killer guppies?

Question

I have had 2 male guppies and an albino cat fish for over a year and decided to give breeding a go. I bought 4 female guppies a week ago and one of the females has killed both males and finally my albino catfish :( what did I do wrong??

Answer 1

That's quite odd... Did you specifically see the female guppy attacking the other fish?

Just out of curiosity, what size tank did you have these fish in? Any clue what your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH) were? Poor water quality will sometimes lead to aggression, but I've never heard of a guppy attacking and killing a catfish.

Answer 2

Your female guppies may have brought a disease with them. Guppies do not live very long. I have over 200. I think I'm on the fifth generation. I know they do eat each other as well as their babies, but catfish??? Don't know if it's on their menu. Buy some more younger healthier males. It's one male to two females. Breeding is usually done with a trio but then you must seperate the babies or they will be eaten. R U sure you want to breed guppies?
Their are loads of guppy websites.

Answer 3

Killer guppies? I would have a trial, innocent until proven guilty. Seriously though, Theres no way a guppy could kill a catfish. Something else is to blame, probably infection brought in from your new fish. Do a partial water change and then put some methylene blue into it for a little while and gradually replace your stocks.
Unfortunatly things like this happen. It's a total bummer.

Answer 4

Hmm...that is rather odd. I would think the albino catfish is bigger than the guppies (sorry guys...but in the fish kingdom, usually size DOES matter). Also, I would assume guppies are a more communal and peaceful tankmates..

Introducing new fish into a tank also messes up the established 'pecking order'. :\

Answer 5

It sounds like your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, etc) were not well-balanced. By adding more fish you increase the ammonia input (fish waste). The more ammonia, the more bacteria needed to breakdown the ammonia. Unfortunately there is time between the increase in ammonia and the bacteria's numbers to even it out.

After this happens, the fish become stressed. In the fish world fish will attack the weak/sick fish to rid them of their environment. Your aggressive female guppy happened to be the healthiest one hence was merely removing the other fish (which happened to be weaker at the time) .... even the bigger catfish.

Adding fish slowly and allowing the bacterai to 'catch up' will help reduce this problem in the future. Also, guppies will breed better with some salt to replenish the electrolytes in their system. Just be careful about adding other fish with guppies who don't like the salt. :) Take care and good luck!

Answer 6

My parents breed fish and they had problems when introducing new fish it can also depend on the size of your pond or tank guppies can be Territorial and size does matter too.
keep the separate for a while in the bag and see how the other fish react to each other before releasing the in the same area

Answer 7

Hmmmm...maybe your looking in a wrong direction. Guppies can't kill the catfish. Have you check your water conditions before accusing the guppies?

Answer 8

Test your water as the old fish may have got used to a high level of ph and perhaps nitrate buy a test kit.
the new fish may have gone a bit loopy over the levels attacked the older fish then come worse off
you should have 2-1 females to male as males are horny devils

Answer 9

you should have 4 f guppies to one males, males guppies should be in the tank 1st be for the females , if not them they will killed each outher, we have guppies , and tell u whats u don't want to breeding , as now we have loads, over 200, we cant sale them as know one wants them, hope this helps, good luck

Answer 10

I know that pigs fly and there are pink elephants. But I don't believe in killer Guppies. Perhaps they were Parana in disguise