Guppys

Anyone out there got guppys? I was in the lfs the other day and they had some lovely males gupps - beautiful colours and they looked great in a shooal.

I was really tempted to get some but know they have a reputation for being weak at the mo and I dont want to buy them just to have them die on me after a few weeks.

HAve any of you got some and how have you found them? Worth getting?

sorry mate don't have any myself at the moment - had them when i first started
but lost them after a few weeks so not tried again



dekker

I had some when I got my first tank but they didnt last long if you get males you have to get at least 3 females to every male as they fight .

I had them back in the 80s
ended up with hundreds of the little bug^^ers
Never again

I keep just Blue Neon male guppies. I started off with six of which two survived longterm. Then I bought an additional four but only one survived quarantine. So about a 30% survival rate so yes, they are a weak species but the three I have are thriving and I've had the first two for more than a year at this stage so it really is a case of survival of the fittest...

Thats quite a high loss rate really isnt it. Shame really because some of them are lovely looking. They had some at my lfs that were a lovely red and yellow colour - quite beautiful really and I was quite tempted to get them but their reputation put me off.

Might put them on hold then for now. I just feel like buying some fish!

its a pity that their survival rate is not as good as their colours - because thats
what attracts them to you i think - well F.F more trips round lfs mate great stuff



dekker

Ive got a tank of gupsters

OK - as said - they are a bit hit n miss - so my suggestion is this - keep only males (if you like the colours) females are much buigger and actually tougher generally BUT dont get as pretty as males.

On the flip side - if you mix sexes - the males really colour up (or if you can divide the tank - but they breed like flies on a corpse in mid summer) and no one will pay for guppy fry.

I found the trick with guppys is to get more than you want (expect losses) and assume they carry ich and treat them as such on arrival - they dont seem to like being moved. Also by your stock from different sources - especially if you do want to breed em (opens up the gene pool etc) - but DONT buy them places like P@H or Garden centers iof you can avoid it as they tend to buy the 'bulk' bred specimens who will always be weaker.

I have also found my guppys benefit from proper (and overpriced) guppy specific food - they have quite small mouths for a start so at the very least, feed em micro pellets or small flake. Mine also love small live foods (i feed em live baby brine shrimp once per week, i now grow my own shrimp) and also they seem to benefit from 'veggie' flakes but im sure a ground up algae wafer will surfice (or some chopped lettuce etc)

At the end of the day, you dont know if you dont try, and at around £1.50 a pop - its not a huge loss if they dont make it. id say get half a dozen and see what happens for you - I now have a group of about 20 - i started with 6 males (3 died) and 12 females (2 died) and i rehomed the more prolific breeders and kept the specimens i liked.

I now have in my colour collection a stunning neon green male which has orange/albino cobra tail markings starting to show.

Guppys are something that need some effort and persistance I think - but they have great little characters and are always out and about and mine are hand tame (kids love hand feeding fish - especially big kids like me)

I know there are dedicated guppy sites around sp they will offer you more advice etc than I suppose I can in all honesty but as mine went into a well established tank (or at least filter) and had no other fish to bother them - I think this helped.

I have very soft water and from what ive heard - this seems to be a factor in a reasonable survival rate.

Thanks for that Rich. I dont know if I have hard or soft water - never tested it but dont get any scale in my kettle etc so guess its soft.

I'll have a look round and see what other shops have. I usually buy from the same shop as I have never had any problems with their fish - dont know what the others are like.

Rich wrote:

I have very soft water and from what ive heard - this seems to be a factor in a reasonable survival rate.

So do I but I read the opposite! That they prefer hard water...

I also read that most captive bred guppies are raised in brackish water conditions so I add some dissolved salt at every water change.

Never added salt to mollys or gupsters - its an urban myth they NEED it - lets put it this way - they wouldnt breed if they were unhappy with conditions

It could well be a simple luck of the draw as to whether folk get deaths or not - so what id suggest is if your desperate for them - advertise in your local paper - along the lines of 'wanted - guppys for good home - must be home bred' etc etc

Thanks guys

if you do get some F.F let us know how you get on with them



dekker

or if your nr my part of the world - you can have some freebee's

Thanks for the offer Rich. I'll have a think about what I am going to do and let you know