About The Guppy

  The guppy is in the livebearer fish family. This means they give birth to live fish. These fish can grow up to 2 1/2 - 3 inches ( Males ) and 3 - 4 inches ( Females ) . The male is smaller and has a big tail fin and is more colorful then females. The females are bigger with no color , but there fins may get color depending on breed. The female gets a black spot on there belly which makes it easier to sex fry when young.

  The guppy was first found in Trinidad. There name came from the last name of the person they where discovered from. In the wild the guppy is much smaller and have no color. The water they originate from stays from 65 - 78 degrees. Tempatures may get cooler and warmer but the guppies have no problem adapting. In the wild they survive by hiding in aquatic plants ( such as water sprite ) and usualy feed on small insects and smaller fish like there young.

  In the aquarium trade you can find them at many pet stores. These guppies have no pure blood line and are nothing like the guppies the serious breeders have today. The breeders fish get much bigger and  everything is nicer on them unlike pet store guppies ( color , fins , posture ). Guppies are best kept in small tanks. In tall tanks the guppies are getting crushed by the pressure that can cause hunchbacks or even death. The best size tank for guppies are 20 gallons and under.  Plants is very good for guppies. It provides shelter for the guppies and the babies. There should be NO gravel in the aquarium. The bacteria will eat the tails off your guppies when they sleep at night. If you have plants in the gravel along with tankmates such as corydoras and plecos your guppies will have slighter chances of this event happining. If you get a nice stock of guppies your best to keep them in a bare bottom tank and try to keep the bottom clean by siphoning any uneaten food and waste off the bottom 2 - 3 times a week.

  Food is the key to guppies. A wide variety should be given for numerous reasons. One good reason is with a good variety of food and a prper diet your guppies will get better size and color. And for females it will give them good size so they can develop more eggs inside her and give higher birth rates when breeding. I would like to provide 3 types of dry foods and 3 types of live foods. The best live food to feed your guppy when young is baby brine shrimp. It is the most important food to feed them due to the high protien brings size and great color. Make sure if your running a bare bottom tank to not feed to much or you can easily polute the tank.

  Water quality is very important for your guppies. Livebearers such as guppies like a p.h of 7.4 - 7.6. To help your water stay at that range avoid adding driftwood to the tank and add a teaspoon for every 10 gallons once a week. The salt also helps the guppies breathe better. Your tempature should be around 74 - 76 degrees. They can go a little warmer and cooler. I had my guppies live in 68 degree water with no problem. It more ideal to have up in the 74 - 76 degree range at most times.

  Filteration gives people many thoughts. Some breeders don't have it and some do. I would always have filteration in my tank. It keeps the water at a steady condition and gives the fish oxygen. Guppies do best with box filters and sponge filters as filteration. They are both ran off air pumps and is much cheaper to run. The sponge filter is good to hold the tanks bacteria. The box filter is good to take in particles. It's good to have both in a 5 gallon - 10 gallon aquarium. In 2.5's i use only one. In larger aquariums you should have a filter for every 5 gallons of water after 10 gallons. In a 15 gallon I would do 2 sponge filters and a box filter. In a 20 gallon I would do 2 of each. Remember NEVER clean or change all of your filters at once. It will cause your tank to cycle again and you may lose all of your fish. Also never do a water change while cleaning your filters also or you can almost do the same thing. You should probaly clean your sponge filters everey month and your box once it stops bubbleing. Just remember due to the bare bottom tanks and the smaller size you must be careful or you can lose your fish.

  When breeding the male will hit up the female by chasing her around the tank for a while. After the female has been hit up it will take 25 - 35 days before the babies fully develop inside the guppy and are ready to drop. To tell when your guppy is going to give birth the female will increase in size and her black spot will turn a pinkish red color. This means the babies are going to be born within 7 days. When she gets to this point you may want to add some floating plants (live or fake) to the tank. This will provide shelter for the young so the mother can't eat them. After you see babies and the female is small again you can do two options. One option is to remove the parents. The second option is to remove the young. If you remove the young you want to move them to something like a 2.5 gallon tank. If you plan to move your fry , when the female is noticable to be pregnent add a 3rd filter to the tank. I would use a sponge filter. And by the time the female drops her babies you can steal 2.5 gallons from your tank and the 3rd filter and the babies will be fine in a 2.5 with no predators. Your adult tank will just think you did a water change. Thats how it should be done.

  While your babies are growing they should be feed 6 times a day. They should get lots of brine shrimp during there first month. Then they should get a mix of live foods and dry foods after. You should be doing regular during this time with air line tubing so you don't shock them when changing water or siphon any out. If you get any disformed fry you want to discard of them.As time goes on you will be able to sex them. You should know how to sex after reading the first paragraph. You should move as many females as you can to another tank once you can sex them. This is so your ugliest male can't hit up all of your good females. Once your fish get 4 months you might want to do the following.On your males you want to find the nicest color and good fins. Then you might want to move them to another tank. Then 2 - 3 days later you want to find the biggest females with nice fins and dullest colors and add them to the nice males you sellected. The males are comfortable in there new tank and the females will be scared when added. This will allow your males to quickly hit up your females. Then you will have your nice guppies you breed making more!

I hope this info helps you. This hobby will always keep you busy and time and effort will give you nice fish. You can never know what you will get. I hope you enjoy this hobby as much as i do,

By Sean Porter