The Guppy (Poecilia reticulata) is also known as million fish or a rainbow fish. It is one of the world’s most widely distributed tropical fish. It is also quite a high demanded freshwater fish species that people like to put in their aquarium.
They are a member of the family Poeciliidae. Guppies were actually native to north east of the South America. But since then, they have travelled to various new environments with the help of the people and are now available all around the world.
Male guppies have ornamental and colorful caudal and dorsal fins. They are smaller than the female guppies. The wild guppies usually feed on various food sources, like algae and insect larvae that are aquatic.
These fish species are also used in the academic field i.e. it is used as a model organism in the fields of ecology, evolution, and behavioral studies. Guppies are very adaptable and survive in many different and harsh environmental conditions.
Information of Guppies
Here we have discussed about some of the Information related to Guppies. So let’s have a look on them.
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History of Guppy or Million Fish
Guppies are produced in massive amounts per year in the world. They are very well developed and capable of existing independently with no proper parental time from the day they are born.
Their brood size is not constant. There are some differences among populations depending on many factors. Female guppies produce small-sized offspring in a high amount. They usually produce offspring when their age hits around 10–20 weeks.
Female guppies continue to reproduce until the age of 20–34 months. However, as for the male guppies, they mature in 7 weeks or sometimes less, which is very low compared to female guppies. Their lifespan in the wild is usually around 2 years and can be extended a little in captivity.
Guppies suffer high extrinsic mortality rate due to high predation risky environments. Female guppies have an increase in mortality from 6 months of age.
While, the guppies from low predation environments start their increased mortality from just 16 months of age. Although, it was seen that the guppies from high predation environments have surprisingly much longer life spans because their reproductive life spans are longer.
In addition to the senescence pattern, we discussed just earlier, the availability of resources also matters in guppy populations. Guppies reduce in number when there is a scarcity of food. But when food is abundant, their brood size increases too.
How To Care For Guppy Fishes
Guppies are very colorful, lively, and are highly adaptable to any type of environmental condition. They are also very much easier to keep and take care of in compared to the other species. If you want to keep them as a pet, then let us look at some points on how to take care of guppies.
i) Aquarium Size Suitable for Guppies
Guppies are extremely small fishes and hence they don’t require lots of space in an aquarium to live. You should just provide them an adequate space to thrive happily.
There’s a general rule of 1:1 ratio rule where one gallon of water is perfect to support one inch of a fish. Experts suggest that your guppies should be kept as multiples of three.
For example –
- 4 gallons of water for 3 guppies.
- 6 gallons of water for 6 guppies.
- 9 gallons of water for 9 guppies and so on.
ii) The Best Male to Female Ratio
You can keep guppies however you like in your tank. If you don’t like to have your guppies multiply a lot by breeding, you can just keep male guppies. And they’re also more popular because the male guppies are more colorful than the females.
However, if you want to keep both the sexes of guppies in your tank, then you should definitely follow the 1:2 male to female ratio. The female guppies should be kept in more numbers than the males because male guppies tend to harass the female guppies if they’re found alone.
For example –
- 1 male and 2 or more females
- 2 males and 4 or more females
- 3 males and 6 or more females and so on.
iii) Water Temperature
Guppies can survive in any kind of harsh environment. But you can follow through with some advice to make your guppies feel comfortable. You can mimic their natural habitat into your tank.
The tank can be made to resemble their native places like the Amazon River or lakes and rivers across South America. The ideal water temperature for guppies should be around 10⁰- 29⁰ Celsius.
iv) Water Parameters and Changing Water
In an aquarium, water hardness and pH levels are very important. Guppies prefer normal pH levels i.e around 7. The ideal pH level for guppies is 6.8 to 7.8 as it is the level found in their natural habitat.
As for the hardness of water, guppies prefer dGH 8-12. Actually, both this constituents have a correlation. Higher the pH level, the higher the water hardness. We should always keep the water in the fish tank very clean.
