Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) Fish Species Profile
The Guppy, also known as million fish, is one of the worlds most widely circulated tropical freshwater fish and one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species, for both beginners and experienced hobbyists alike.
Guppies are beautiful fish and add plenty of colour to tanks, they are peaceful, active, relatively cheap and very easy to maintain and can be kept with many different species.
There are almost 300 different varieties of Guppies. They come in all different colours; some are solid in colour others have a pattern over their main body, some are metallic looking, and they also come in different sizes.
Guppies also have a variety of different tails they can be either solid in colour or patterned. This species also have different shaped tails such as Fan-shaped, triangular-shaped, sword-shaped, flag-shaped, spade-shaped, rounded, spear-shaped or lyretails.
| Scientific Name | Poecilia reticulata |
|---|---|
| Other Names | Million Fish |
| Family | Poeciliidae |
| Genus | Poecilia |
| Origins | The Americas |
| Temperament | Peaceful |
| Aquarium Level | Middle - Top |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Shoaling | No |
| Best kept as | Groups 5+ |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Reproduction | livebearer |
| Lifespan | 2 - 3.5 |
| Maximum Size | up to 6 cm |
| Water Type | Freshwater |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 66 - 84 ℉ (18.9 - 28.9 ℃) |
| PH | 6.7 - 8.5 |
| GH | 10 - 20 |
Various Fancy Guppy Strains
Distribution & Origins
Guppies are usually found within the clean flowing, warm tropical waters in the South American continent in Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
You must replicate these conditions in your aquarium to provide them with the most natural environment possible.
Guppies have also been known to tolerate brackish waters and have lived in some brackish habitats.
Dietary Requirements
Guppies are not fussy and are easy to feed. They will gladly eat a variety of high-quality foods such as frozen, live, pellets and flakes.
You should take into consideration that they have small stomachs and mouths so the food you give them should also be little in size.
They will also eat vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber and peas.
Sexing the Guppies
It’s straightforward to sex these fish once they reach sexual maturity, which is usually around 3 - 5 months.
Males are usually more intense, brighter and bolder in colour than the females, and they have a modified anal fin which is longer and narrower than the females.
The females are larger and tend to be a duller colour and have a gravid spot just behind the anal fin, which will get darker when shes pregnant.
Breeding the Guppies
Guppies are continually breeding.
The males seem to be able to determine which females are virgins and what females are already pregnant.
The male Guppy will make contact with the female, and the fertilisation will take place when he passes a package of sperm into the females.
It will then split up into thousands of sperm which the female will store to make many offspring.
The female can have multiple pregnancies from only one fertilisation over a while.
The females tend to be attracted to the more brightly coloured males with superior foraging abilities, as a result, will increase the survival chance of their offspring.
Guppies will most likely produce without any input from you.
Female guppies grow the fish inside their bodies, inside an egg.
The babies use the egg sac for nourishment, and once they have absorbed what they require, they will hatch inside the female, and the female gives birth to live young.