Guppies are overrunning my tank! HELP?

Question

55 gallon aquarium and a friend gave me a handful of guppies. I didnt have any predatory fish so to speak and in 3 months Ive got hundreds of guppies! I dont want to flush them, What can I get for fish that will help me balance my tank out again? The few fish I had are all gone now and all I have is a plycostomus and all these gups!

I dont want any really aggressive fish because I would like to get some angels and the like.

Answer 1

You must be surprised at reporduction rate of your little friends there! I can certainly relate - been there too.

You know? Sell them to your local fish stores! They will buy them from 50 % of what they sell them for. I thought it would be difficult because I'm no saleperson myself but it turns out they appreciate guppies bred by customers because they are usually a lot healthier than the ones they buy by the hundreds.

Pick up the yellow pages, or do a local search on the internet for fish stores. Call, or have someone call ten of those numbers a day. Start by asking if they sell guppies and then explain your situation very honestly. You'd be surprised at their receptiveness! That is how I keep my hobby going - buy selling my "extra" guppies for cash or store credit. It's not a business at all but I can tell you I've gotten quite a bit more than I have invested in my very small hobby.

As for population control, get rid of the females, and keep and enjoy the males for a while. If in the future you want to breed one, simply use a diff tank to isolate the two. Also, you might considering getting a female betta which is very good at caching the babies yet will not be a threat to your other fish. Well, it might ocasionally attack the long-finned colorful males but this will only be an occasional situation. If you have plenty of room, the gups will stay clear away from her - they are so much faster.

Most tropicals will eat the fry, so choose a tropical that you really want for the purpose of having new babies consumed naturally. But a word of warning, most guppy breeders/enthusiast would not suggest mixing guppies with other tropicals because of the possibility of tank mate harrassment (hehehe). Neon tetras and Coridoras are great tank mates for guppies though - they are all very peaceful.

Now that you have guppies, why not select the ones you like the most and experiment with breeding only those to attain the characteristics you want? The effort can be addicting and very fascinating (...the tail shape of this one, plus the color of that one, and the pattern of the other, or color combinations, etc)

Check out the following guppy sites: guppyinfo.com, guppyalternative.com, guppyplace.tripod.com. ...and other guppy sites, like the American Fancy Guppy Association. You might rediscover the joys of keeping some of your guppys!

Also, you can also place ads in the local paper, or many of the pet stores will allow you to place a notice where you can offer the gups for free if that's what you want.

Good luck! Tell us what you decide with your guppies. Do you have pics to share?

Answer 2

No offense, but I think you are really mean to kill your fish just because you have too many. What I would do is if you have enough money is buy those tank seperators. I know they have some at Petsmart. Put the males on one side and the females on the other, if you cant tell the difference then look it up, but if you cant tell the difference because they are too young I would put them in breeder nets that you could just put in the tank. Then, call fish stores and ask them if they will take your fish, maybe you could make a deal with them that for like 50 guppies, you get a free fish as long as its regular price is under five dollars or something.
Hope this Helps and Good Luck!!!!!
Sorry if I Sound Mean, But Please Dont Kill The Guppies!!!! ;)

Answer 3

You're answered your question :) get a group of angelfish and they will rapidly eat any guppies that they can fit in their mouths.
You do not need aggressive fish to eat the guppies - just a fish big enough. All fish can expected to eat what fits in their mouths, whether or not they are aggressive. Angels would be a great choice :)

Edit: In regards to the comment about angels being aggressive. Angels are NOT aggressive, they are just normal fish. If you put in a tiny fish with a large fish, you can expect the tiny fish to get eaten. It doesn't make the large fish aggressive, it just means it is hungry.

Answer 4

Hmm I would do this get 2 different tanks fairly big and separate the girl fish from the boys I'm no expert on fish though but that's where I would start and maybe it would be a good idea to sell SOME of the babies not all just a few like about 10-15 depending on how many there are

Answer 5

Call some of the aquarium fish stores in your area and see if they will take the extra guppies.

Angle fish can be aggressive - not a good fish for a community tank. I had two Angles with a school of Neons. All Neons disappeared.

Answer 6

in a sad way u could get a bigger fish to eat the fish or get another tank much smaller than the one u have and net up some guppies and put them in there.... ur choice.... or sell them at maybe Petco or just give them away to a friend or another family member..... take care and good luck!!

Answer 7

Sounds like you're in trouble. The best thing to do would be to let nature take its course, sadly enough. Just feed enough food to let a few fish survive. The rest will die, but that's how nature works. Eventually it'll all get balanced out.

Answer 8

Oh goodness do guppies ever breed and breed and breed! i bought two, in a few months i had 72! lol. Perhaps a dwarf clawed frog. He will surely eat the small babies, but he will steer clear of larger fish like angels. I had one but in the end he fell at the fins of a mexican redhead cichlid that grew WAY beyond expectations, over 11 inches. Poor froghorn. :(

Answer 9

There is a humane way of killing off unwanted fish... and you will have some to help yourself.

Pour a large bowl about 4/5 of the way with water... and believe it or not... the rest of the way with vodka. It is basically euthanasia for fish... and you can have a glass yourself to cope with it afterwards.

Another method, not as humane but still effective, is a bowl with Alka Seltzer in it. It is like slowly taking the oxygen away from a human, it will put them to sleep first and eventually suffocate them.

Answer 10

Try a few Tetras - not too aggressive and they keep the guppies in check. Good Luck!