Thinking of getting some guppies...

[Mollybreeder]

Hello,

I was just at my LFS today, buying some testing kits when i noticed in the fish section the beautiful guppies. They have some really nice colors and i was interested in getting a pair for my community tank. Does anyone have any suggestions on guppies and how they do in your own tank?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[iobre8ks]

Definataly don't get them from a place like wal-mart i bought two fo them from wal-mart and they both died within a couple of days. And once they were dead my newt ate them. YUMMY! I am going to get rid of the newt(take it back to my lfs).

 

[snowyangel]

Guppies are a wonderful fish, mild mannered, not a picky eater, and can with stand most environments. I would reccomend getting only guppies of the same sex due to their excessive breeding. What other fish would be in their tank though?

 

[Mollybreeder]

Lol, ok i wont buy from wal-mart. That sucks that they died but at least your newt got a lil snack

 

[Mollybreeder]

I have 4 mollies, 3 glo lite tetras, and 1 baby pleco in a 10 gallon tank. Also have a 1 gallon breeding tank for fry. I wouldnt mind breeding guppies either. How long do they live?

 

[iobre8ks]

I think about two years but i am not positive.

 

[snowyangel]

2-3 yrs, in the wild 3-5 yrs. I've only had one guppy live a little over 2 yrs untill he died of a virus. He still probably would've lived on more.
Guppies would do fine in your tank. If you want to breed them, I reccomend keeping 3 females to 1 male as males are very pushy characters when they want to breed, so 3 females spreads out the harassment. Oh and your baby pleco is most likely a pleco that will grow much larger(maybe over 12 inches). I would try to find out what species it is.

 

[Elisabeth83]

I'm not sure about only getting the same sex. I've been having problems with my tank of only males. They are very aggressive towards eachother. Two of my brightest colored males are chased harassed almost non-stop. Their tails have been nipped as well which then led to fin rot

I ended up adding 5 females to the tank but they arnt full grown yet so the males haven't taken much interest

It is not a very peaceful tank at the moment. I hate watching all the harassament. I just hope they take interest in the females soon.

They do breed a lot but if you leave the fry in the tank the majority of them will get eaten. I know it sounds sad but if you dont do that you'll be over-run with fry. Theres quite a few people on this forum who have had the same problems as I have with only keeping male guppies. If I were you I'd get 2-3 females to every male and I think you'll find there will be a lot less aggression in the tank.

I know a lot of people say..well the females are so boring color wise but I've seen very pretty females for sale at shops. Some even look like males with long tails and bright beautiful patterns

Just my opinion

 

[ferrikins]

Hello,

I was just at my LFS today, buying some testing kits when i noticed in the fish section the beautiful guppies. They have some really nice colors and i was interested in getting a pair for my community tank. Does anyone have any suggestions on guppies and how they do in your own tank?

Thanks,
Jeremy

Guppies are lovely fish, BUT they are weak, and will die at the slightest bad water. They can life for 2 years but very very rairly do so, the longest one of mine has lifed is 10 months, apart from that they normaly last anything from 2 days to 4 months.

All male tanks are fine, just buy the male that look the least agressive at the LFS. Buy the best health ones as well, I never buy a guppy that even look like it come from a tank with other sick fish.

I always say, if you want guppies don't get to attached to them as they, die very unexspetedly. My deaths have slowed down now, (touch wood).

 

[Mollybreeder]

Thanks for all the important info you guys! Oh and snowy angel i know they get big thats why im just raising a baby columbian spotted pleco but i have terrible news. Last night my baby pleco died! I have no idea what could have killed him?! My water chemistry is...

Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0
Ammonia-2.0
Ph-7.0

Do you think my ammonia was too high??? Im at a really big loss because i loved my little pleco...

 

[Kittycat]

One reason I never kept mollies and swords is that I hear there can be a lot of bullying with them, esp with males, so maybe that's why you had that problem. My guppy males don't bully one another, but I'm not sure your mollies won't bully them.

 

[Mollybreeder]

My pleco is not a swordtail and there wasnt any bullying, my pleco kept to himself... I just dont see what the problem could have been

 

[Phantom Thief]

It's either the ammonia that killed it, or the ammonia was produced after it died, as it's body began to rot. I'd do a large water change, around 50% ASAP.

P.T.

 

[Mollybreeder]

Ok, thanks for the advice and im doing the water cahnge right now

 

[desley]

I love guppies especially the males but I don't personally have any luck with them. I don't think I have enough experience yet though so if you know what you are doing then they are beautiful.

I do agree all males will definitely chase the most brightly coloured males around and end up killing them. That's what is happening to mine now but I am changing families soon (I think) so not replacing any existing guppies.

If you get them and can look after them properly you will have so much enjoyment as each fish looks so different (especially if you breed and don't know what they will grow up to be). It's like a lucky dip.