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Guppies
Fancy Guppy ~ Millionsfish
Family: Poeciliidae
Latest Reader Comment - See More I have several guppies,and I'm not sure what to do
Sarah The various forms of the Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish are the best known and most popular aquarium fish. This species offers a large selection of colors and shapes with no two fish every exactly alike. Guppies are an all time favorite of both beginners and experienced fish keepers!Fancy Guppies Contents The active Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish form loose schools and are always on the move. Though they are peaceful community fish and easily kept with other livebearers, they may chase fry and will often nip the fins of the Betta or Siamese Fighting Fish. These fish will appreciate an aquarium with fine gravel that is heavily planted along with some floating ferns. This type of vegetation will provide a bit of food for them as well as hiding places for the fry until they are large enough to not be eaten. Most Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish are very tolerant of a wide variety of tank conditions, though the highly inbred specialized species can be more delicate and require more attention. Typical of livebearers, The Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish, appreciates the addition of 1 to 1.25 teaspoons of non-iodized salt added to the aquarium water. They are capable of adapting to brackish or saltwater conditions.
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Habitat: Distribution / Background
The Guppy or Millionsfish are native to Central America and Brazil but now are almost exclusively captive bred.
Selectively bred, they come in all colors and combinations of colors:
There are far too many varieties of Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish to list here, but let it be said that they come in every color of the rainbow, and often have every color of the rainbow in them!
There are a lot of different shapes to the fins also. Some of the more common fins shapes are: rounded, pintail, swordtail (upper, lower, and double), flagtail, veiltail, fantail, and triangletail.
There are fancy guppy organizations that breed and show guppies all over the world.
- Scientific Name: Poecilia reticulata
- Social Grouping: Varies - They will not school but can be kept in groups.
- IUCN Red List: NE - Not Evaluated or not listed
- Aquarium Hardiness: Very Hardy - This fish is very widely avaiable, however with great disparity in the quality of stock. The extensive finnage of this species makes it susceptible to damage and resulting infection.
- Aquarist Experience Level: Beginner
Since they are omnivorous the Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish will generally eat all kinds of live, fresh, and flake foods. To keep a good balance give them a high quality flake food everyday. Feed brine shrimp (either live or frozen) or blood worms as a treat.
- Diet Type: Omnivore
- Flake Food: Yes
- Tablet Pellet: Yes
- Live foods (fishes, shrimps, worms): Some of Diet
- Vegetable Food: Some of Diet
- Meaty Food: Some of Diet
- Feeding Frequency: Several feedings per day
- Water Changes: Bi-weekly
- Minimum Tank Size: 10 gal (38 L)
- Substrate Type: Any
- Lighting Needs: Moderate - normal lighting
- Temperature: 65.0 - 82.0° F (18.3 - 27.8° C)
- Range ph: 7.0-8.5
- Hardness Range: 10 - 30 dGH
- Brackish: No - This is no brackish fish, however it does seem to appreciate this addition of a little salt in the water. Around 1-1.25 teaspons of aquarium salt should suffice. Removed water should be replaced with salted water, however if the aquarist is topping off due to evaporation freshwater should be used.
- Water Movement: Moderate
- Water Region: All
The Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish are a good community fish, however they will chase and eat fry, and they are known to nip the fins of the Betta or Siamese Fighting Fish.
- Temperament: Peaceful - Although not a schooling fish, this fish is happiest in a group of its own kind. It also makes an excellent community fish and mixes well with most fish tolerant of its prefered water conditions. The exception to this is the Beta fish, which will either suffer fin nipping by the guppy or mistake guppies for another Beta and will attack. In either case, this combination does not usually end well.
- Compatible with:
- Same species - conspecifics: Yes
- Peaceful fish (): Safe
- Semi-Aggressive: (): Monitor
- Shrimps, Crabs, Snails: Safe - not aggressive
The female is larger, more drab in color, and will have a spawning patch at breeding time. The male is smaller, will generally have a longer more colorful tail, and has a gonopodium.
The Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish is easily bred in the aquarium without special attention if well fed and cared for. Provide hiding places or breeding traps for the fry as the parents may chase them. See the description of how to breed livebearers in Breeding Freshwater Fish - Livebearers.
- Ease of Propagation: Easy
The Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish is readily available.
Animal-World References
Freshwater Fish and Plants
Tropical Fish ~ Freshwater Fish ~ Aquatic Plants
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