Guppy home setup

Guppy fish is one of the most popular fish to be kept as a pet in your aquarium at your homes, offices and living places both for beginners and seasoned aquarists equally. It is highly appreciated to welcome your new pet it is the best way to make him feel comfortable at the new place with you. So before bringing your new pet, you must have everything prepared for him. As Guppy Fish comes in a variety of colors, they have every imaginable color thus they can add beautiful colors to your aquarium. Guppy fish are comparatively peaceful and relatively cheap. It is very easy to maintain a Guppy fish aquarium.

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How to Select a Guppy Fish Tank?

The right selection of the tank for your pet fish can ensure their healthy and long life. As guppies are smaller in size and are excessively active, even small sized tanks are good for them. You should keep in mind the high fertility rate of guppies while choosing a tank for it. As Guppy fish like to form schools so it is not recommended to place them alone or in a small fishbowl separately.

The suitable measurement for selecting the right size of a tank is:

  • The 1 Gallon of water per inch of fish or about 2 liters per cm.
  • Guppies grow up to 2 inches so provide 10 Gallons about 40 liters for 5 guppies.

This is not set in stone but keeping more fish than 5 in 10 gallons tank will only increase the effort in maintaining the tank but won’t hurt them. Variety of Guppy fish tank can be found easily, few of them are as follows:

How to Setup a Healthy Guppy Fish Tank?

Fish are very sensitive to their environment; little changes can cause major disasters. So it is highly recommended to set up a healthy guppy fish before buying your pet fish. As in wild Guppy fish lives in the warmer climate it is very important to setting and properly maintaining a warmer temperature of your guppy fish tank. Every fish requires a suitable and consistent environment.

In your Guppy Fish tank, you must keep the suitable proportion among the male and female guppy fish. If you u keep more female than male then there will be enough love to go around as males have a tendency to harass females. Having two females to one male is a good proportion.

If you don’t want to raise guppy’s population then it is recommended to keep only male guppy fish or the same-sex guppy fish in the aquarium.

 

Guppies give birth to the fry (baby fish). Baby fish are extremely fragile as often they are eaten by their parents.

You must keep in mind the following things before setting up an aquarium for a Guppy fish:

  • Rinse the fish tank from inside before adding fish to it. Cleaning products are prohibited to be used in the fish tank as the residual chemicals can contaminate the water of the fish tank.
  • Keep the appropriate amount of fish in the water to ensure the better health of your pet fish.
  • You must place guppy fish tank on some strong and sturdy cabinet.
  • Select some visible location for your aquarium and try to avoid placing it with there is more traffic as there will not be the risk of being bumped into or knocked over.

Following Steps are to be followed for setting up an aquarium for Guppy fish

  • Choose the right sized tank
  • Use an External power filter
  • Add gravel to the bottom
  • Add decoration and fill the tank halfway
  • Place an air pump in the tank
  • Add the tank heater
  • Use an automatic light with timer

What are the Required Accessories for Guppy Fish Tank?

Making selection of the right aquarium accessories and equipment is one of the most interesting aspects of having the fish tank. There are limitless opportunities and choices are available in the market which helps to get your best-desired products easily and really fast. A lot of information available on the internet can also provide you the helping hand in making the selection of the right things. While searching for the accessories you must keep in mind that the products must be compatible with the species being kept or the size of the tank. There is a list of some of the essentially required aquarium accessories :

  • Aquarium Water Filter:

Fresh and regularly renewed water is favored by Guppy fishes. It is desirable to use the internal water

Filter. In the case of using an external water filter, it is advisable to close its apertures with additional fine mesh as a powerful filter can suck the adult fish.

  • Aquarium Air pump:

Aquarium Air Pump can be used to operate decoration that requires air to move such as power in-take corner filters, under gravel filters and to power air stones. It depends on the requirement that whether it is necessary or optional to use this accessory. If a canister filter or external power filter is used then an aquarium air pump is optional but if a filter is used that needs an aquarium air pump to work then it is necessary.

