Guppy Care Sheet

Family: Poeciliidae

Sub Family: Poecilia

Genus: Poecilia Reticulata

Names: Guppy, Million Fish, Rainbow Fish

 

Origin: Guppies are a freshwater species of fish derived from Barbados, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, Tobago and Venezuela. Their natural habitat consists of streams and rivers and typically found in greater quantities around smaller bodies of water rather than large rivers and lakes.

 

They are the second most popular species of fish within the aquarium hobby, only bested by the Siamese Fighting Fish.
Largely due to the hundreds of different variations and colors produced through selective breeding over the years, giving hobbyists plenty to choose from.

 

They've also been used to combat diseases such as malaria, considering that their primary source of food is insect larvae. The hypothesis was that in great numbers they would drastically reduce the mosquito population. Outside of their natural habitat, some researchers have declared them an invasive species. While capable of breeding and multiplying in numbers quickly, they can overburden an ecosystems food source - causing other species of fish to die out.

 

 

pH, dH and Temperature Range

A pH between 6.8-7.8, moderately hard water between 8-12 dH and a temperature range of 70º Fahrenheit (21º Celsius) to 76º Fahrenheit (24.5º Celsius) are the optimal water conditions for a Guppy. Being a rather hardy and highly adaptable species, they can live and breed in both freshwater and saltwater with a pH range of 5-9 and 0-45 dH. Temperature below 15º Celsius and higher than 39º Celsius were observed to be their maximum thermal ranges.

 

These ranges should not be considered for captive bred guppies. However, slightly lower or higher ranges from their optimal water conditions are acceptable and easily tolerated if properly acclimated.

 

Guppy Fish Diet and Feeding

 

What do Guppies eat?
A guppy is an omnivorous species of fish which feeds largely on algae, plant matter, insects and larvae in the wild. Best sources of commercially available food that are high in animal protein consists of insect larvae, brine shrimp, daphnia and blood worms. To balance their diet, a high quality algae based flake food for omnivorous fish and blanched vegetables will be the staple of their diet.

 

Feeding should occur once a day, anything that can be eaten within a 3-5 minute period of time. As a general guideline of feeding throughout the week, they should receive a protein rich source of food and peas that have been boiled for 5-8 minutes, simmered and then peeled, 2-3 times a week. The remaining days of the week they can be fed a high quality algae based flake food.

 

Guppy Fish Size

 

A male guppy's size when mature is on average 1.5–3.5 cm (0.6–1.4") and females are 3–6 cm (1.2–2.4") in length. Female guppies have indeterminate growth and their size is roughly correlated with their age.

 

Tank Mates and Temperament

 

Guppies are a peaceful species of schooling and shoaling fish. Contrary to popular belief, guppies are not strictly a schooling species. Predation plays a significant role in whether a guppy will shoal or school together.

 

When guppies are in a more active or semi-aggressive community tank, you will notice that they will frequently school together for security. Shoaling will be more prominent in a more peaceful environment when they are more comfortable around their fellow tank mates.

 

Ideal tank mates for Guppies are peaceful species of fish such as Catfish, Corydoras, Livebearers, Loaches, Plecos, Tetras, Gobies, Hatchetfish, Danios, and Rasboras.

 

Aggressive species of fish and/or fin nippers should not be housed in the same aquarium as the guppy. Guppies are known to occasionally fight amongst each other and nip others of the same sex or slower moving fish such as the Siamese Fighting Fish.

 

Guppy Fish Lifespan

 

The average lifespan of a guppy is between 1-5 years in well maintained aquariums. Inbreeding is the main the cause for such a varying and unpredictable lifespan.

Inbred guppies are much more susceptible to parasites and diseases, while their immune systems were slower in purging infections when compared to fully outbred individuals. Inbreeding has been observed to affect fitness-related traits such as survival, reproduction and parasite susceptibility.

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Differences between Male and Female (see photo below)

 

How do you tell the difference between a male and female Guppy? There are several distinguishing characteristics between a male and a female. The easiest method to differentiate the two is that a male will be much more colorful and smaller in size when compared to their female counterparts. Mature males will also have a larger cauldal (tail) fin, dorsal fin and their pelvic fin will be longer and pointed.

 

Fun fact: Guppies was one of the first vertebrates in which sex-linked inheritance of color was demonstrated.

 

 

Breeding

 

Guppies are rather easy and self sufficient when in comes to breeding. Guppies are ovoviviparous, which retain their fertilized eggs throughout their pregnancy until the fish fry are ready to hatch and then released into the aquarium.

 

Females usually reach sexual maturity at the age of 2-3 months old and are capable of bearing upwards of 20-100 fish fry. Due to their frequent breeding, they can quickly swell in numbers and overpopulate a home aquarium.

 

As stated above, inbreeding can cause mutations and weaken their overall health. To prevent inbreeding, it would be recommended to separate the different generations if you have more than one tank at home. Or, you can always generously give away the parents or fish fry to friends or your local pet store. Removing fish fry too early has proven to be stressful on the parents, allowing them some time to grow will be beneficial for both the parents and fish fry.

 

Guppies will eat their own fish fry, which is a natural form of population control. Using a breeding container to protect the fish fry or by having a densely planted aquarium with plenty of hiding places will increase their survivability.

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References: Wikipedia | Fish Base | Research Gate

 

Laurence Mueller. (2020). In Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Ecology.

 

Lili Liu, Ki-Young Lee. (2014). Studies of In Vitro Embryo Culture of Guppy (Poecilia reticulata). doi: 10.12717/DR.2014.18.3.139

 

J G Godin, L A Dugatkin. (1996). Female mating preference for bold males in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.93.19.10262

 

Benoni H. Seghers. (1973). Schooling Behaviour in the Guppy (Poecilia Reticulata): An Evolutionary Response to Predation. https://doi.org/10.2307/2407174

 

Willow Smallbone, Cock Van Oosterhout, Jo Cable. (2016). The effects of inbreeding on disease susceptibility: Gyrodactylus turnbulli infection of guppies, Poecilia reticulata. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exppara.2016.04.018

 

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