Things to Know About Guppies Before Buying One

 

Things to know before you decide to buy guppies :

Choosing Gender 

Female guppies, like any other poeciliidae fish, are able to give birth multiple times within 6 months without the presence of any male. This means that when you buy a female guppy, there is a very high chance she will keep giving birth for months. If you don't wish for babies to be born in your tank, avoid buying females. It is very easy to tell the difference between males and females by the following pictures :

As you can see, the males feature their distinctive gonopodium. Males tend to be more colorful and in certain strains of guppies, it is very easy to see the difference between males and females. Males are also smaller in size.

If you wish to put both males and females together, the females must outnumber the males. This is because male guppies like to chase the females around and this can stress out the females. To reduce the time for each female to get chased by the males, the females must outnumber the males by at least 2-3 times. 

*This also applies to other poeciliidae fish like endler, platy, molly, and swordtail.

Water Condition

Guppies are tropical fish so you need to keep the temperature around 72-78°F or 22-28°C. Unless you live in the tropics, you need a heater to keep them alive. When it comes to Ph, they are able to tolerate neutral to alkalyne water ( 5.5 – 8.5). They usually thrive in hard water but they are also able to tolerate soft water.

Breeding

Guppies are very easy to breed. The males will try to impregnate every female they can find. The mating process is so quick that we cannot see it with our own eyes. Incase you want to breed specific males with specific females, you need to separate the couple to avoid other fish from getting involved in the mating process. As mentioned earlier, females can give birth multiple times for months without the presence of any male. This means that all of the females that you buy have already carried sperm from male(s) that impregnated them. Finding a virgin female guppy is extremely hard and you will never find it in fish stores. However, there is still a chance that the latest male that you want it to impregnate the female can make the female give birth from that male. It's all a matter of luck. Some say that feeder guppies (Guppies that are sold to be fed by predators.) are mostly quite strong enough, though there is a high risk of infectious disease.

*This also applies to other poeciliidae fish like endler, platy, molly, and swordtail.

Buying Guppies

Guppies used to be known as beginner's fish due to their tolerance for different water conditions, but things have changed now. With so many overly inbred guppies out there, there is a high chance you will get delicate guppies. Research has shown that inbred guppies are less resistant to parasites compared to the non-inbred ones. Do not be surprised if your healthy-looking guppy suddenly died. It could be that they are genetically weak enough to resist parasites. Inbreeding causes higher chance for the offsprings to be born with defects/deformities. Farmers/breeders often remove fish that have visible deformities like bent spine, but not the ones that have visible deformities such as the lack of immunity towards parasites. It can be challenging to get  genetically strong guppies. There is a high chance you will be seeing a lot of dead guppies if you want to buy guppies. To avoid getting delicate guppies, I suggest to get some guppies from private breeders. These breeders like to give out their fish for free for population control.