Ten gallons. Planning for guppies

[Auratus]

Petsmart and my lfs only sell guppies in pairs. So, how many pairs would be good for a ten gallon, excluding fry that WILL happen.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Are you sure they sell in pairs? I'm sure they don't sell platies in pairs and they had individual prices for the guppies.

Anyways, the guppies should be in group of 1 male to 2 females to keep male aggression down. 3 females might be better, but you'd have far more fry.

 

[MAM]

petsmarts here sell them as pairs, but that doesn't mean male and female, they jsut give you two for a price. you need a ratio of at least two females to every male to ensure less stress and easier breeding (though with guppies, breeding is extremely easy). you could probably fit a couple of trios.

 

[Auratus]

Well, I do want some color, not just a bunch of grey females. How about 3 males and four females? I don't want like 700 fry at a time so I wanted less females and more males, or the same amount of males as females, but if they will fight I'll go with more females.

 

[Aqua_Princess64]

The female:male ratio for gups is supposed to be 2:1 so the females would be constantly chased by a group of males. Since your fish stores only sell gups in pairs (I'm guessing male/female pairs because that's how mine sell them) I'd get 2 pairs to start out with. That's just the way I'd do it though.

 

[guppymonkey]

If you get pairs of guppies (one male/one female) try to get lots of plants so that the females have places to hide from the males. That way they won't be completely stress out all the time.

 

[Brattina88]

They sell them in one-male one-female pairs here, too. Plants are a good idea for your tank because of the male to female ratio. I was told by the workers at Pets Mart that if you get the pairs from the same tank in the store that they won't chase the females and stress out as bad as if you were to get fish that they never seen before and put them into your tank.

I hope that made sense lol
Good Luck with w/e you choose to do !

 

[snowrat2004]

i would get 2 males and 4 females. not all females are dull in color, just look around for ones that have color, they wont have as much color as the males and they dont have the long tails but they would be better to get if you want color and guppies. my lfs sells them in pairs, but if you ask for two females or two males or one of each they will give it to you, and they (like i think all stores should do) let you pick out the fish you want.

 

[Brattina88]

not all females are dull in color

This is definatly true. I have beautiful, bright red tailed females, there my fav females

my lfs sells them in pairs, but if you ask for two females or two males or one of each they will give it to you, and they (like i think all stores should do) let you pick out the fish you want.

My lps will NOT let you get two males as a pair because then they wouldn't sell the females because they are less attractive. If you ask for two females they should do it because they have a hard time selling the females sometimes anyhow... at least thats how it is here. Get in there and point out the exact fish you want if they don't give you a choice. I doubt anyone would say no

 

[dirty332]

Ok heres a rule i go by, an inch per gallon, so you could go by that and there will be fry so thats also something but get plants for the females and fry and dont take the fry out unles you have a tank and pet store to take them, (just a suggestion because you will have tons,