# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Livebearers >  Separate female guppy from males?

## dimension

Hi all, I'm totally new to fish keeping, and was an incidental owner of 3 young common guppies, which were overflows from a colleague's tank. 

A month passed and what we thought were 2 female 1 male, turned out to be 2 males 1 female. I'm disturbed to see my female guppy constantly chased by the males, bothering the female, who would sometimes turn and chase then away, nipping after them. I mean its nice to see them dancing and darting around but is this stressful for the female? 

Hence I separated them but put the tanks next to each other. Then I saw that the males kept swimming up and down near the female. and the female swimming near them too, despite being separated by glass, plastic and a seemingly heartless keeper. 

Now I'm torn. I just don't want my female to die of stress which I heard can happen. Neither do I have space for more females (plus I don't want guppy population explosion). Should I keep them separate, or can they live peacefully together? Am I over worrying and should just live them together? These are the plain ones, not expensive fancy ones. They are supposed to be more hardy?

----------


## Guppendler

What you are witnessing is just normal for guppies. But since you do not want a population explosion then separating the males away from the female could be one solution. Adult guppies do eat their fry actually, so if you leave the 3 fish in the same tank and you do not isolate the female when she's about to drop fry, unlikely you will have a population explosion

----------


## dimension

Thanks for your response! So its ok to let the males chase her? I just don't really want them to kill her. I'm ok to have fry eaten, and just handle what fry escapes the parents. Thanks ill try that.

----------


## tetrakid

> Thanks for your response! So its ok to let the males chase her? I just don't really want them to kill her. I'm ok to have fry eaten, and just handle what fry escapes the parents. Thanks ill try that.


It's definitely not OK.

What you should do is to get two more female guppies to help 'spread the load', otherwise how can the lone female survive? You need to do it immediately, since female guppies are cheap to get. Since you are obviously concerned about the poor creature, you should do it immediately.

----------


## Guppendler

The advice from tetrakid is a sound one. One male to two females is an ideal ratio

----------


## Rachdanon

I find the amount of time your light is on also determines how much the female is chased/gets the rest. Especially in a planted tank, lights off gives the female some respite. Guppy males are horny 24/7.

----------


## Guppendler

Cannot blame the male guppy as they are programmed naturally that way.

----------


## tetrakid

> Cannot blame the male guppy as they are programmed naturally that way.


Guppies are known to older locals as "seh kia hee".

----------


## Guppendler

For those who do not want a population explosion I would suggest just keep males only without any female

----------


## bosacheng

You can get a simple acrylic divided and insert in after drilling some small holes

----------


## dimension

Hi all, thanks for your invaluable inputs! My tank is only about a foot long so I have concerns placing so many guppies in! 
how many can fit in a foot long tank? for now I have separated the dominant male from the trio. I figured better one unhappy fish than three  :8=): 
So far it seems to work, except for the solo fish of course.

Meanwhile ill try to source for a bigger tank, which seems kind of inevitable

@Guppendler I just happen to inherit the guppies and I didn't want to kill them, so here I am...  :Sad: 

@bosacheng how do I do this divider?

----------


## CrowDemon

> Hi all, thanks for your invaluable inputs! My tank is only about a foot long so I have concerns placing so many guppies in! 
> how many can fit in a foot long tank? for now I have separated the dominant male from the trio. I figured better one unhappy fish than three 
> So far it seems to work, except for the solo fish of course.
> 
> Meanwhile ill try to source for a bigger tank, which seems kind of inevitable
> 
> @Guppendler I just happen to inherit the guppies and I didn't want to kill them, so here I am... 
> 
> @bosacheng how do I do this divider?


Hi, I have been keeping gups for a while and this is what I do to separate them.


It's not the most ideal but it works for me.

----------


## dimension

> Hi, I have been keeping gups for a while and this is what I do to separate them.
> 
> It's not the most ideal but it works for me.


innovative! whats the center piece? soft plastic or the hard kind?
anyway my tank now is a makeshift from my kids' play box  :Grin: 
so i'll get a proper tank first then work on the dividers.

anyone wanna bless a small tank suitable for 3 guupy?  :Laughing:

----------


## CrowDemon

> innovative! whats the center piece? soft plastic or the hard kind?
> anyway my tank now is a makeshift from my kids' play box 
> so i'll get a proper tank first then work on the dividers.
> 
> anyone wanna bless a small tank suitable for 3 guupy?


It's the kind people use to hold acrylic sheets to separate fish from each other. It's quite hard though. 

Sent from my LG-H961N using Tapatalk

----------


## dimension

> It's the kind people use to hold acrylic sheets to separate fish from each other. It's quite hard though.


Not going to work for me as the guppies are housed in a makeshift tank with uneven surface x: will source for a proper one

Now I have another question... my harassed female is now separated from both males as she looks like she's undergoing labor contractions. Its been a couple of days and I'm worried for her. Could guppies have difficult labour??? Will they die from it?

----------


## dimension

> anyone wanna bless a small tank suitable for 3 guupy?


The weirdest thing today, I suddenly found that there's a marketplace for AQ. Previously I couldn't see it (may be below 10 posts??) so I unknowingly broke the rule. I tried to edit but can't do that either. So mods pls don't ban me ok? Thx

----------


## eeJamboy

But ultimately.. What do you want to achieve from these 3 guppies (2m 1f) that you are already taking care of?

I reckon you get a tank w proper filtration, minimal scape/decor, some hardy plants and simple substrate.
Pickup more female guppies (+5f) and let them all live together in there.

You will get a bit of everything from guppies; activity, colours, "interaction", joy of watching newborn fries, a chance to see fry growth development etc.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

----------


## dimension

Hi eejamboy, what size tank and hardy plants do you recommend? I have what looks like guppy grass n hornwart (my best guess). I was just intending to keep the guppies, and prevent them.from dying, but didn't expect to enjoy fish keeping so much  :Grin:

----------


## tetrakid

@dimension

I suggest you get a new 2ft tank (never ever get a second-hand tank) and buy two $2 packets of mixed guppies. I assure you, since you are a obviously a beginner in this hobby, you will derive much pleasure from that. 

A packet of guppies contain about a dozen fish. Usually these are bought by people to feed their big fish with. But you need to be careful to buy only packets which contain good and healthy specimens and avoid sickly fish. A 2ft tank costs about $30.

----------


## eeJamboy

Since you are already in it, you will continue to enjoy fishkeeping especially once you have passed this guppy stage.

Yes 2ft tank is a good start for guppies. As for plants, you should look into hardy species like Java Moss, Java Ferns and Anubias Nana sp.

I am not sure about recommending you to nurture feeder guppies but my concern is you might be put off by them (mortality rate) and hopefully not an excuse to quit this hobby.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

----------

