Do Guppies Fight Each Other? (Reasons+How To Stop Them?)

Guppies are peaceful fish and do great with other peaceful fish in a community tank. However, they show some strange behavior of chasing and nipping fins of other guppies, which makes us worry.

Such behavior of guppy fish raises a query among all aquarists that do guppy fish fight with each other and what are the reasons behind such aggression. So, Do guppies fight each other? Let us find out.

Guppies do fight each other. Reasons include showing dominance, adding new guppy fish, and the absence of female guppy in the tank. Ensure to have male and female guppies in an appropriate ratio of 1:2 and keep them in a large tank to prevent fighting each other.

This article will discuss the reason behind guppy fish fighting and how to prevent our guppies from fighting. So, let us get into it.

Do guppies fight?

Guppy fish are peaceful fish and do great with other peaceful fish in a community tank.

However, guppies can fight each other in different situations.

It is also possible that a guppy is naturally aggressive and tends to fight.

Male guppies are territorial and can fight each other to show their dominance.

There can be various other reasons for guppy fish fighting each other.

We can prevent such fighting behavior of our guppy fish by providing them a good living conditions.

Let us discuss how we can know whether our guppy fish is actually fighting or just natural mating behavior.

Also read: Are Guppies aggressive?

How to detect If my guppies are fighting each other?

It can be challenging to detect if your guppies are actually fighting or they are just mating.

However, these are some signs which indicate that your guppy fish are fighting:

1. Guppy fish is showing hiding behavior.
2. Your guppy fish have damaged fins.
3. There is a dead guppy in the tank.
4. The male guppy is chasing other male guppies.

Hiding behavior

When guppy gets bullied, they will spend most of their time in the tank hiding.

So, you can easily notice that your bullied guppy fish will hide most of the time from other guppies.

They may hide between the plants or in other hiding decors.

Damaged fins

Damaged or frayed fins are also a sign of aggression in the guppy fish tank.

Guppy fish will chase the other guppy and nip their fins, resulting in damaged fins.

However, you must confirm that the reason behind damaged fins is actually because of fighting by monitoring other signs of fighting, as it can also be a fin rot disease.

Also read: How To Treat Guppy Fin Rot?

Dead guppy in the tank.

When you find dead guppy fish in the tank, the two reasons are bad water conditions and fighting.

Check the water parameters and ammonia level of your guppy fish tank.

If everything is correct, then fighting is the reason behind dead guppy fish.

Male guppy chasing other male guppies

Male guppy usually chases female guppy for mating purposes.

But, when the male guppy is constantly chasing other male guppies, they are fighting.

Also, male guppy constantly chasing female guppy is a clear sign of fighting and harassment.

What are the reasons behind guppy fish fighting each other?

These are the reasons behind guppy fish fighting with each other:

1. Absence of female guppy fish in the tank.
2. Male guppies are showing dominancy.
3. Guppies are competing for food.
4. New fish has been introduced to your guppies tank.

Absence of a female guppy in the tank

An absence of female guppies in the tank can result in guppies fighting each other.

Male guppies are territorial and will bully each other to show their dominance.

The presence of a female guppy makes the male guppy busy most of the time chasing the female guppy for mating purposes.

If there is no presence of a female guppy in the tank, the male guppy will spend all its time feeding and chasing each other.

Male guppies are showing dominancy.

Dominance is the primary reason behind guppy fish fighting each other.

Male guppies show their attractive colors to frighten other male guppies and impress female guppies by attracting female guppies towards them for mating purposes.

Male guppies will also fight each other to show their power and prove their dominance. This way, the most dominant male guppy will mate with the female guppy first.

Competing for food

Sometimes, guppies can also fight each other for food.

Usually, it happens when you provide less food to your guppies.

However, guppies remain busy finding food for their health and growth in their natural habitat, which makes them engaged most of the time.

In captivity, they get enough food which makes them vacant most of the time, resulting in chasing each other and bullying.

It doesn’t mean that you should not feed your guppies, as it will affect their health and make them become more aggressive when they get less food.

Also read: Best Food For Guppy Fish?

New fish in the tank

Aggression for showing dominance is likely to occur by the guppies when you introduce new guppy fish into your guppies tank.

Guppy fish will try to dominate the new guppy fish.

It is rare but possible that the new guppy can also dominate the guppies in the tank.

It is natural, and we cannot do anything about that.

How to prevent our guppies from fighting each other?

Ensure these things to prevent your guppies from fighting each other:

1. Ensure appropriate male and female ratio of guppies.
2. Keep guppies in large groups.
3. Keep your guppies in a large size tank.
4. Provide good water condition to your guppies.
5. Separate the aggressive guppy from your guppies tank.
6. Feed your guppy regularly.
7. Provide your guppy fish with plenty of hiding spots.
8. Ensure a stress-free environment for your guppies.

Ensure appropriate male and female ratio of guppies.

Keeping male and female guppies in the appropriate ratio is necessary to eliminate excess bullying and aggression.

Consider keeping your 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.

Keeping more female guppies than male guppies will also prevent one particular female guppy from coming under stress because of being chased by the male guppy for mating. 

The stress will distribute equally among all the female guppies.

Also, male guppies will spend most of the time impressing female guppy for mating purposes, and there will be less aggression and bullying.

Keep guppies in large groups.

Consider keeping your guppies in large groups.

