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Aquaria - Guppy Fish - Guppies - Guppy

Guppy (poecilia reticulata) AKA Millions Fish.

Guppies - Keeping and Breeding Guppy Fish

Guppies or Guppy fish are by far the most popular and easiest tropical fish species for beginners. You're probably already familiar with the common Guppy, a non predatory omnivorous, live bearing member of the Poeciliidae family. The robust light brownish fish may grow up to around 6cm and live for up to 4 years, and the male may have a fantail.

Guppy Ecosystem

The Guppy likes its water warm at 18-28 degrees Celsius (64 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit) and a pH 6.8 to 8.5. The Guppy occupies the midwaters of your aquarium.

Guppies originate from areas north of the River Amazon: Guyana, North Brazil and Venezuela. Species are also found in guppy ecosystem on the islands of Barbados and Trinidad. The species is variable and has an unusually large number of varieties, both on the mainland and on the islands.

In addition to these fish, there is also a wild Guppy ecosystemin Florida, USA in which the body is coppery or reddish-brown and the tail has a striking pattern of black dots. There is also the Leopard Guppy, which is a naturally thrown variant which also occurs in Florida, this has a striking pattern of peacock's eyes overlaying the greenish-yellow background colour.

There are several other colour varieties of the wild Guppy, like the golden fantail Guppy.

Guppy Breeding

Breeders have 'improved' the colour range and tail shape. Guppy breeding is as easy as falling off a log. Take one male Guppy and three or four female Guppies and before too long you will have pregnant female Guppies! If you have an aggressive male Guppy you will have to remove him to an exile tank. A pregnant female Guppy will give birth to up to 20 live pinkish to clear babies known as fry. The fry are about 2mm long and will generally only be seen when they move out of the gravel bed or away from plants. You will probably only see the dark area of the eye.