Agressive Male Guppy

Question
I have a really pretty male guppy who has been chasing around my goldfish nonstop. I have some female guppies and male guppies and other small tropical fish, but he won't leave alone my goldfish. I have had to take him out of the tank and put him in the other tank I have with my barbs so that he won't attack my goldfish. What can I do to assure my goldfish's safety

Answer
Dear Cori,
Male guppies can often be very aggressive towards other males or other fish that look similar to their species, and even females. They can severely stress the fish that they chase as you know. And especially if your goldfish are the fancy-tailed variety, they are slow to react and cannot really escape being nipped or chased because of their shape. This is one of the bad things about male livebearers, they are often overly aggressive. And they often pester fish that resemble their own. For example, I have a male sailfin molly (livebearer) who occasionally chases and nips my Australian Rainbowfish who slightly resemble the silver mollies in color and size. Although it is a completely different species altogether. It is said that having many more females than males helps to keep the peace. But many times there are still overly aggressive males that are best removed to their own aquarium living with other community fish or with just males of their own species.

It's really not the best thing to keep tropical fish like guppies with Goldfish who are cool-water fish. This is because goldfish do best with their own kind in a spacious aquarium where they won't be pestered by other fish and so the Goldfish can grow to their full potential. A much better option for you to take is to keep the goldfish in an aquarium of their own and the tropical fish like the guppies in a tank of their own as well. This should work out much better for you.

I really hope this helps!
Best wishes and Happy holidays!
Karen~