i used to have a community tank. i had 6 male guppies + two cuckoo for roughly 6 months. got water checked and it was very healthy, so healthy infact that my plants would grow extremely long, id have to snip them every week. recently, my guppies have died one by one. before death they would socialise happily, and wouldn’t show major signs of illness, so after a bit i decided it must’ve been old age as we got them when they were already grown and i know guppy life spans can be short.
now im down to one guppy. i miss the other 5, i identified them and named them and they were my babies, pumpkin and gooseberry were my favourite. anyway, the last guppy fishmael/bogomolova (cant decide which to stick with), has barely left the bottom of the tank. hes alive, i can see his fins/tail flickering, but he just will not move. he used to explore the plants and watch the catfish but now he wont do anything, not even eating. unsurprisingly, the catfish are fine, as they’re solitary and weren’t fond of company, exploring more than they did before.
is this a case of fish depression? is the lack of tankmates actually making him sad? i feel so bad.
Posted by Minute-Cover-2001
2 Comments
Get him a girlfriend
Schooling/shoaling fish do have negative mental effects when alone. They feel unsafe and anxious at minimum, because the larger community is their defense against predators.
My tetras get really shy and hover at the bottom of the tank among the plants if the school gets too small. My yoyos get aggressive when the shoal shrinks, which suggests that they need the mental stimulation of others of their own breed, and they lash out in anxiety when the stock is too low.
Not all fish need friends, but a lot do. I’d suggest finding some more guppies to restock.