Guppy Fact Sheet The Guppy , Poecilia reticulata is an attractive and normally peaceful fish. It was named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy who discovered this fish in Trinidad. He believed that this was a previously undiscovered fish. After being scientifically described, the fish was called Girardinus guppii . The common name of Guppy was given the fish.

The Guppy males tend to have a smaller body and bigger fins than the female. The fin underneath the fish in about the centre of the fish's body (the anal fin) is long in the male and is used in fertilisation. The male is capable of pointing it forwards so it can make contact with the female and transfer the sperm. In the female, this fin is triangular in shape. The males tend to be much more colourful than the females. Modern female guppies often have good colours, but the wild ones did not. Modern Guppy males tend to have purer colours, while the wild ones tend to have more varied ones. Often the wild males have more colours on each fish.

It was later found that the fish had been previously discovered by Wilhelm C. H. Peters, described and named. The fish is now usually called Poecilia reticulata. The most common of the common names is 'Guppy'. There are several other common names including 'Rainbow Fish' and 'Millions Fish'. The name Rainbow Fish is appropriate to its many and varied colours, but is misleading because of the several other fish with the same name. I prefer the name "Guppy'. However, I would note the name 'Guppy' is sometimes used for other fish. Fish I have seen called 'Guppies' include goldfish, Neon Tetras, Zebra Danios and Gambusia. This is simply misleading and can be confusing.

Origin

Guppies are native to several Caribbean islands and north western South America including Barbados, Guyana, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands, Venezuela and Brazil.

Companions

The Guppy is a popular aquarium fish. It can be kept with other small peaceful fish, including Platies, Swordtails and Mollies. It is in the same family as these fish and is in the same genus as Mollies. Other fish suitable as companions are White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Neon Tetras, Cardinal Tetras, Siamese Fighting Fish, Peppered Catfish and other Corydoras catfish, Cherry Barbs, and other small peaceful fish.

Note that many of the fish just named are schooling fish. I would recommend that these be kept in groups of at least four, and preferably more. The Guppy is not a very strongly schooling species and can be kept singly or in small groups, although I certainly prefer larger numbers. It is both the way they usually occur naturally, and they look good. A tank of the highly coloured Guppies is a beautiful sight. Males and female guppies can be kept together although if they are I suggest that at least one female be kept for each male. If you keep several males with one female, all the males want to mate with the female and do not give her much peace.

Fish I would not recommend as companions for guppies include Black Widow Tetras, Serpae Tetras, Buenos Aires Tetras, Paraguay Tetras, Red Eye Tetras, Tiger Barbs, Rosy Barbs, Paradise Fish, Galaxias, and any other fish that can be fin nippers. Larger fish are also generally not suitable companions for Guppies.

Feeding

The Guppy is easy to feed. They are omnivores like most fish,and benefit from some vegetable food including algae. Guppies will eat most fish food. I suggest a good flake food as a basis for the diet, if possible supplemented with other food to give variety. Good flakes include the Wardley Total Tropical or Total Colour. As well as Wardley there are many other reputable manufacturers of fish food who make excellent foods. Other foods can include live food like Daphnia. Mosquito larvae (Wrigglers) are an excellent food. In the wild, Guppies will eat a lot of these. Their upturned mouth is well adapted to eating wrigglers. Blood Worms are related to wrigglers and are also a good food. Frozen Blood Worms are also good, as are several other frozen foods. Live or frozen Brine Shrimp are good. I also find that Guppies will benefit from dry fry food as achange.

Do not over feed your fish. I suggest feeding once a day, but not too much. For most types of food the fish should have finished it in a couple of minutes. Guppies are good eaters and generally will get the food quickly. Larger food including Algae Wafers is also good. Because these are hard, the Guppy will take longer to eat them.

Water

Guppies generally thrive in fairly hard, slightly alkaline, water. They can tolerate very large amounts of salt in the water. In some countries they are bred in water which is a mixture of half fresh water and half sea water. The Guppies thrive in this water, but these fish can cause problems when people put them into normal fresh water aquariums. As well as having to be acclimatised to the fresh water, the Guppies have not been exposed to columnaris disease. These fish can die very quickly in a normal aquarium unless strong treatment is done quickly. To get immunity the fish have to be exposed to the disease, and the disease cured.