It could be done by changing the water every week. Some people also recommend that changing 10% of your water every day is also a great idea to keep the water fresh and clean.
v) Feeding Guppies
The most important thing when keeping a fish is to feed it well. The best way to feed your guppies is by feeding them guppy flakes. This food can easily be bought in pet stores. Keep in mind that their diet should be very diverse.
You can supply them pellet fish food too. The best choice is to select those special small pellets specifically designed for smaller fish such as guppies.
Guppies can also be given live or frozen food. It cloud include shrimp, algae, mosquito larvae etc. They can also be given vegetables such as lettuce, peas, and cucumbers. Make sure, you feed them one or two times a day in small amounts.
Do not make them over eat. This mistake of over feeding can pose health risks for your small fishes. It can block their intestines which will be very much life threatening. If the poop keeps trailing along the fish, then it’s a sign of over feeding. Keep an eye on it as it can also pollute the fish tank.
vi) Wonderful addition to your aquarium
Guppies are truly an amazing addition to an aquarium. They bring lots of color and liveliness to your fish tank. They bring happiness into your life and they’re very low maintenance compared to the other fishes. Hence, it’s a win-win situation.
5 Fun & Interesting Facts About Guppy Fish
Guppy fish is one of the most popular fish among the ones who like to keep aquariums in their home. They’re quite easy to maintain, and also a very pretty fish. We should definitely know more about these amazingly small fishes.
We will provide you five of the most interesting facts about this tiny and beautiful fish.
i) Colors & Fin Shapes
Guppies come in various colors and various fin shapes. Due to their colors, they are known as rainbow fish. One interesting fact about them is that only the male guppies are colorful, while the female guppies are pale and dull in color.
Although, these days they come in vibrant colors regardless of the sex, thanks to selective breeding. Male guppies have colorful pectoral, dorsal and caudal fins. Their whole body is colorful and has different patterns.
Female guppies also have colored dorsal and caudal fins but their body is still dull in color. Hence, male guppies are more preffered.
ii) Highly Adaptable
As we have discussed earlier, the guppy fish is highly adaptable to whatever environmental conditions it lives in. They can survive in much different type of water conditions. Guppies are quite a low maintenance fish.
iii) Omnivore
We have seen that the Guppies are omnivore and eat variety of food. They feed on bloodworms, larvae, insects, algae etc. They also feed on vegetables and aquatic plants. Guppies eat almost anything that is present in the water and anything that can fit into their mouth.
While keeping them in your aquarium tanks, you can feed the fish, algae tablets, shrimps and small worms. You can also provide them egg yolk and beef heart cut into small pieces for easy feeding.
iv) The Name “Guppy”
You must be wondering why this tiny fish is named such. Actually, their scientific name is “Poecilia reticulata”. It was first coined by Wilhelm Peters in 1859 in Venezuela. Also, in 1861, De Filippi named Guppy as “Lebistes poecilioides” as its scientific name in Barbados.
The common name, Guppy, was actually named after Robert John Lechmere Guppy in 1866. He was a British zoologist and naturalist who discovered this tiny fish in Trinidad while describing Guppy under the scientific name “Poecilia reticulata”. This is how the name, Guppy, originated.
v) High Reproduction
Guppies breed fast. The female guppies reach their sexual maturity around 3 months and become ready to lay offspring. After mating, it takes around 30 days to let the young be mature.
Then, they drop 20-60 fry. This process keeps on repeating all year round for every 30 days. You can imagine how high their reproduction rate is. In few rare cases, guppies can actually give birth to 100-120 fry.
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Conclusion
Guppies are quite a high demand among those who keep aquariums as their hobbies. They are beautiful, colorful fishes that have high breeding rates and surprisingly very low maintenance. This is why they’re the most interesting captive fish out there.
In this article, we provided you enough information about them like how to take care of the fish and few interesting facts about them too. We hope our article did justice to your curiosity and that you learnt something new about this amazing fish called Guppy.
