Guppy Love?

Question

I have a 2 1/2 gallon tank on my desk at work - 2 tequila sunrise guppies and 2 cherry barbs (and an otto). Well, it seems like my 2 guppies have really started digging on each other, but I'm not sure. I don't even know if I have a boy and a girl, although one is bigger than the other one. But the big one keeps snuffling around the smaller one, not in a threatening way, or sometimes they'll turn nose to nose and just stare at each other for a couple of seconds.

Could this be guppy love? Am I going to be overrun with little baby fish? Will the other fish in the tank eat the baby fish? Do I need a bigger tank? ... ... Anyone want some baby guppies if they do hit it off?

So, is it a terribly wrong thing to let the bigger fish eat them? I mean, I'm not trying to breed them or anything. They just seem to be falling in love. And if it is a male and female, is he going to hound her forever?

Answer 1

If you do have a male and female, I pity the poor girl. She will not be left alone. That's why we usually recommend keeping them in at least a two female to one male ratio, but three to one is best.

Even if you do have a male and a female, she will most likely abort her babies as you're so overstocked to begin with. I hope you do regular (weekly) water changes on that tank. I also hope you keep it filtered and heated as well.

In the event she does actually have her babies, few of them will last as there simply is no room for them to hide from the bigger fish that will eat them.

Your best bet, if you really want guppies, is to upgrade to a larger tank. Look on your local Craigslist - depending on where you live, you might be able to find larger tanks for free. If you don't have any luck there, look at your local chain pet stores - you can get a ten-gallon tank for $10 if it's not on sale. Then you just need to hood (should run you about $25), a decent heater (maybe $10, could be a little more), a decent filter (around $15), your gravel and decorations as you see fit. Or, you could go to Walmart and get the complete 10-gallon kit for $50 (if I remember correctly - it might be more or less).

Keep in mind that once you start having guppy babies, they won't stop. You will probably need a separate tank to separate the sexes so that the babies don't start inbreeding. You will also need to think of what you're going to do with all the babies beforehand - national chain pet stores do not take fry from customers, as it is against their policy. Your best bet is to find a small mom-and-pop shop and see if they'll take them. They usually will for free, but sometimes you can negotiate store credit if you're a regular customer. If this doesn't work, try either selling them or giving them away on Craigslist. If you have family with aquariums, think about giving them some.

EDIT to answer your newer questions:
No, it's not terribly wrong to let the other fish eat the babies. In fact, I ended up putting my three females back in the 55-gallon tank with most of the other fish instead of in the 20-gallon tank with just the frogs, simply because I'm inundated with guppy fry. I keep hoping that some of the bigger fish, particularly the silver dollars or the betta, would eat the fry, but they all seem to be holding their own. There are now a good thirty babies swimming around in there. Their only worry is when I do the water changes - then they have to hide from the Python.

If you do have a male and female, he will not leave her alone. You sorta need other females to keep him distracted from going after one single female. You know, the whole "safety in numbers" thing.

Seriously though, your biggest concern right now should be your water quality. Your tank is really far too small for the amount of fish you have in there. Consider upgrading to a ten-gallon tank (like I said, they really aren't all that expensive) if you can. If not, just be very methodical about your water changes. If you have the time, consider doing 20% water changes twice a week (say, on a Monday and a Thursday) just to keep up with ammonia/nitrate levels).