Guppies are one of the most popular fish in the aquarium hobby.
They’re an excellent choice for beginners who want to start their own fish tank.
Guppies need little maintenance, are docile, easy to care for, and hardy, making them good introductory fish for beginner aquarists.
Let’s learn more about these beautiful fish in more detail.
Guppy Species Overview
Guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata) is also known as rainbow fish and millionfish. It’s a member of the Poeciliidae family.
Guppies originate from northeast South America. However, they’re most prevalent in Guyana and Brazil.
Due to their vast distribution, guppies have been introduced to many environments and are found worldwide, except Antarctica.
Guppies prefer freshwater habitats. However, they can survive in a brackish ecosystem.
Due to their small size, guppies avoid fast-moving or deep water bodies and are usually found in ponds, lakes, streams, and other small pools of water.
Guppies are also considered a cheap and reliable option to reduce the mosquito population due to their propensity to consume mosquito larvae.
Appearance
Guppies are popular for their stunning coloration and beautiful markings, including stripes, spots, bars, or even a combination of all three.
Depending on the species, guppies can be in red, blue, yellow, green, black, white, or orange color.
Also, male guppies are brighter than females and have longer dorsal and caudal fins.
Guppies have a fan-shaped fin that’s comparatively larger than the rest of their body.
Depending on the variety, some guppies have rounded, short tails, some have V-shaped tails, and others have an elongated tail that’s half the length of their body.
Besides, both male and female guppies have flowing fins.
Names of Species
There are over 300 recognized species of guppies. But only a few are widely seen in the aquarium trade.
Guppies are generally classified by their characteristics as they’re found in varied colors, patterns, tail shapes, and eye colors.
It isn’t easy to list all the species due to their huge count.
Nonetheless, we have listed the most popular guppy species below.
| By Color | White guppy, Blue guppy, Neon Blue guppy, Japanese Blue guppy, Black guppy, Red guppy, Purple guppy, Albino guppy, Yellow guppy, Golden guppy, Green guppy, Bronze guppy, Half-Black Red guppy, Half-Black Blue guppy, Half-Black Green guppy, Half-Black Pastel guppy, Bi-Colored guppy, Multi Colored guppy, Solid Colored guppy, Koi guppy, Metal guppy, Dragon guppy, Panda guppy |
| By Eye Color | Real Red Eye Albino guppy, Real Red Eye guppy |
| By Tail Shape | Triangle-Tail, Speartail, Halfmoon tail, Roundtail, Top Swordtail, Double Swordtail, Bottom Swordtail, Cofertail, Fantail, Lyretail, Pintail |
| By Pectoral Fins | Dumbo Ear guppy |
| By Body Pattern | Cobra guppies, Snakeskin guppies, Tuxedo guppies |
| Other Types | Fancy Guppies, Mutt Guppies, Endler Guppy, Swamp Guppies |
Lifespan
The life of guppies varies around 2 to 5 years. It also depends on whether they live in the wild or captivity.
Guppies have an average lifespan of around two years in the wild.
Many factors affect their lifespan in the wild, like predation and extreme weather conditions like floods, freezing weather, etc.
In contrast, guppies can even live up to 5 years in captivity, provided the conditions are favorable.
Balanced nutritious food, lack of stress, favorable water parameters, and good genetics can increase guppies’ lifespan.
Average Size
Guppies are tiny fish. The average size of guppies is about 2 inches long. Female guppies are larger than their male counterparts.
The average size of male guppies is 1.5 cm to 3.5 cm (0.6 in to 1.4 in) long, whereas females are 3 cm to 6 cm (1.2 in to 2.4 in) long.
Guppy Tank Setup
When you think of setting up an aquarium, the first thing that comes to mind is how big the tank should be and the equipment required for the same.
So let’s understand how to set up a guppy tank in detail.
Tank Size
The size of a guppy tank largely depends on the number of guppies you wish to keep.
A minimum of 10-gallon tank is recommended for a small group of guppies.
Although guppies are tiny, they’re active and need ample space to swim in the tank.
Hence, a larger tank is recommended as it ensures a comfortable amount of space for all the guppies.
Besides, a large tank can also easily accommodate the aquarium equipment and live plants.
It’s even more helpful if you plan to breed guppies.
Tank Equipment And Decorations
Guppies aren’t high-maintenance fish. Unlike other tropical fish, guppies aren’t picky about the decorative items in their tank.
However, while setting up a tank, it’s best to replicate their natural environment as it gives them a sense of security.
Also, installing certain equipment in the tank ensures that guppies live a healthy life.
Given below are items required in a guppy tank:
- Substrate,
- Filter,
- Heater,
- Live Plants like Java Moss, Java Fern, etc.
- Aquarium Lights,
- Decorations like driftwood, artificial rocks, caves, plastic decorations, etc.
You may also need other things depending on how you set up the aquarium.