  • Aquaneat Large Air Pump Sponge Filter Bio Filter for Aquarium Fish Tank Up to 20 Gallons.
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  • Aquarium Gravel:

Dark colored small grained gravel is a good selection for the bottom substrate as guppy fish are smaller in size and are colorful so, darker shaded gravel at the bottom of the tank will emphasis on the fish beauty and bright colored patterns of the fish. Natural look in the tank can be given by using Smooth snags

  • Glumes Stone Glow in The Dark Gravel, Fish Tank Aquarium Gravel Sand, Decorative Gravel Rocks, Aquarium Gravel for Fairy Decoration Blue Green 10G.
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  • Aquarium Tank Heater:

Guppy fish belongs to the warmer climate so when it comes in the tank it is very necessary to maintain a suitable temperature.  The allowable range is 23-28 Celsius. The fish survive in the range from 14-33 degrees centigrade.

Guppy fishes grow larger and live for 3-3.5 years at low temperatures but they can easily get ill. At a temperature lower than 18 degrees centigrade the egg development may stop at all and the reproductive function of fish is at rest. The Gestation period of female Guppy fish gets longer and longer juveniles are born.

The Lifespan of Guppy fish decreases up to a year or less with an increase in the temperature and they don’t grow large. The Gestation period of the female guppy fish shortens with smaller sized juveniles.

Always place heater at one end and thermometer at the other end of the tank to know that water is heated throughout the tank.

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 Light with Timer

Guppy fish require moderate tank illumination only. It is preferred to use a light with a timer for guppy fish as they rest in the dark. Set the timer to switch off the light after 12 hours day.

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  • Aquarium Fish Net:

It is one of the most essential aquarium accessories. It can be purchased in many sizes such as small, medium and large sizes. Many fish keepers use a fish net size proportionate to the size of the species being kept.

  • 11″ Long Minnow Net with 4-1/2″ x 3″ Basket Pkg. (2)
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How to decorate Guppy Fish Tank?

The decoration of the Guppy fish tank depends on your intention of keeping them. Whether you want to keep them for breeding purpose or you want to keep them as a pet.

Pet Guppy Fish Tank:

When you are intended to keep guppy fish as a pet then you may decorate the tank by using:

  • Plants:

Plants help in adding beauty to your tank as well as they provide the place to little guppy fish to hide. Live plants such as java moss, water sprite, and ferns are dense and fast growing plants and they can provide larger space to guppies to hide. Ideal plants to keep with guppy fish include:

Hornwort and Amazon Sword Plants.

Artificial plants can also be used for this purpose but sharp plants can cause injury, so they should be avoided.

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  • Rocks:

Rocks are also one of the beautiful additions to your fish tank. They also provide a place to hide from the larger fishes or when they are afraid.

BEAUTIFUL Aquarium Floating Plant Real Rocks Decor – Gbell Aquarium Decor Water Plant Fish Tank Aquatic.

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  • Substrate:

The choice of substrate is totally personal preference as Guppies spend the majority of their time in the top or middle section of the tank.

  • PVC tubes

Breeding Guppy Fish Tank:

For the breeding purpose guppy fish tank, you must keep the bottom of tank bare so that uneaten food can be brought out easily. Use floating plants as there is no substrate for holding the roots of plants; these will provide space to your guppy fish and fry to hide in case they are stressed or afraid.

Acrylic Fish Breeding Box Aquarium Breeder Box High Clear Double Guppies Hatching Incubator Aquarium Pets.

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Guppy Fish Tank Mates:

The guppy fish tank mates are mostly more guppies.

If someone wants to keep them for beauty then it is recommended to keep male guppy fish only and for that 2 gallons of water is required for 1 guppy fish so you can keep 10 guppies in 20 gallons of water.

If someone wants to keep both male and female then it is recommended to keep them in a ratio of 2:1 i.e. for 2 female there will be a male.

