Guppies are the most common fish that every aquarist loves to add to their home aquarium. They are peaceful fish and do great in a social tank. However, guppy fish sometimes shows strange aggressive behavior, worrying us.
One of the behaviors we sometimes notice in guppies is chasing, which raises a question: Are they fin nippers? Are they chasing other guppies and fish for nipping their fins? So, Are guppy fish fin nippers? Let us find out.
Guppy fish are peaceful fish and not a fin nippers. However, guppies can show such fin nipping behavior when kept in an overcrowded tank and with an aggressive fish. Consider keeping male and female guppies in a ratio of 1:2 and providing good living conditions to prevent such guppy behavior.
This article will discuss whether guppy fish are fin nippers and how we can stop prevent such behavior of guppy fish. So, let us get into it.
Contents
Guppy fish temperament.
Guppy fish are peaceful fish and do great with other peaceful fish in a community tank.
However, male guppy fish are territorial.
Keeping only male guppies in the tank can trigger aggression and make them more territorial.
In such a situation, guppy fish can show aggression by nipping the fins of other male guppies.
Keeping other aggressive and non-compatible fish as your guppy’s tankmate will also make them nip the fins of other tankmates.
Also read: Are Guppies aggressive?
Do guppies eat each other fin?
Guppies don’t eat each other fins until and unless you provide them with adequate living conditions.
Keeping guppies in a small tank and overcrowding your aquarium with the guppies can result in guppy fish nipping each other’s fins.
Keeping only male guppies and no female guppies in your tank can also trigger aggression and nip at each other’s fins.
Keeping only male guppies will not divert the time chasing female guppy to attempt mating.
Male guppy not getting to mate will be more aggressive and spend its all-time eating and bullying other guppy fish.
Also read: Will My Guppy Tail Grow Back?
Do guppy fish nip other fish fins?
Guppy fish are peaceful fish and thrive with other peaceful fish in a community tank.
However, nipping can happen when you add aggressive fish to your guppy’s tank.
Adding aggressive fish to your guppy fish aquarium will result in chasing and nipping each other fins.
Guppies will not harm other peaceful fish like mollies, neon tetras, platies, and zebra danios when we keep them together.
How to stop fin nipping In my guppies aquarium?
Ensure these things prevent nipping in your guppy fish tank:
- Provide adequate water conditions.
- Avoid adding aggressive fish to your guppy fish tank.
- Keep your guppies in an adequate male to female ratio.
- Avoid overcrowding your guppy fish.
- Provide a stress-free environment to your guppies.
Adequate water conditions
Ensuring adequate water conditions will help you prevent your guppy fish from nipping.
Guppy fish living in inadequate water conditions will come under stress and can show strange behavior of nipping.
Perform a weekly water change of 35% to ensure good water conditions.
Consider adding a good filtration system with biofilter media to keep the water clean and safe from harmful toxins like ammonia and nitrite.
Also, you can add live aquatic plants to your guppy fish tank to keep the water clean and well oxygenated.
Keeping a regular check on ammonia levels is also necessary for your guppy fish’s health.
We recommend using the API ammonia test kit to keep a regular check on the ammonia level of your guppy fish tank.
You can buy it from Amazon API TEST KIT.
Also read: How Often To Change Guppy Water?
Avoid adding aggressive fish.
Adding aggressive fish to your guppy fish tank will lead to chasing each other and nipping each other’s fins.
Also, your guppy fish will come under stress because of being constantly chased by the aggressive fish.
Guppies are peaceful fish, and you should add other peaceful fish in your guppies tank instead of aggressive fish.
These are some of the best tankmates of guppy fish:
- Mollies
- Platies
- Zebra danios
- Neon tetras
- Gourami
- Shrimp
Also read: Can Guppy Fish Live With Angelfish?
The adequate ratio of male and female guppies
When you keep only male guppies in your tank, you can notice chasing and nipping fins in your tank.
Male guppies are territorial and chase other male guppies and nip their fins to create dominance.
Keeping more male guppies and a few female guppies will result in particular female guppies being chased by the male guppies for mating purposes.
Such chasing behavior of male guppy will make the female guppy come under stress and aggressive, making them chase back male guppy and nipping.
ConsidAlso er keeping male and female guppies in a ratio of 1:2, which means one male guppy and two female guppies.
You can also keep one male guppy and three female guppies.
Avoid overcrowding your guppy fish tank.
Keeping your guppies in a small size tank and overcrowding it will make your guppy fish chase each other and nip each other.
Follow the one-inch one-gallon rule to avoid overcrowding your guppy fish tank, which means one inch of fish per gallon of water.
Following the one-inch one-gallon rule will prevent your guppy fish tank from becoming overcrowded.
Also read: How Many Guppies In A 20 Gallon Tank?
Provide a stress-free environment for your guppy fish.
Provide a stress-free environment for your guppy fish to prevent them from showing such behavior.
Ensure these things to provide your guppy fish a stress-free environment:
- Provide adequate water conditions.
- Ensure ideal water parameters for your guppy fish.
- Avoid adding aggressive fish like angelfish.
- Keep male and female guppies in a ratio of 1:2.
- Avoid overcrowding your guppy fish tank by following the one-inch one-gallon rule.
- Add lots of live aquatic plants to keep your guppy’s water clean and oxygenated.
Also read: Are My Guppies Stressed?
Conclusion:
Guppies are peaceful fish and do great with other non-aggressive fish in a community tank.
However, guppies can become fin nippers in some situations like an overcrowded tank, stress, the presence of aggressive fish, and improper male and female ratio of guppies.
Male guppies are territorial and will chase each other to create dominance.
So, keeping only male guppies in your tank can result in fin nipping in your tank.
Consider keeping male and female guppies in a ratio of 1:2, and avoid adding aggressive fish to your guppies tank to prevent such behavior of your guppy fish.
Reference: ScienceDirect, Wikipedia,