Animal-World > Aquarium Tropical Fish > Livebearing Aquarium Fish > Fancy Guppies

   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!

    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.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

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: Pairs - They will not school but can be kept in groups.
• IUCN Red List: NE - Not Evaluated or not listed

Fish Keeping Difficulty

• 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

Foods and Feeding

   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

Aquarium Care

• Water Changes: Bi-weekly

Aquarium Setup

• 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

Social Behaviors

   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.
• Same species - conspecifics: Yes
• Peaceful fish (): Safe
• Semi-Aggressive (): Monitor
• Shrimps, Crabs, Snails: Safe - not aggressive

Sex: Sexual differences

   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.

Breeding / Reproduction

   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 Breeding: Easy

Availability

   The Guppy, Fancy Guppy, or Millionsfish is readily available.

References

Animal-World References
Freshwater Fish and Plants Tropical Fish ~ Freshwater Fish ~ Aquatic Plants

Author: David Brough. CFS.

Lastest Comments on Fancy Guppies View all 98 comments on Fancy Guppies Add Your Comment

william - 2012-05-21 i have a 55 gal tank how meny fancy guppes can I have in it? It's an all guppy tank Jeremy Roche - 2012-05-22 Really depends on how much decor. 30 or so should be fine. But remember these fish breed often and a lot! So be prepared for the population to grow. Reply

Rodney Crawford - 2012-05-14 About the comment a viewer made that his guppies atacked his goldfish.Maybe you have 'Gambusia' instead of 'poecilia'. I seen the mosquito fish (gambusia) for sale as fancy guppies.The Mosquito fish is a very agressive little fish. Reply

Bihan - 2012-05-03 My guppys attack a goldfish... they are peaceful.. ? Jeremy Roche - 2012-05-03 They are normally peaceful unless stressed. They will nip fins at times. Reply

Rev. Lucas - 2012-03-21 I have 3 guppies, and 2 Mollys, neon glow fish and a starburst fish in a 10 gallon tank. They all get alone well! My guppies just had frys which was very exciting. My wife and I were not prepared for this, but we were able to catch 9-10 of them and place them in a betta type round bowl. Question, how long can they stay in there, and I'm using tropical fish food that I break up very fine; is this ok? Jeremy Roche - 2012-03-21 Get an airstone and a little pump and they will do fine. Tropical fish food is fine. Be prepared to have a ton of guppies! Rev. Lucas - 2012-03-28 I went to Wal-Mart and purchased a 10 gallon tank, and placed the frys in it with air bubbles and no filter. I was to afraid that the filter would suck the frys in it. As of Monday they are a week old, and all 7 are doing well. Maybe this weekend I'll put a live plant in it that will grow. Rev. Lucas - 2012-03-21 Thanks for the information. What size stone should I get when the tank is less than a 5 gallon. It's just a simple bowl, that's used for a betta fish? Jeremy Roche - 2012-03-21 A small one will do fine. You do not need much. James - 2012-03-23 My tank is set up the same but with 2 algea eaters and 2 african dwarf frogs. As for the breeding of the guppies, only separate the females if you are planning to keep as many of the fry as possible. If not, then get a bottom feeder or dwarf frog who will eat some of the fry and keep your population down. Just remember to be careful with how you breed them because they will start nipping at each other if there are too many fish for the tank you have. Rev.Lucas - 2012-04-07 As of now my frys are 3 weeks old, and doing well. At this point all seven frys are in a 10 gallon tank with nothing in it but an air stone. I think they are big enough now for a filter, and some decorations. I'm thinking about an underground filter with sand, plants, and a albino cora catfish rather than a plecostomus for cleaning the tank. Questions and or concerns: Which filtration system is better, top or bottom? Which is easier for maintenance sand v/s rocks? Which is better for decorations live plants v/s artificial plants? Any information and or comments are welcomed. Thanks in advance for all your suggestions. All items will be purchased at Petsmart! Amazed By His Grace, Rev. Larry Lucas Angie - 2012-04-11 I also started with 2 female and a male, I now( 6 months later) have probably 30 or so. I have never taken the fry out or done anything special to keep them from getting eaten. I have a 100 gallon tank with rocks,a few larger decorations and threw in some plastic plants to float on top for them hide in. I have a red tailed shark, 2 bala sharks, 2 striped ralphels, 4 neon tetras in with them. I also have a canister filter with the intake about 6 inches off the bottom and haven't had any issues with them being sucked in. I cant remember the website but i googled breeding guppies and alot of tips popped up. good luck Reply

Sarah - 2012-01-11 I have several guppies,and I'm not sure what to do Sara - 2012-01-11 NEVER put them with betta or siamese fighting fish. That can be trouble. They like to nip at the fins. They are peaceful otherwise. They form loose schools Angie - 2012-03-09 I have had my guppies with my beta for 6 months now and never had a problem. It may be that i have a 110 gallon tank but the beta is doing just fine. My only problem with the guppies is i am getting over run. Started with 3 6 months ago and now have over 30,and now thw babies are having babies. Anonymous - 2012-03-14 Also don't put them in the tank with angelfish James - 2012-03-23 get a bottom feeder or dwarf frog that will eat the fry for you. That will help control the population. Other than that, you just need to start giving some away because they dont die easy. Reply

john - 2011-11-14 I'm just gonna put it plain & simple. Can I breed mosquito fish with guppies and then breed the fry with new guppies to make them more colorful? Extra question (only answer this if you want to): is the senegal bichir on this website because I can't find it. if it isn't can someone please put it on this website. David Brough - 2011-11-15 I would doubt that mosquito fish and guppies would breed. They are different species. As far as the senegal bichir is concerned, I cant find a writeup but there are pictures here Senegal Bichir. Thanks for the suggestion, a writeup is now on the list of new fish to add. Tanya Altice - 2012-02-20 I dont know personally about the mos and guppy mix but as my mother in law has had several live breeder tanks from what she has told me most live breeders will inter mingle! She created fancy swordtail mollies! She had fancy guppys and swordtails and mollies. Just try putting them together and keep mixing and matching till you get what you want! Reply

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