experience that my males did fine together as far as their behavior. No fighting at all from my particular group. Experiences of others may differ.

**Asherbonnie** · 01-12-2013, 02:08 AM

Originally Posted by Dennis Bissett

Why not a mix of balloon molly's and platys with a big school of cardinals or neons, the colour/pattern mix you could get would be spectacular, although you would probably need to go a bit bigger than a 2 footer for the school sizes

I really am fond of this idea. Would Cherry Barbs work their way in there some how as well?

Also with school sizes, could I get a longer but thinner tank?

**Cermet** · 01-12-2013, 12:12 PM

+2 for your first idea - guppies can be spectacular and neons, or cardinals are lovely in schools. Guppies are far more tolerant of water with nitrates unlike neons or cardinals so mixing these isn't easy unless you do large water changes and/or add an intank algae scrubber to lower nitrates and thus allowing for smaller water changes. A thin tank is fine - it is volume of water and how low the nitrates remain that matter: this does depend on tank size, filtration, and water changes (volume and number.)

**Dennis Bissett** · 01-14-2013, 08:21 AM

Not sure if barbs would work with that, as placid as cherries are, need someone with more experience to jump in there. As far as numbers go, it comes down to swimming room and what your filtration can handle. Start with low numbers, gradually increase your schools while testing parameters, if you can comfortably maintain 0 ammonia, 0 nitrates and only have 10-20 ppm nitrites a week after a water change, its coping