# What's the deal with guppies?



## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

I got into this hobby mostly through the plant end of things and I am just beginning to explore the fishies more. Anyway I've been looking for something more colorful and I keep being struck by the guppies I see. I am particularly awestruck by some of the pictures I see - like of the Half Black Yellow guppies. Anyway I don't hear much about them here on the plant boards and I was just wondering what people's experience is with these fish in planted tanks. Do people sometimes just keep the males only so they don't have to deal with so many offspring? Any thoughts or comments appreciated.

Thanks, Bill


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

I have some planted tanks without fish, but those with fish will have my favorite fish---guppies. They are easy to keep. Just throw in flake food, and you get more guppies. They also keep a clean tank in that they eat surface floating algae, and most soft types of algae. If you have moderate light and not a lot of plants and more than a few guppies, you are going to get green water, but less light, more plants, or a UV sterilizer will take care of that. A lot of aquarium plants grow quite well without additional CO2 in guppy tanks. 

The Guppy

Whales have calves
Cats have kittens
Bears have cubs
Bats have bittens
Swans have cignets
Seals have puppies
But guppies just have little guppies.
(Ogden Nash)


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

Guppies breed... that's their most important feature... they breed and breed, and then breed some more. This is kind of cool, the first time, but you have to make sure you're prepared for it, make sure you have a big tank... yes yes, they're little fish, but even if you only buy a few they will soon fill up every available inch of water with little guppies. 

So, if I were to keep guppies again I would do it in at least 40 or 50 gallons, and make sure I had really good filtration, because although guppies might not mind packing themselves in their numbers do effect water quality. I've found it also helps to have somewhere for extra guppies to go... say in the bellies of bigger fish, or hungry turtles, which is where my guppies all eventually ended up.

They are pretty little fish though, and their breeding can be cool in that you can see genetics at work, especially if you are selectively culling them before they can reproduce. They don't really school though, so if you're looking for schooling action you might want to try tetras or rasboras. Guppies just kind of all flutter around willy nilly.


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## trckrunrmike (Jan 31, 2005)

The very colorful guppies are quite expensive. Ocean aquarium some type of Japanese blue guppies that Justinw was selling for $40 a pair. But the good thing is that his fish are always strong and healthy and are pregnant most of the time.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

HeyPK said:


> ...
> Bats have bittens
> Swans have cignets
> ...


Now those two I did not know!


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## Mellonman (Nov 2, 2005)

stcyrwm said:


> Do people sometimes just keep the males only so they don't have to deal with so many offspring?


I've been keeping a group of male guppies for more than a year without particular problems...
(except they ask for beer on monday nights  )


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

HeyPK said:


> The Guppy
> 
> Whales have calves
> Cats have kittens
> ...


can i add... humans have brats?


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

In March I picked up 7 beautiful half black guppies for free at a Pet** that were in their plant (I use that word loosely) tank for free because they didn't know what they were. I'm not kidding. Now I have a 50 gal tank full of these. They have bred true (all half black) and I love them. With guppies you never have to worry about quarantining new fish because you will never have buy them again!


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## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

My opinion on guppies: Meh. 

They're colorful fish, easy to keep, easy to breed. Just an over all easy to keep fish very common fish. That's probably why I don't like them. I'm more of fan of the rarer or harder to keep fish. I also like fish with personalities. I've kept more than my fair share of guppies and I've never seen any real personality in guppies.

I actually have some in my 125 right now. If you could sum up the social behavior and interaction of guppies with other guppies and other fish in a conversation it would be something like this:
Male guppy: HEY! A LADY! LETS HAVE SEX!
Female guppy: Hi, I'd rather not.
Male guppy: COME ON, LETS DO IT! RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!
Female guppy: I'm already pregnant for christs sake, go away.
Male guppy: OoOoOOhhh look another fish... Can I have sex with it? I might as well try... Oh wait a minute, there's another lady guppy... maybe she wants to hook up.

Repeat this conversation all day long and you get the gist of guppy behavior. It annoys the living crap out of me


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## JerseyScape (Nov 18, 2005)

Guppies are just like me.....they are horny all the time.


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## Erirku (Oct 5, 2004)

Guppies are cool, ever since I was a kid. I think they are the king of fishes, because I don't get bored with'em! Right now I have neon blue endlers, and they are cool!!! Right now, they are flaring with each other, I don't know what they deal is with that. Maybe a territorial thing? I thought I put a female endler and see what the offspring be! But she's being molested by my killie! LOL . I threw her in today, and the male killie was following her and flaring to her, and even trying to make her go to the gravel, so he could court her. Even funnier. But too bad, the killie won't be there. I wish they had a longer lifespan. Sorry to get off the subject. Just thought I'd share something funny.


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

Gumby said:


> I actually have some in my 125 right now. If you could sum up the social behavior and interaction of guppies with other guppies and other fish in a conversation it would be something like this:
> Male guppy: HEY! A LADY! LETS HAVE SEX!
> Female guppy: Hi, I'd rather not.
> Male guppy: COME ON, LETS DO IT! RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!
> ...


My thoughts Exactly! After a while I just got tired of watching Saturday night at the DKE house over and over again in my tank.


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

I hardly ever look at my guppies. When I do, they seem to have dropped all thoughts of sex and are pushing their noses against the front glass, saying, "FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!" That is probably because I didn't get around to feeding them the last several days. Most of the time I am looking at the plants in their tank, which are doing very well.


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## Jerm (Nov 11, 2005)

Guppies eat everything, including plants, snails, snail eggs, dead family members, children, poo, and algae. Also, male guppies will flash a rock and enjoy it. I started out with 4 guppies. They have all since died, and i now, with peridoically relasing fry into my community tank SO THEY DIE (they never all die  )i have about 8 mature ones, 40 juvenilles, and hmmm... well, i can't count the fry, they hide. Now, on to cooking guppies, i hear they are good with a little lemon or garlic...


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Lots of people will keep guppies to provide their larger fish with an occasional midnight 'snack'. Ethical? Who knows. Big fish gotta eat too, I guess. Personally, I've never found guppies to be that interesting. That said, they beat the goofy looking goldfish that fetch ridiculous prices around Asia.


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

The 'pingu' strain I particularly enjoy. Beware of inbreeding depression, I've seen many people's guppies suffering from this, and a local LFS has endlers that definitely could use some 'new blood'


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

When I had a 125 gallon tank I put some guppies in it with Platys. The Platys all bred like guppies, but the guppies eventually all died out after about the 2nd generation. I really love guppies, but didn't dare put them in my 29 gallon tank - 100 babies in there would have been a disaster. Platys are another fish I really like, but....same problem. So, I just bought some Cardinal Tetras today.


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