Rain water is not good water for guppies although many people have used it successfully. If this is the water you have, I suggest using a rainwater conditioner (A mixture of salts). If you are using tap water (as I do), make sure you get rid of the Chlorine or Chloramine.

For a tank of mixed small tropicals, I suggest a pH of 7 and a moderate amount of salt and hardness. In most places normal tap water, with the Chlorine or Chloramine removed and the pH adjusted to 7 is suitable for Guppies, and to a mixed community. If in doubt about your tap water, I suggest visiting your local aquarium store. They should know about the local water.

Temperature

The Guppy is a tropical fish. However, different strains of Guppy have different tolerances to low temperatures. I have even heard of strains that are claimed to be able to tolerate temperature down to 4Ì? C (39Ì? F). I have never encountered any of these. Once I heard of a creek to the north of Adelaide that was supposed to have a naturalised strain of Guppies. I searched for the creek. I was able to identify the creek from the description I was given. There were no Guppies in it. (Actually, there was not even any water.) Although I tried to find where the Guppies would have gone, I was unable to find any Guppies. I suspect that this was a case of mistaken identity of the fish.

As a general thing I would not suggest a temperature of lower than 18 degrees C (65 degrees F). Guppies will certainly tolerate up to at least 32 degrees C (90 degrees F), and probably higher. Although I sometimes give the maximum and minimum temperatures types of fish can tolerate, it needs to be remembered that subjecting fish to their limits is not good and you are stressing the fish very badly. Stress will leave the fish very vulnerable todisease.

I generally set the thermostat at 24 degrees C (75 degrees F) although some people prefer a few degrees higher, especially for breeding.

Hardiness

The modern Guppies have been selective bred for colour and fin length, as well as other external characteristics. In the process they have lost much of the original hardiness of the Guppy. The life span of the Guppy now is often no more than a year.

Pest Fish

The Guppy has been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. In some places it is causing considerable damage to the native fish of the areas it has been introduced to. You should not release aquarium or pond fish into the wild, and you should ensure that they cannot get introduced accidentally.

It is worthy of note that many of the most destructive introduced fish and other animals have been introduced deliberately, often by government agencies.

Steve Challis has many other fish fact sheets and other articles on a wide range of subjects at http://www.bettatrading.com.au. This includes a fact sheet about a related fish, the Endlers Guppy at http://www.bettatrading.com.au/Endlers-Guppy-Fact-Sheet.php.

Author: Steve Challis
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

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Frage von : How do i care for mickey mouse platy fry?
My Mickey Mouse Platy had babies. There are around 15 in a 2 1/2 gallon tank. There is also a heater.
I put plants in the tank. and i feed them powdered food. How offten should i clean the tank?

Beste Antwort:

Answer by d4nt3
Ok, so keep them in that tank by themselves. not even the parents. I advise to use a weak filter or a sponge filter so they do not get sucked up, it may not seem like it but they can get messy. After about 4-8 weeks depending on how fast they grow and how big the parents are you can release them into the main tank. But make sure that they are not small enough to get eaten, and if they are big but small enough to get picked on put some plants into the tank but they should be fine. Ohh and one more thing put adult flake food into a sandwich bag, crush it up with you fingers threw the bag. then you should have very tiny-powdery like fish food. twice a day dip a looth pick or a q-tip withouth the fuzzy stuff on it, in water, then while it is wet put the tip in the crushed food so it get stuck to the tip lastly put the tip with the powder into the water again so the food comes off and the baby fish will eat that, wait about 2-3 after birth to start feeding and do NOT over feed because tankf will be hard to clean without a filter. and if you see and stray babaies in the main tank squeeze the top of a turkey bast and hold it down then put it in the water aiming at the baby and suck it up, the squirt it in to the baby tank (make sure after you suck it up you keep a finger on the nozzle so the baby doesnt fall out!) good luck!

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Frage von Amy M : Can I only have 1 platy fish in my tank? Wll it be sad without other platy fish?
I have 2 platy fish. 1 is in the breeding tank. the other 1 is in the big fish tank with mollies,zebras and neon tetra.
my 1 platy is pregnant in baby nursery to have her babies. the other 1 is in the big tank.

Beste Antwort:

Answer by Mokey41
I don’t think fish care about companions that much. I’d be more worried about the one you have in a breeding tank. It can be very stressful for them to be stuck in one of those small spaces alone.

