Guppies

We cover a wide range of areas for all fish keepers. Discover amazing facts on your favourite fish, learn how to setup a new reef or tropical aquarium and a whole host of useful articles to keep your aquarium looking its best.

Guppies

We cover a wide range of areas for all fish keepers. Discover amazing facts on your favourite fish, learn how to setup a new reef or tropical aquarium and a whole host of useful articles to keep your aquarium looking its best.

Fish & Invertebrate Guide >> Tropical

The Fish Guide - Guppies
  • Scientific Name : Poecilia reticulate
  • Common Names : Guppy, Fancy Tail Guppy, Millions Fish
  • Care Level : Easy, good for freshwater beginners
  • Size : 2 inches (5 cm)
  • pH : 7 – 8
  • Temperature : 66°F - 84°F (19°C - 29°C)
  • Water Hardness : 10° to 20° dH,
  • Lifespan : 1-3 years
  • Origin / Habitat : Central America
  • Temperament / Behaviour: This is a peaceful and hardy fish that is good for beginners.

The guppy fish is one of the most popular freshwater tropical fish species. This is a great fish to start off your new aquarium. Guppies are a hardy fish which means it’s great for beginners. They are colourful, lively and fun to watch. One thing to decide prior to popping down to your local fish shop and getting your new guppies is; do you want to breed them?

Guppies breed very quickly and can have between 4 and 60 babies during each pregnancy. Pregnancy to birth in guppies is about 30 days. Guppies are livebearers which means females give birth to live babies fry.

If the babies are left in the community aquarium the guppy fry will be quickly eaten. The baby fry need to be secured in a breeder’s box or net. Getting the pregnant guppy in the breeder box prior to giving birth allows you to monitor her for when she gives birth. Even the guppy parent will eat the fry so after birth she needs to be separated from the fry.

 

If you are not interested in breeding them then a community tank of all male guppies or all female guppies is a better option. It’s worth keeping in mind that female guppies could be pregnant when you buy them. Look for the gravid spot by the anal vent or a bulging in the belly area. This will give you a good indication if they are pregnant or not.

Male guppies are more colourful than the females so keeping all male guppies if you are not breeding will give your tank a bright active look.

Female guppies can become pregnant again just hours after giving birth and have the ability to store the sperm from male guppies for up to a year. Female guppies can have up to eight pregnancies from one insemination.

It can be hard to tell if a female guppy is pregnant right at the start, the gravid spot will darken and enlarge as your guppy enlarges and becomes boxy. It may be orange or dark in the beginning but can change throughout the pregnancy between these two colours. You can tell your guppy is close to having babies when you can see little dots in the gravid spot. These are actually the babies’ eyes.

When your guppy is about to give birth she will tend to find a spot out of view that offers protection. She will look to be swimming but not actually moving. When she reaches this point it’s advisable to place her in the breeding tank or box and keep checking on her every 4-6 hours. Birth normally happens when the lights go out.

If you want to breed guppies you will need to keep a ratio of 1 female to 2 males. As they breed quickly it is best practice to be setup ready for the baby fry once you have decided this is the type of aquarium you want to keep.

Feeding any new babies can be done at the same time you feed your community fish. When feeding the babies you need to crush up the flake food to almost dust for the first few days. You will also have to keep the babies separated from your community tank until they are big enough so they won’t get eaten when transferring them to the main tank. This will depend on the other type of fish your community tank has.

Guppies

Guppies