housing guppies

[fishwatcher]

I have pair of guppies and am wondering if I can put them in a 1/5 gal bowl together. I'd like to move my betta to the 10-gal tank, but have been told not to with guppies around. Just wondering if they would do ok in the bowl the betta is in, or if they need more space, a filter, etc.
Thanks!

 

[dwarfgourami]

To put it briefly:

yes, a 1/5 gallon tank (do you really mean one fifth?!? 1 litre?) is WAY to small for a guppie, let alone two.

yes, they need a filter (also a light, and a heater unless you are in the tropics)

Guppies are lively active creatures that like exploring their tanks. IMO 10 gallons is a minimum, though I know some people keep them in 5 gallon tanks. I suppose they might survive for a period in a really tiny tank, but they certainly won't enjoy it and you will miss out on the best part of the guppy-keeping experience: seeing them enjoy their surroundings. Also, guppies are more sensitive than they used to be and will have problems with swinging water stats.

In short, guppies are not bettas.

Buy them another 10 gallon (or why not a bigger tank, so you can have more community fish.....) and let your betta enjoy his new palatial mansion. Or get a 5 gallon for the betta.

 

[fishwatcher]

sorry...typo! I meant 1 1/2 gallon... not sure why I typed it that way! I guess the Betta will stay where he is then. I really don't have the budget and definitely not the space for another big aquarium, though I'd love it!

 

[Pysgodyn]

Although...if one guppy is male and the other is female, you could probably do with increasing the ratio with bias towards the females - one female will almost certainly get harassed by the randy male

 

[fishwatcher]

I have a 10-gal, and have 1 pr of guppies, 1 neon tetra. Would like to get 4 more neons, 1 more femals guppy and maybe a couple of platys. Also a few cory cats. Would that be too much in my tank? It's also planted pretty good with live plants, if that makes any difference.

 

[fishwatcher]

What size is your tank?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

10gal tank realy is the minimum, a 5gal is too small for mixed genders as the females won't have anywhere to go if they get harrassed and guppys in general are lively active fish that need lots of swimming room.

 

[alabaster]

Fishwatcher, I think this is what you should add:
2 female guppies
7 neon tetra
2 Zebra Danios

or, if you could put the neon someplace else (in another tank):

2 female guppies
4 zebra danios
4 cory catfish

That will give you:
1M 3F guppies
7 zebra danios
4 cory catfish

This is obviously overstocked but as long as you are over-filtering, swimming space shouldn't be a problem (although zebras like more room), and your tank should do fine.
Only add anything if the tank is cycled and has had a chance to age for at least 2-3 months since you first set it up.

Good luck!

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I thought danios weren't supposed to go in anything smaller than a twenty? They need more space than a guppy, that's for sure.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I wouldn't put danios with guppys as they can be a bit too much for them, danios are very hyperactive fish and unless you have a 20gal tank or larger, the danios won't give the guppys any peace, particualy if the guppys are fancy ones as they can't swim very fast so if they get harrassed they usually can't get away.
For a 10gal tank stocking(taking into consideration that it will be stocked gradually and has good filtration) i would go with;

3guppys(1male, 2female or same gender group)
6neon tetras
3 small corys i.e pandas- albino ones for example will grow too big.

The neons and pandas won't be hardier enough for cycling the tank, i suggest you only add the pandas once the tank water stats are totally stable/good and constant, the neons i'd only add after the tank has been mature for at least 4months- alternatively you could go for cardinal tetras which look similar to neons but are much hardier and could withstand a recently mature tank .

Panda corys need shelter i.e a cave as they are mainly noctornal and need somwhere during the day to rest- they also need there diet substituted with catfish pelets or algae wafers or somthing similar- this also goes for all other types of corys.

 

[fishwatcher]

If I rehomes the guppies and the neon, and kept the danios (3), what could i put in with them?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Platys will be ok with them i suppose as long as they are not sailfins/high fins or any other type of fancy platy.

 

[betta_breeder]

Bettas and guppies do great together! I have no trouble with mine!

 

[Annastasia]

You just have to be careful with Bettas and Guppies. It really depends on the Betta. I have a few Bettas that will live just fine with Guppies. I also have a few, that chased the Guppies around the tank and nipped at them. So now, those Bettas have no Guppy friends.

But yeah, it depends on the Betta.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It also depends on the guppys coloring and tail too- male bettas aern't always the brightest of fish and a male long tailed fancy guppy with vibrant metallic colors, a male betta can often mistake for another male and kill it, they can find guppys very intimidating.
If the guppys colors and tail aern't very fancy or bright/metallic, guppys can be fine with bettas but of course it also depends on how anti-male the betta is too.