# hmmm so only my male guppies are dying



## crypticdragons (Mar 26, 2009)

So i know you are supposed to expect to lose some fish when you first setup your tank for cycling which is what im doing. but for some reason my males keep dying. i had three males and 9 females for the cycling of my 55 gallon tank. 2 of the three males have died and none of the females. i was just wondering if anyone might know a reason for this? Are male guppies less strong in general than the females?

thanks
Brian
Cryptic dragons


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## serick (Mar 29, 2009)

If someone has the answer please do respond because i have the same exact problem... males dying females doing fine!


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## Guest (Apr 13, 2009)

most lfs state a 1:3 ratio male to female or prob higher. but everytime i i see that my female population is higher than my male population, i find the male dead a few days later and all females are prego! you do the maths. 

i prefer keeping my male to female ratio as 1:1. i always replace a dead fish of either sex if its an odd one in the tank. this has worked for me. its a whole diff story that my guppies die on a regular basic. reason for death : my mom puts liquid chems into the tank for her lillys. 

hope this helped.

cheers!


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

there is no reason to expect to lose fish just because you are using them to cycle the tank.... the only way i cycle a tank is with fish... and most of my fish are fairly expensive; so i can't afford for them to be dying.... and they don't.
sometimes with livebearers there will be males that overdo it trying to impregnate as many females as possible... they become weakened and other males will start picking on him... very often they will kill him... it is best to keep them in a well planted tank with lots of places for refuge..and feed them well with a good varied diet... that should help them to survive...


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

This is fairly common, actually. The females are a lot more robust than the males and can survive things that wipe out the males. Check to see if things aren't so great in your tank.


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## crypticdragons (Mar 26, 2009)

yeah im supposed to take a water sample in tomorrow to the store and see where my levels are at. it has been two weeks so far since i initially put the fish in the tank. I havent added a bunch of plants or anything as of yet just a few but i will put some more hides in and what not. Thanks for all the info.


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