Guppies swimming up top?

kkaso783

Hi everyone! I have a 55 gallon tank that is planted and I just added some starter fish last night. These include 8 White Cloud, 7 Zebra Danios, 5 Male/5 Female Guppies. I notice about half of my male guppies are staying near the surface of the tank not really venturing down much like the others are. Any reason why these guppies are swimming near the top?

iamntbatman

Was the aquarium cycled before adding the fish? If not, be aware that you're going to have to do significant, frequent water changes in order to keep ammonia and nitrite levels in check until the tank is fully cycled. If you don't already have one, I strongly advise you to get a good liquid test kit so that you can monitor your water parameters (pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are the most important). While the white clouds and danios are pretty hardy fish, fancy guppies are a little more sensitive so good water conditions are a must.

As for the male guppies: you've only just added them, so you might want to give them some time to get used to their new home. Also, guppies are an "all-over" fish and will visit all levels of your tank, but mine generally spend most of their time near the surface, so the behavior is not completely unusual.

kkaso783

Thank you much iamntbatman! The advice was very helpful.

willow

hello and welcome.
you got great advise there.

fishman09

well first you need to have atleast 2 femals for every male guppy, and they could just be staying up there for more heat from the light