**

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Frage von jrose : How do I tell if my Molly is Pregnant?
I’m new at this and not quite sure exactly what type of Molly it is! But her belly has grown over the past few days and she is orange but her belly is white. Is she pregnant?
Yes it is a fish and I believe I have two females and one male!

Beste Antwort:

Answer by jacob_200356
Goodness. You take her to the veterinarian. Coloration has noting to do with pregnancy. Let her have the puppies or kittens, then get her spayed that way you won’t have this problem anymore. Good luck and remember to spay her!

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Frage von Amy M : what r the signs that my pregnant platy is goig to have her babies?
I have a pregnant platy. I want to know signs that is she going to drop them soon.

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Answer by Me and my fish
When she looks like shes about to explode. She will remove herself from the group and sit by herself. She will occasionally shake (contractions). She will also eat a ton or not at all. Congrats!

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Frage von ツ & ♥ : Can I keep a baby molly fish in a 1-gallon filtered tank?
I just want to keep the baby in their until grows big enough so the parents can’t eat it. Would it be OK? I have a 1 gallon tank with a betta in it, and a 1 gallon empty bowl. I was going to move the betta to the bowl and put the baby molly in the tank. Is this ok?

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Answer by Matt C
The molly will live but make sure you put a sponge over the filter. The betta will not like the new bowl as much so that mght cause issues. Personally i’d put the baby molly in the 1 gal bowl. This way you don’t need to worry about the filter sucking it up and the betta won’t be stressed from the move. Just make sure to clean the bowl often and it should be fine.

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Frage von : What is the difference between molly and regular ecstasy pills?
which is stronger, lasts longer, makes things feel better, and is just better in general? ive already done e several times but nvr molly. and i have a legit hookup on it. plz dont waste your time telling me not to do it….thanks

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Answer by Bryan
I’ve heard ‘from friends’ that the best thing is MDMA pure, my friend. The other stuff, no matter how legit the hookup is, tends to be cut with some awful chemicals. And I mean stuff you find in your bathroom/kitchen cupboards.

I know, because I have a ‘friend’ who knows people who know people who have been involved in the selling of some products.

**Disclaimer: This is NOT my advice. I am NOT telling you which drug to do (for obvious reasons, it’s your own choice).**

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Frage von Kris : What can go with a swordtail in a 5 gallon?
I received a 5-gallon tank with 1 female swordtail in it but I would like to add more if possible. Do you have any ideas?

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Answer by Koolor
Add another sword tail those are nice also you can add some glo fish but I would only recomend adding 1 more fish

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Frage von ? : How many times can a molly fish give birth?
I want to know how many times can a molly fish have babies. There is one in the tank thats black and its about a week old. The female fish looks pregnant again. Also i want to know if all mollies the same or are there certain breeds and there names. Mine are black and white.

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Answer by dgm
The same “breed”. They give birth until they die.

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Frage von S. : How can I stop my Molly fish from breeding?
I recently bought two Dalmatian Molly fish from a local pet store to be my dorm room pets. One is male the other is female. Now I know that Molly fish are prolific breeders and that keeping the two sexes in the same tank isn’t really a great idea, my huge mistake. What I want to know is what natural conditions, besides separating them, will prevent or at least put a damper on their breeding?

Note: They do not have a heater and are only in a 1.7 gallon tank. I am not a fish person so all info on Molly fish is welcome.

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Answer by desertcactus
Mollies will keep breeding. I have all females that keep having babies and I was told from petsmart is that they store the semen up to a year and they keep having babies. Mine have had babies twice and about were about six weeks apart. Right now I have some in the baby tank. Good luck to you and by the way you do need a heater, winter is coming, they need to be around 78 degrees, and a larger tank.

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Frage von lil bosnian : What can i put in my tank with my platies,swordtail,and guppies?
I have a ten gallon and i have 3 mickey mouse platies, one male swordtail, and 5 male guppies(diifrenet sorts all)
i just want 1 more i heard 1 fish for each gallon.

Beste Antwort:

Answer by xxxmvpxxx
thats all you can put in there. not only is it reached it Maximum for a 10 gallon, guppies,swordtails and platies can only be put together because they all require a little amount of salt.

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