[ShadeSlayer]

So today I introduced my new five guppies into my ten gallon with Sam, my beta. Its seems o be going okay, but the guppies are scared to death of Sam and every time he comes up he thinks its funny to scare the carp out of them...Should I separate or will they be fine???

Thanks!

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

I hope this doesn't sound rude or harsh, but Sam does not think it's funny to scare your Guppies. He is exhibiting normal curiousity.

The biggest roadblock to understanding critter behavior is to anthropomorphize. I see it a lot on this forum and had to deal with it on a daily basis before I retired as a canine behaviorist/trainer. To be fair to our pets we have to accept of their reactions and behaviors for what they are and not how we perceive them in human terms. Sorry, my soapbox.

Do you have a lot of plants as has been often suggested? Can you post a photo of the whole tank?

Turn the lights off in the aquarium and let the Guppies settle down. Wait two or three hours before you turn it back on.

When adding new fish always float the bag in the tank with the lights off and leave them off a couple of hours.

 

[ShadeSlayer]

I hope this doesn't sound rude or harsh, but Sam does not think it's funny to scare your Guppies. He is exhibiting normal curiousity.

The biggest roadblock to understanding critter behavior is to anthropomorphize. I see it a lot on this forum and had to deal with it on a daily basis before I retired as a canine behaviorist/trainer. To be fair to our pets we have to accept of their reactions and behaviors for what they are and not how we perceive them in human terms. Sorry, my soapbox.

Do you have a lot of plants as has been often suggested? Can you post a photo of the whole tank?

Turn the lights off in the aquarium and let the Guppies settle down. Wait two or three hours before you turn it back on.

When adding new fish always float the bag in the tank with the lights off and leave them off a couple of hours.

Thank you sooo much for your reply. So far I have the gups in the quarantine tank. Keeping them in there for a week. I can get a photo of a tank that looks almost indentical to it, but not the actual one. Camera problems, phone problems, technology hates me.
So Sam is probably just checking them out? He would go up to them and flare. One female got to close and he nips, but that seems pretty normal. After he would check them out he would go to the bottom and not move. The gups were terrified of him. Poor little fishes. LOl.

So...I will get the pics of the tank that looks like mine. I have been getting more and more plants, so its getting pretty heavily planted. I wish I could have real ones, but I’m a plant killer.:-?

 

[ShadeSlayer]

Have you seen Alciajays tanks? Mine is similar to hers. I have a mountain hideout in the middles, and plants on either side of it. I have eight medium size plants and a large fern-looking one. Five different ones are in the quarantine tank. I hope that give you an idea. I’d love to get pics up, but I cant at the moment.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

You might not be a plant killer; you may have just bought plants that weren't right for your water parameters. You know all those "easy" plants? Well, I can't grow quite a few of them. :frustrated:

You should buy one Anubias and let it float in your tank. Sam will love it. Then when you are confident you could get either another Anubias or a plant that floats like Java Moss. After you see how well those are growing try a rooted plant like a Sword. Those, however, do need fertilizer capsules placed under them.

It will turn you into a plant fanatic.

 

[ShadeSlayer]

ohhhh....Maybe thats it! Cool! i’ll have to try it. Maybe that would make Sam feel more safe and calm the guppies down...

 

[ShadeSlayer]

I have pretty soft water, just an FYI