Guppy Fish Care

Guppy Fish Care can be fairly easy, making it a great starter fish for a large tank.

The Guppy fish is a very small, colorful, and hardy. They can be quite curious and active for such a docile little fish. 

Pet Guppy Fish Facts

Guppies are one of the best choices for beginners, and especially for children. They usually start out as the lowest priced fish in any shop, and go up according to the variant you purchase.

Guppy fish care is almost effortless, but they can get diseases just like any other fish.Under the right conditions, Guppy Fish will breed as early as 3 months old, and live about 3 years.

Guppy Fish Care For Success

Tank Size

Guppies need a community of at least ten or more inhabitants, so a good size tank is needed.  Never put them in a tank less than 5-gallons, and preferably not under a 10-gallon tank. I suggest a 20-gallon tank with lots of  ‘safe’ friends.  However, if you opt to have only one fish, a 5-gallon fish tank will work. Never use a fish bowl with a Guppy, as they do not live long with a good tank.

Water Temperature & Quality 

Guppies can stand a range of a pH level between 7.0 and 8.5, and quite warm temperatures around 82-84°F ((23-24 °C). These two facts exemplify their hardiness.

Plants & Ornaments

Guppies like a highly vegetated tank. They love to hide in it, raise their baby guppies. It also imitates their natural environment. 

Guppies like large plants like the Echinodorus amazonicus, the Cabomba, and Vallisneria spiralis.

Your Guppy Fish Care For Health & Safety

A guppy has a very small stomach so can eat only so much at a feeding. I would recommend feeding them small amounts they can consume in 2-3 minutes, and three times a day.

Compatibility

Guppies a very social and need a community. Raising them in a community tank with other peaceful fish is good. However, as  Guppies are known to be fin nippers, other long tail fish could suffer injury or harm.

Just like the bully at school, if you stand your ground and fight back if necessary, they will leave you alone. If a Guppy picks on a Betta, Goldfish, any other that stands up for himself, the Guppy fish will leave them alone.

Good tank mates for Guppies include Angel Fish, Mollies, and Cichlids, 

Diseases 

Guppies can suffer injury and diseases just as any other fish. To avoid them have good water quality, keeping plants and tank clean is most important. Keep down the stress levels, which also goes for any fish. If your fish is stressed out, their immunity drops just like ours does.

Watch for injuries on your Guppy fish. If they are unhappy, attacking others, fin nipping, they may be getting injured in reciprocating attacks.

Guppy Fish Care - Sexing & Breeding

Is my Guppy a Male or Female?

Females are much rounder and larger than males. They almost look like different species, where the males are a dull grey with colorful yet wider fins.

Guppy Fish Breeding

Guppies are like rabbits, the breed often! They can out-breed a tank quickly! They are livebearers, meaning as long as a male and female are together in a tank, they will breed almost non-stop. 

If you see a male spreading his fins are curling around the female, they are displaying their courtship. Once the female is fertilised, she will go about 28 to 30 days to give birth. Her stomach grows quickly until she resembles a box, not a fish. She will go to the bottom to rest on plants and the substrate, and lose her appetite and stop eating.

Once she has given birth, the fry is left to fend for themselves and they are a floating delicacy even to their own species. They need lots of hiding places like floating plants. Try  Pistia strratiotes or Lemna minor. It is suggested having a separate tank for guppy fry until they are larger.

If you are going into Guppy breeding you could be quite successful with the right knowledge and aquarium setup. Here is the ratio breakdown for you. 

For ever two reproducing females, producing twenty newborns each month for five months, and there would be two hundred Guppies for sale. 

There are many other factors involved when breeding any fish species. Once you have learned as much as possible on the internet, we highly suggest a great Guppies Breeding book with lots of comparisons, places to keep your notes, your business expenses and more.

Pet Betta Fish
African Cichlids
Goldfish 
Guppies
Tetra 

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