Wild and Fancy Guppies
A Great Fish for Beginning Fish Keepers and Breeders
Guppies are prolific breeders and are able to live in a wide range of aquarium conditions.
Guppies got their name from Rev. J.L.Guppy of Trinidad who lived in the late 19th century and was an avid collector of these small fish. The Latin name for the wild Guppy is Poecilia Reticulate. They belong to the same genus as Mollies and Mosquito Fish. Another name for the Guppy is Millions Fish, because of how fast they breed.
The Wild Guppy
The original wild Guppy came from South America but now can be found in Central America, Northern South America and Trinidad. Females can grow to approximately three inches in size and males may reach two inches. In the wild, Guppies mainly feed on mosquitoes.
In many of the warmer climate countries, wild Guppies are released into ditches as a form of mosquito control. This practice has actually helped in keeping the mosquito population down in some places. From an environmental point of view, the wild Guppy is too small a creature to cause problems with other fish.
In an aquarium, the wild Guppy has a wide range of water conditions that it can live in. The pH can be as low as 6.5 and as high as 8.5. The water can be medium to hard and up to very hard. Temperatures can range from 60F to 85F.
The Fancy Guppy
Fancy Guppies result from selective breeding and they slightly resemble the wild Guppy from which they descended. Today, fancy Guppies are found all over the world. The largest numbers are found in Asia and China, where they are very carefully bred into beautiful strains of fancy Guppies in large tropical fish farms.The fish farms ship Guppies to pet stores all over the world.
Quite often you can find fancy Guppy fry in your local pet store labeled under feeder fish. Most likely these fish have been culled off as weaker fish. Another reason could be that these fish may have come from a breeder that has too many fish and needs to make room in a tank or chooses to keep more valuable strains.
In an aquarium, the best water temperature for fancy Guppies is between 72F and 76F. They can live outside of this range but the warmer the water, the shorter the life span.
A heater can be used but choose a good one especially if you are using it in a smaller tank where it could overheat the water. If you are using a small tank you should be able to place it in a warm room without a heater. Guppies can thrive in room temperature water and there are no worries about overheating your tank.
Feeding Guppies
Both wild and fancy Guppies are very easy to feed. They will eat anything from flake to small live foods. In fact, they can live off the algae produced from your tank but it’s still best to feed them food.
Breeding Guppies
In order to breed Guppies, a minimum of a 5 gallon tank is needed with lots of floating plants. It is best to have one male and as many females as you wish. Remember they are called the Millions fish for a very good reason. Batches of fry can number from 50 to120. Plus one impregnation will give up to 8 batches of fry.
The males are very active sexually. In fact they are so active that if there is a shortage of females, the weakest males will turn into females. Guppies are live bearers and it’s best to immediately move the fry to their own tank. The adult Guppies will eat the babies.
It is a joy to raise Guppies because they are active and playful. They are popular because they are passive and easy to breed. Guppies come in a variety of colors and are a wonderful complement to any aquarium.
