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Guppies

Fancy Guppy ~ Millionsfish Family: Poeciliidae

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Fantail Guppy (female) Poecilia reticulata

Fantail Guppy (male) Poecilia reticulata

   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

Distribution:
   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.

Size - Weight:
   These fish get up to 2.5 inches (6 cm).

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.

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.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish will swim in all areas of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Hardness: 10-30° dGH
   Ph: 7.0 to 8.5
   Temp: (64-82° F) 18-28° C

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.

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

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Latest Comments
I have 30 tanks dedicated to mostly Guppies, They are the kewlest little fish ever! My adults often have 80 or more fry at every drop! I got fry coming out of my ears and I just love it! Crazyfishie 2009-10-20
I have 3 guppies, 4 platies, and 5 swordtails. So far I have five baby guppies. animallover123 2009-09-15
Hi fish lovers! I am a Jamaican who is a bit addicted to her fishes. I have 2 tanks; one 40gall and the other a 20 gall tank. I have 2 fancytailed goldfishes, 2 comets, 3 algae eaters, 3 orandas, 1 black moor, 2 angelfishes and 2 guppies. My guppies had babies, 9 of them. I separated the babies and placed them in a separate container feeding them on flakes. They are doing just fine and I can't wait for them to grow and breed again so I can have a lot more. Aren't fishes just great? When I am stressed out or just feeling tired, I just sit and turn off all the lights and watch them moving about in their tanks minding their own business. They are just beautiful creatures. I have had them for close to a year now. Nikki l. 2009-01-30
I have guppies and they are a joy to have. I never had delta guppies until some bred and two males had the swallow tail of a delta guppy. Kasey 2008-12-05
Hi all Guppy Lovers, I have recently joined the team. I have 1 male and 3 female guppies and 11 fry separated in the breeding tank. I also have a pair of tetra and zebra in my fish tank. Can someone inform me when I should move the fry into the main tank. It's nearly one week since they were born. Thanking you in advance for your guidance. Sanjeev 2008-09-24
Some of the coolest comments:
Good morning. If you're new to this aquarium thing, I recommend you do a lot of research before you start and start with a larger aquarium, at least 10 to 12 gallons. Smaller tanks leave little or no room for error. After setting things up, add some real plants that require only moderate light. Real plants are inexpensive and a good source of oxygen and food for your fish. Allow your tank to run for several hours, 18-24 should be enough. Next, buy some inexpensive "feeder guppies" and put them in your aquarium. Feeder guppies are the plain colored ones that pet shops sell as live food. Some pet shops will just give them to you. Put a few of these in your tank and check on them every couple of hours to see how they do. After a day or two, if everything looks good, get a male and two or three females of the fancy type guppies. Guppies are a good starter fish and don't cost a lot. In a couple of weeks, I would add a couple of glass shrimp to the tank. They're bottom feeders and eat the leftover fish food. B Bradbury 2009-01-02
Guppies are a great species to breed and care for. When adding new fish to your tank turn off the lights for about 4 to 6 hrs so the new ones can adjust to their new surroundings while everyone is in a quite state. This really seems to help when adding different species to your community tank. If you want your fry to survive, I recommend not having fish larger then the guppies in the tank, especially Bettas since they are carnivores and love to chase and eat live prey or make sure you have an automatic brine shrimp feeder in your tank. Otherwise, I have never had a problem w/ having a Betta in my guppy tank. DO NOT get Chineese Algea Eaters! They are nasty fish that like to attach themselves to your slow graceful moving fish and suck off the slim coat, leaving big "hickies" and killing your fish. Guppies do best w/ cory type catfish and plecos. If you get a Pleco be prepared for it to get large depending on the type you get. Good Luck and enjoy this awesome hobby...but be forwarned, it can take over your house because it is addictive!!! MJ 2006-04-01
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Hello fish lovers. My name is Maerzad Nazha. I've started taking care of my fish when I was in preschool. At that time I failed to take care of my fish (before the celebration of my birthday) until I found this site! Now I'm 12 years old. I've found everything from this website(Animal-World). It makes me happy now. It's full of information that I need. Now I have a bigger fish tank. I will never lose the kindness this website gave me... Maerzad Nazha 2009-02-23
A wonderful site I must say. I am a youngster to Fantail guppies but am glad to see that there are others who love these beauties as myself. Any questions, I now know where to turn. Hugh 2009-01-13
i just bought 6 guppies (3 males, 3 females) and 5 Danios and they are living in a 20 gallon tank. They seem to be getting along great. The funny thing is, one of my female guppies seems to think shes a danio. She chases them around all day and they chase her around too. She doesnt seem to pay any attention to her male companion so he's been trying to get with the other two females, even though they arent the same type. Another thing is that I have a tank that has a sort of mirror at the side and the males actually seem like they are admiring themselves in the mirror. I love it! They are very beautiful fish and i hope to get more if these ones live long. thanks for the wonderful site! Nicky Sanders 2007-08-20

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Author: David Brough. CFS.