New Fish

Well, I've decided not to put a new Betta in the BiOrb so yesterday, I bought some...guppies! I never thought I would but these ones were a beautiful blue colour and I couldn't resist. They're three males and look far more suited to the BiOrb then the Betta did but I have to say I know nothing about them. So what's "normal" behaviour for guppies then as I know that several of you have them.

Oh well done Mary - good decision I think Guppies are great little fish, they swim all over the tank, not just one level, eat anything you throw at them and are undemanding really.

Easy fish to look after. I hope they do well in their new home!

Thanks Diana. Although I just discovered that I have the "wrong" water. Apparently, they prefer hard, alkaline water and mine is soft and neutral. I wonder if I should look into "buffering" the water to increase the hardness? Off do some research, I think.

One thing I've noticed is that their behaviour is quite similar to Bettas - sometime, they hover in situ at the top of the water and other times, they "rest" on the bottom. Is that to be expected?

Mary I don't think you'll have too much trouble with your water (mine is really soft) and they seem to be doing ok so far and I got them from my Dad who has the same water type and he has been keeping them for over 10 years with no problems except ending up with too many .

Mine also like to rest on the bottom which worried me a bit but my Dad assured me it was just something guppies like to do especially males (lazy sods lol).

Oh thanks for all that, Gypsy. Very reassuring. Two of the guppies spend most of their time at the top of the tank while the third hangs out at the bottom which isn't a good sign IME so I was a bit concerned about him.

Anyway, here are some photos of them.

Lovely pics!! Love the colour. Will you be getting a lady

Matty wrote:

Will you be getting a lady

Not a hope! :lol:

Very nice love the colour. Your right they do look at home in the biorb.

Thanks Kelly. Although one has gone missing already...didn't think it was possible in a 15L tank!

Btw, I'm loving the new sig. I bet you got a great kick out of typing all the marine stuff.

Mary wrote:

Matty wrote:

Will you be getting a lady

Not a hope! :lol:

You could start a business

I used to have a blue male guppy Mary - they look great. I think Guppys sort of mooch all over the tank. They sometimes just float about just under the surface, or mooch about picking things up from the gravel.

I wouldnt worry about it too much I am sure it will be fine

Mind you - they are in the orb arent they?!!!

What lovely little fish Mary, beautiful tails. I have just started a list of fish that I like and they have gone on it

Well lost two of the guppies yesterday to a stupid, preventable accident. I'm so annoyed with myself. The fake rock arch has a hole in the bottom which I didn't pay much mind to until I noticed that two of the guppies were missing.

You guessed it - they swam inside and, although there was enough room for them to turn around and swim out again, they must've gotten disorientated as I found them both dead inside. So down to just one.

Oh Mary!! Actually, that makes me wonder about the betta problems you have had - could the water in the rock have gone sour and poisoned the tank??

It really is such bad luck

That BiOrb is jinxed...

On another note, I've been reading that lot of guppies on the market today are actually being reared in brackish water conditions in Thailand, Singapore etc. but once they arrive in this part of the world, they are being transferred to freshwater tanks which obviously doesn't suit them and might go some way to explaining their relatively short lifespans.

As I only have the one fish left and nothing to lose really, I added a half teaspoon of dissolved salt to the BiOrb this morning and I have to say, the guppy is definitely more active since. I'll just have to keep an eye out for more blue ones though as he looks a bit lonely on his own.

Oh Mary what a shame they were really lovely guppies.

Thanks Gypsy. Well I still have the one and I'll be adding more as soon as I find them again. It's the first time I've come across that particular colouration so I'll just have to be patient.

Sorry to be thick but can someone tell me what brackish water is? I take it it means salty, but I thought that was marine, ort is this somewhere in between?

It's in between - estuarine conditions to give it the proper description i.e. the area where a freshwater river flows into the saltwater sea, resulting in a mix of the two water bodies.

jeez Mary, you and that Orb!! ive seen some lovely red male guppies recently - theyd look good for you Mary if you could get any of them in your neck of the woods.

I've seen plenty of different colours and patterns but tbh the blue ones are the only ones I like. I just have to be awkward.

Mary! Take that BiOrb, and everything in it and throw it in the nearest skip!

It is the TANK FROM HELL!!!

Aww...but it's so PRETTY!!

I'm happy to report that the one remaining guppy is zipping around the tank like a mad thing so either it's very happy to have the whole tank to itself or else it's frantically looking for its shoalmates. Either way, it's healthy and that's the main thing...famous last words, I'll bet.

Mary wrote:

Well lost two of the guppies yesterday to a stupid, preventable accident. I'm so annoyed with myself. The fake rock arch has a hole in the bottom which I didn't pay much mind to until I noticed that two of the guppies were missing.

You guessed it - they swam inside and, although there was enough room for them to turn around and swim out again, they must've gotten disorientated as I found them both dead inside. So down to just one.

Aw Mary That tank sounds like the hell tank

Well this last incident was not the tank's "fault" - just my own stupidity...