Guppies are peaceful fish so they can be kept with other peaceful community fish such as Platies, Gourami, peaceful tetras, Corydoras and Mollies. Ender’s livebearer and Swordtails can also make ideal tank mates for guppies.

Keeping guppies with the other large aggressive fishes should be avoided especially if they are likely to eat them up. Like Red tailed sharks, Barbs and aggressive Tetras.

If someone wants to keep them with non-fish mates then they can keep them with Ghost Shrimp or African Dwarf Frogs.

How does an Ideal Guppy Fish Tank Look Like?

It is very important to replicate the conditions which the fish have in the wild into your tank to give them the most possible natural environment. The followings conditions must be fulfilled by an ideal tank for guppy fish:

  • The tank must be set up correctly at some firm and strong stand with the minimum traffic.
  • The ideal tank has properly cycled water which ensures the appropriate bacteria useful for an aquarium, which convert harmful compounds into less harmful ones.
  • The Ideal tank has the right size which is that 5 guppies can be placed in 10 gallons of water.
  • The Ideal tank has a heater to maintain a temperature within a suitable range that is 75-82 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • The Ideal tank has a pH range between 7.0-7.2, where guppies can tolerate a wide range of waters and of pH’s which is from 5.5-8.5.
  • The Ideal tank has a filter to keep the tank clean. The Inner filter can work well in a regular tank but for a large tank, you might need to use an external filter.
  • The Ideal tank for guppies has compatible tank mates. They can be kept with peaceful communities like Platies, Corydoras, and peaceful tetras. Livebearers and swordtail can make ideal tank mates.
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What Does Fish Eat?

It is very important to know the exact dietary requirements of your fish so that you may have a healthy pet. Fish need proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates. Depending on the variation in the environment from which fish originate from and their species, they have different eating habits which can classified fishes as Carnivore, herbivore or omnivore.

Carnivores require a protein-rich diet, which consist of plenty of meat either live or dead form.

Herbivores rely only on the plants’ matter; it is more difficult to digest plants than meat. Herbivorous fish’s diet includes plants, vegetables, fruits, and algae.

Omnivores eat both meat and plant matter. It is possibly easiest to take care of omnivorous fish as they eat the combination of all foods. Particularly they need Vitamin C, Vitamin B2 and B6, Vitamin B1. Within minerals, they require calcium, phosphorous and manganese.

What does Guppy Fish eat?

The food eaten by fish depends on the food they have in their natural environment. Guppies are omnivores. Being omnivore means that they can eat both plant and animals. So guppies can eat anything which you feed them.

You can give them mosquito larvae, fish flakes, live or frozen foods and vegetables.

While selecting flakes for guppies you must select a product high in protein and not filler flakes. Check that high-quality food have proteins listed first, for example, meaty products, shrimps and other fish products to ensure the presence of a high quantity of proteins.

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  • Tropical Flakes Natural Bulk Aquarium Fish Food Guppies Angelfish 
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Don’t give guppies flakes which have filler such as wheat and soy.

You can also feed your fish either live or frozen food such as shrimp and bloodworms. You can also feed them vegetables such as peas, lettuce, and cucumber.

Give your fish a combination of all foods i.e. flakes, live/frozen food, and vegetables, as the absence of some food can cause the deficiency of nutrients. You can feed guppies flakes in the morning and an alternative in the evening.

The quantity of Food:

Guppy fish should be feed once or twice a day and only amount of food which they can eat within two minutes.

Try to avoid overfeeding your guppies as this can lead to problems with their health and affect the quality of water in the tank. You must remove the uneaten food from the tank so that they must not rot there to make water dirty and unclean.

Feeding Fry (Baby Guppy Fish):

Fry or baby guppy fish need to be feed smaller amount of food and more frequently. They can be given the same food as an adult but properly crushed into smaller pieces or you can buy specific food for baby guppies.

You must feed them four to five times a day.

  • Aquatics and Pet Supplies Golden Pearls Fry & Coral Fish Food ‘Size 3’ 100-200 Micron 2oz for FRYS Corals Small Fish
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