Male guppies are more colorful and look stunning than female guppies. So you want to keep only male guppies in your tank.
But is it possible?
You can keep only male guppies in a tank. However, when you keep only male guppies in a tank, you will see a lot of aggression and bullying among them. To spread out the aggression, it is recommended to keep at least 6 male guppies in a male-only guppy tank.
Keeping a male-only guppy tank is totally possible. But as I mentioned earlier, having only males in the tank can lead to a lot of aggression and bullying which can cause stress, diseases, and even death of a fish in your tank.
Besides keeping at least six male guppies in the tank, I’m going to share some helpful tips and tricks to handle this issue.
Keep reading…
Table of Contents
How to keep only male guppies in a tank?
The only issue when keeping only male guppies in a tank is aggression.
The thing is, guppies are voracious breeders. They breed a lot!
But when you don’t keep any females in the tank, the males don’t have anything to do except eating.
So they spend their time showing off to each other and trying to prove their dominance over other males.
This can lead to a lot of aggression among the males.
But, generally, guppies are not very aggressive fish. They will not bully each other to death like some other fish as cichlids can do.
However, aggression can lead to diseases in the fish which can cause death.
Besides, guppies are shoaling fish so they do like to stay in groups in their natural habitat.
However, there are a few things you’ll need to keep in mind while keeping a male-only guppy tank.
1. Choose a large and tall fish tank
When you are keeping only male guppies in the tank then you should choose a larger tank so you can keep more fish in the tank.
Keeping more male guppies in a tank will help to spread out the aggression. So all the guppies will not target only one guppy.
If you keep fewer male guppies, say three guppies in a 10-gallon tank then the two male guppies can always target one guppy and constantly chase and bully it.
On the other hand, if you keep 10 male guppies in a 20-gallon tank then most likely 9 guppies will not target one guppy. Instead, they will chase each other randomly which helps to spread out the aggression.
Besides, in a larger tank, you can add a lot of decorations and live plants to create hiding places for guppies.
So the targeted fish can hide, rest and recover!
For guppies, choosing a tall tank is important because guppies like to swim in the bottom, middle, and top parts of the tank.
And keeping them in a taller tank will provide them with more area to swim around.
2. Keep at least 6 male guppies in a tank
When you are keeping only male guppies in a tank it is very important that you keep at least 6 male guppies in the tank.
This is important to spread out the aggression among the fish.
If you keep less than six guppies, say you kept only three guppies in a tank then there is a possibility that the two guppies will target only one guppy. This can cause stress to the target fish.
On the other hand, when you keep more guppies it is very unlikely that the fish will target only one guppy. Instead, they will chase each other randomly.
3. Keep fish of the similar size
When you’re going to keep only male guppies in a tank it is very important to choose males of similar size.
This is important because if any of the fish in the group is very smaller in size compared to others then there is a possibility all the other fish will target the smaller fish and bully it. As it stands out in the group.
This is a very common behavior in shoaling fish.
4. Create a lot of hiding places in the tank
When you keep only male guppies in a fish tank, you will notice a lot of aggression and chasing among them.
This can cause stress in the targeted fish. And stress can lead to diseases!
That’s why it is very important to create a lot of hiding places in a male-only guppy tank.
You can easily create hiding places in your guppy tank by adding some live aquarium plants in the tank.
The live aquarium plants will not only provide a lot of hiding places to the fish but there are a lot of other benefits of keeping live plants in the tank.
You can also add decorations to create hiding places for the fish in your tank.
5. Keep the fish well-fed
Guppies are generally very peaceful fish so even in a male-only guppy fish tank you will not see aggression all the time.
However, there are a few events that can provoke aggression among the males.
Generally, during feeding time you will notice aggression among the males.
If you don’t provide sufficient food to the fish then this can elevate the aggression among fish.
That’s why in a male-only guppy tank it is a good idea to add a bit more food than necessary.
Just make sure not to feed a lot of food many times per day to your guppy fish.
Just feed a little bit more if you notice a lot of aggression among male guppies during feeding time.
And after feeding the fish be sure to remove the uneaten food.
6. Regularly check on your fish
You should regularly check on the male guppies in your tank to see any early symptoms of diseases in the fish.
Usually, feeding time is the best time to check for any symptoms of disease in the fish. At the feeding time, generally, all the guppies are excited and eager for the food. So it is very easy to spot any lethargic fish.
Spotting any signs of disease at an early stage is very important because then there are more chances that the fish will survive after the treatment.
Besides, if you noticed the infected fish early then you can treat the fish immediately and avoid the risk of spreading the disease to other guppies.
If you noticed any early symptoms of any disease then you should immediately set up a hospital tank and transfer the infected fish into the hospital tank for treatment.
I have written a detailed article on ways to set up and cycle a hospital tank immediately.
You can check it out here.
Related questions
Do male guppies get lonely?
Though guppies are not schooling fish, guppies do live in groups in their natural habitat.
And in their natural habitat, their group contains both males and females.
Besides, guppies breed a lot. Guppies can start breeding when they’re just two to three months old.
When you keep only male guppies in a tank this can affect their behavior and you will notice aggression among the male guppies.
Will all male guppies fight?
Generally, guppies are very peaceful fish. But you will notice some fighting among them. They do so to prove their dominance and to impress female guppies.
In a male-only guppy tank, you will see more aggression among male guppies.
Can two male guppies have babies?
Two male puppies cannot have babies. However, if you keep single or multiple females in a tank without any males then you may notice offspring coming out of females.
This is because before putting the females in a separate tank they may already mate with a male. And female guppies have a remarkable ability to store sperm which they can use to breed two to three times without mating with a male guppy.
Why are my male guppies chasing each other?
Male guppies chasing each other is their natural behavior to prove their dominance.
Male guppies chase and attack each other to prove their dominance.
Why are my male guppies dying?
There could be one or multiple of the several reasons your male guppies dying in your fish tank.
Usually, the most common reason is poor water quality.
In your fish tank, you should try to maintain the water parameters ideal for the guppies.
And make sure that your fish tank doesn’t contain any ammonia.
If your tank contains ammonia then you can use these ways to reduce and get rid of ammonia in your tank.
Low oxygen in the tank can also be the reason your fish may be dying. So in this case, you can introduce an air pump to increase oxygen in your tank.
I recommend Tetra whisper air pump. You can check it out at Amazon here.
Besides, any bacterial infection can be the reason you are male puppies are dying. So in this case you’ll need to look for the symptoms of the disease and treat the fish accordingly.
20 Tips to Maintain a Healthy Aquarium
Conclusion
Overall, you can keep only male guppies in your fish tank.
But when you keep only male guppies in a tank you will see more aggression among them.
You should use the tips I mentioned in the article to deal with this issue.
I hope you found this article helpful.
If you do, please share it with anybody who can benefit from it.
Happy fishkeeping!
