Can I put a guppy in a 1 gallon?

[BrookeLea]

My 4-year-old godson's betta died a couple of days ago, and he's very upset about it. He kept asking "Why did our fish die?" And I didn't know what to tell him, because I wasn't sure. He had no physical signs of any disease. He was just dead. The poor kid thinks that he killed the betta by feeding him too much, because every time he would feed him, his mom would say "Not too much, you're going to kill him."

SO, I want to give him one of my guppy fry to make him feel better. They're about 2 and a half months old right now. Would it be ok to put one in a 1 gallon tank?

 

[OohFeeshy]

No. Guppies need to be in groups, so a 1g isn't big enough.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

No, a 1gal is way too small- 10gallons is the minimum for guppys as they need alot of swimming space and need to be groups- simply put, guppys aern't bettas. The only fish that can happily live in a 1gal is another betta.

 

[WILDER]

I agree with the above post 1gal is way to small for one guppys, they like to be in group as they are very lively fish.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I would sit down with the little lad and have a gentle talk with him. Explain to him that sometimes sad things happen without anybody being to blame. Point out that fish don't live as long as people and that maybe the betta was just old.
It is a pity that his mum used such strong language, 4-year-olds can be very sensitive and they do take things literally. It would have been better if she had measured out the amount to him, and then explained that we'd better not give the betta any more or it might make it poorly. At least that is what I do with my son of the same age. I want him to have the pleasure of (largely imaginary) responsibility, but I do think he is too little to be burdened by the guilt.
Maybe you could buy him another betta? (a guppy really couldn't be happy in that tank). But have a quiet word with the mother first.

 

[BrookeLea]

Thanks guys! I didn't realize that one guppy would be unhappy all by itself. I've got 5 of them in a 55 gallon with some other livebearers, neons and cories. I just thought I'd give him a guppy fry, seeing as I've got so many fry now and I'm about to have more from my very pregnant black molly and a very pregnant black platie. Maybe I'll just set up a 10 gallon for him with some of the guppy fry in it. I'll take care of the tank, myself, since I'm there almost every day anyway. Of course, I'll teach his mother how to care for the fish, as well. How many guppies can I put in a 10 gallon?

 

[WILDER]

That sounds fine getting a 10gal, good luck.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It mostly depends on gender ratios and wether you want a mixed gender group or all-male group(all female ones won't prevent you from having fry as the females can store sperm in them for up to 7 pregnancys so only need to be in contact with one male once in their life to produce fry) but all-male groups tend to have more issues and need to be stocked more gradually and carefully.
If you want a mixed gender group you will need 2-3females per male minimum to avoid over-harrassment from the male directed to one female and you need to add and extra female for every male you add i.e 2males 7females(but your tank doesn't have the space for this many anyways).
Also if you are only choosing guppys from your own stock it is not advised to have brother ans sister guppys together as this will lead to inbreeding and this can have many bad consequences throughout the offsprings lives, so if you are only choosing females from your group and want a male, buy a male guppy from your lfs that is in no way related to them etc.

For a 10gal tank you could have a max of 4females and 1male which would also be a good ratio of genders too but this would only be if the tank was cycled and had good filtration although with this stock it wouldn't leave much space for fry if any. Alternatively you could just have 5males.
Remember whatever you do, stock slowly and gradually so everyone has time to adjust to the tank and sort out pecking orders as guppys are very sociable fish and unresponsable stocking can lead to the group having issues- if you are going for a mixed gender group, i suggest you add 2females to start off with, then a male, and then another female and after a month or 2, add the last female.
I also suggest you do a fishless cycle for the tank as nitrites and ammonia can cause fry and birthing/pregnancy difficultys for the female guppys and since they are almost pregnant 24/7, a cycle using fish isn't advised.

 

[paulthegreat]

In a 10gal you could probably do fine with 5-7 Guppies and maybe a small algea eater for clean-up

 

[Germyzero]

A one gallon tank would probably make the fry sad and lonely.

 

[Dart]

although i would maybe stick with a betta, they generally last longer than guppies so you would have to deal with this. I've only lost like 2 bettas, and something like 8 guppies! ! (and that's onlyin one year)