Guppy Care
Guppies, although hardy fish, need adequate care for healthy development.
They require proper nutrition, clean water, and suitable water parameters.
Let’s see how you can take proper care of your guppies.
Diet
Guppies are non-fussy eaters. They eat both plant and animal matter that fits into their mouths in the wild.
Wild guppies feed on algae, plant remains, vegetable matter, tiny crustaceans, diatoms, aquatic insect larvae, and other sources.
You can feed guppies a balanced and nutritious diet consisting of high-quality flakes and pellets in captivity.
You can even feed bloodworms and brine shrimp that are high in protein and fat as an occasional treat to guppies.
Among homemade food, you can feed finely chopped veggies like mustard, greens, lettuce, peas, and zucchini.
You can also feed bite-sized fruits like bananas and grapes occasionally.
Hard-boiled egg yolk in small quantities is another good option for guppies.
Water Parameters
The best thing for any fish is to replicate their natural environment.
Guppies being tropical fish, prefer warm water with an overall neutral pH balance.
Water temperature, pH level, and water hardness are critical parameters for guppies.
The ideal water parameters to keep guppies healthy are:
| Water Temperature | 72°F to 82°F (22°C to 28°C) |
| Water pH | 6.8 to 7.8 |
| Water Hardness (dGH) | 8 to 12 |
Tank Maintenance
Maintaining the guppy tank is of utmost importance. This will ensure that your guppies stay healthy throughout their lifetime.
Depending upon how many guppies you have and how messy the tank has become, it needs to be cleaned.
You can clean the tank once every fortnight.
While cleaning, you need to replace about 25% of the water with fresh, dechlorinated water.
You should also clean the gravel regularly with a siphon hose so that there’s no accumulation of waste products, leftover food, and algae at the bottom of the tank.
The inner portion of the glass also needs to be cleaned regularly, along with the aquarium decorations placed inside the tank.
Common Diseases
Guppies are resilient tiny creatures that can withstand harsh conditions.
Having said that, they’re not immune to diseases.
Like other captive tropical fish, guppies are susceptible to fungal, bacterial, and parasitic infestations.
Moreover, the closed environment of a home aquarium spreads diseases quickly.
Some of the major guppy diseases are:
- Fin Rot,
- Ich,
- Swim Bladder Disease,
- Dropsy,
- Constipation,
- Protozoan, and
- Bent Spine Disease.
Guppy Behavior And Temperament
Guppies are docile fish. They’re very friendly toward other community fish and get along well with like-minded species.
However, guppies can become aggressive when certain conditions aren’t met.
They can become aggressive in case of overcrowding, food scarcity, unfavorable water parameters, stress, less or absence of female guppies for mating, and if kept in small groups.
Guppy Tankmates
The best guppy tankmates are their own kind. Guppies do well when kept in a group of at least six or more.
When kept in a small group or alone, guppies can feel vulnerable and spend most of their time hiding.
Guppies being peaceful can be housed with non-aggressive species. They also need to be kept with similar-sized fish.
Some of the popular compatible tankmates for guppies are:
- Platies,
- Mollies,
- Cory Catfish,
- Neon Tetras,
- Cardinal Tetras,
- Kuhli Loach,
- Honey Gouramis,
- Swordtails,
- Bristlenose Plecos,
- Otocinclus Catfish,
- Shrimp such as Amano shrimp, crystal red shrimp, red cherry shrimp, etc.,
- Nerite Snails, and
- African Dwarf Frog.
Although guppies are compatible with most fish, you should avoid some fish species.
You must not keep any sizeable predatory, aggressive, or fin-nipping fish with guppies.
Fish species that you can’t keep with guppies include:
- Angelfish,
- Endler’s Livebearers, and
- Cichlids.
Guppy Breeding
Guppies are known for their breeding capabilities.
They breed profusely when both genders are present in the tank, and the tank conditions are ideal.
Guppies are livebearers, meaning they give live birth to numerous fry.
The male guppies fertilize and transfer their sperm into the female guppies’ reproductive tract during the mating process.
The offspring then develops in the female guppies’ bodies until they hatch and fry are born.
The gestation period of guppies varies between 21 to 30 days, with the average being 22 to 26 days.
Since guppies can store sperms in their body for up to a year with a single mating encounter, they can reproduce every month without any male guppy in the vicinity.
Guppies also breed a lot as they mature and can begin reproducing at an early age of 3 months.
Female guppies deliver around 2 to 200 fry at a time. They take around 2 to 6 hours to deliver all the fry.
The fry are born one at a time and in quick succession with pauses between groups of fry.
However, if the pregnant female guppy is stressed, she may produce less fry, maybe only 3 to 5.
Also, under such circumstances, the survival chances of the fry are minimum.
Fry delivered under stressful conditions aren’t viable and can perish immediately after birth.