You should at least have a group having six guppies.

A larger group will result in the distribution of the bullying among all the guppies, and one particular guppy will not suffer all bullying.

However, when having a large group of guppies, it is necessary to provide them with enough space to live and swim comfortably by keeping them in a large tank.

Keep your guppies in a large size tank.

Guppies require ample space to swim and live comfortably.

Lack of space will make your guppy fish aggressive, and fighting will be expected.

Follow the one-inch one-gallon rule to ensure that your guppies have enough space to live comfortably.

The one-inch one-gallon rule means one inch of fish per gallon of water.

Guppies have an average size of 2.5inch which means one particular guppy will require a 2.5-gallon tank to live comfortably.

However, consider at least a 10-gallon tank for your guppies.

Also read: How Many Guppies In A 20 Gallon Tank?

Provide good water condition to your guppies.

A good water condition is very necessary to prevent your guppies from getting stressed out and showing more aggression.

To ensure good water condition, regularly perform a weekly water change of 35%.

Add a good filtration system with biofilter media to clean the water and prevent harmful toxins like ammonia and nitrite.

Also, you can add plenty of live aquatic plants to your guppy fish tank to keep the water clean and oxygenated.

Keep a regular check on the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate level.

Make sure to maintain ammonia and nitrite level at 0ppm and nitrate below 25ppm.

I recommend using the API ammonia test kit to check the ammonia level as it shows an accurate result.

You can buy it from Amazon API TEST KIT.

Also read: How Often To Change Guppy Water?

Separate aggressive guppy from the tank

Consider removing the guppy fish, which is constantly showing aggression.

Some guppies are naturally aggressive, and you cannot do anything to prevent them from showing aggression.

So, separate them from the main tank and place them in a separate tank or give them back to the pet store.

You can also consider keeping them in a separate tank for a couple of days and then place them back in the main tank and see if they are being aggressive then also or not.

If they are still showing aggression, give it back to the pet store or keep them in a separate tank.

Feed your guppy fish regularly.

Irregularly feeding your guppy fish will make them come under stress, and they will show more aggression, resulting in chasing and fighting each other.

Feed your guppy fish one to two times a day regularly to prevent such issues.

Also read: How Often Should You Feed Guppies?

Provide plenty of hiding spots for your guppy fish.

Providing plenty of hiding spots for your guppy fish is necessary to prevent aggression and fighting in the tank.

Hiding spots also break the direct sight of one guppy to another guppy.

To create hiding spots, you can add aquarium decors like terra cotta pots, driftwood, a sunken ship, and other decors.

However, adding plenty of live aquatic plants to your guppies tank will create a great hiding spot and also help you to keep the water clean and oxygenated.

Also read: Do Guppies Need Hiding Places?

Ensure a stress-free environment for your guppy fish.

Providing your guppy fish stress-free environment is necessary for preventing more aggression and fighting each other.

Ensure these things to provide a stress-free environment to your guppy fish:

1. Perform a weekly water change of 35% to ensure clean water.
2. Provide your guppy fish water temperature between 72-82
3. Maintain the water pH level between 6.7 and 7.8.
4. Add plenty of live aquatic plants to create hiding spots.
5. Avoid adding aggressive fish like angelfish to your guppies tank.
6. Avoid overcrowding your guppy fish tank by following the one-inch one-gallon rule.
7. Ensure keeping your guppies in a large size tank.
8. Regularly feed your guppy fish.
9. Add essential things like filter, air pump, and heater to keep the tank condition suitable for your guppy fish.
10. Perform regular maintenance of your tank monthly to keep the tank in the right condition.

Also read: Are My Guppies Stressed?

Do female guppy fish fight?

Female guppies do fight sometimes.

These are the reasons which make female guppy aggressive, and they fight:

1. The female guppy is pregnant.
2. There is a presence of a male guppy in the tank.

The female guppy is pregnant.

A female guppy will usually act aggressive and fight when they are pregnant.

Female guppy becomes weak when they get pregnant, and to hide their weakness, they show aggression.

Also, pregnant female guppies will require more food, making them compete with other female guppies by fighting and taking their food.

Also read: Is My Guppy Pregnant?

There is a presence of a male guppy in the tank.

Female guppies will fight mainly when there is a presence of male guppies in the tank.

The male guppy will constantly chase the female guppy for mating purposes.

With such chasing behavior of male guppies, female guppy will come under stress and show aggression toward other female guppies present in the tank.

Also, because of being chased by the male guppy most of the time, female guppies don’t get time to bond with other guppies in the tank, making them aggressive towards each other and fight.

Also read: Why Is My Male Guppy Chasing Female Guppy?

How to take care of a bullied guppy fish?

If your bullied guppy has a sign of injury and sickness, consider separating them and placing them in a separate tank.

Placing the bullied guppy in a separate tank will help you monitor their health and run medication if needed.

However, always consider removing the aggressive fish from the main tank as they will find other guppies to bully when you separate the bullied guppy.

Conclusion:

Guppies are peaceful fish, but they do fight with each other.

There can be various reasons behind guppy fish fighting each other, of which the primary reason is male guppy fighting to show their dominance.

Other reasons are:

• The absence of a female guppy in the tank.
• Adding a new guppy.
• Competition for food.

Providing good living conditions and ample space to live will prevent your guppy fish from fighting.

---

Reference: LiveScience, NCBI, ResearchGate