Guppies

[The Imploding Voice]

Hey,

My uncle loves guppies, and breeds them as a hobby. He has 4 aquariums in his house with hundreds upon hundreds of guppies. And he said that if I wanted some, I could take some.

Before I did though, I was wondering if anyone knew much about guppy care? I'm thinking about taking 4-5 adult guppies, and putting them in a one gallon, unfiltered tank. Do they need tanks with filtration?

Thanks,
Chris

[cellogirl]

Four guppies in a one gallon tank is far to many. They would be happier in a five gallon and with that many filtered would be much better plus that fact that they aren't like bettas and need more oxogen in the water. I love guppies and if I ever get a bigger tank that is what I would get!! You are lucky to have an uncle that raises them!!!

[The Imploding Voice]

cellogirl said:

Four guppies in a one gallon tank is far to many. They would be happier in a five gallon and with that many filtered would be much better plus that fact that they aren't like bettas and need more oxogen in the water. I love guppies and if I ever get a bigger tank that is what I would get!! You are lucky to have an uncle that raises them!!!

Alright. Well another tank and filter and all that is way out of my budget at the moment. Maybe I'll take 2 and put them in the 1 gallon for now, and then upgrade when I get my paycheck.

[cellogirl]

Good luck with them!! What colors are you getting?

[amanichen]

I'd recommend getting something larger than a 1 gallon tank to keep guppies in. Maybe your uncle can assist you by donating some equipment to you and bringing you up to speed on how to care for them =)

[durbkat]

Yeah or you could get a 2 1/2g tank and it comes with a filter and you get a heater for the tank if they need it then you could keep 3 mabey 4 in their until you can afford a proper size tank. And you can get one of these at wal-mart for under $35. Oh and they are called 2.5 minibowls or you could get the 5 or 7g for under $45 I think?

[twoluvcats]

they are actually called MiniBow, but ya they are around $45 for a 5g setup and I'd recommend that WAY over the 2.5.

[The Imploding Voice]

amanichen said:

I'd recommend getting something larger than a 1 gallon tank to keep guppies in. Maybe your uncle can assist you by donating some equipment to you and bringing you up to speed on how to care for them =)

They weird thing is that my uncle doesn't really know what he's doing, lmao. He did it as a hobby to begin with and has no real knowledge in the whole thing. He just had a tank of guppies.. and the breeding just happened. So when I asked him all this technical stuff, he's like, "I have no idea. I must be doing something right, I mean, they're not dead yet." Which isn't really assuring, haha. Anyways, he's on vacation right now, so I'm in charge of taking care of his fish, feeding and stuff. So I'll be rummaging and snooping around his house to see if he has any equpiment I could steal. Haha. I'll keep you posted

[durbkat]

Hey let us know how it went with getting a tank and the guppies, the imploding voice.

[The Imploding Voice]

Well I just got back from his house. House sitting rules. Eating from people's pantrys. Sitting on their leather couches. Watching their big screen TV. w00t. Anyways, I fed his guppies, and some of them are awesome. Some of them are deformed due to inbreeding I'm assuming since he seriously has hundreds of them in one tank and doesn't quarantine the pregnant ones, and just lets them be (I told you he didn't know exactly what he was doing). I also went snooping. He has a bunch of tanks in his house. A few 5 gallons (I think, it looked a bit smaller, but was bigger than 2.5, so maybe it's a 3-4 gallon), and a few 20 gallons just sitting there. When he gets back I'll probably take one of the tanks off his hands for cheap. They're kinda old and gross though. He hasn't really washed them. So I'll have to clean it out a lot, but it's usable. I have my eye on a couple of really nice looking males, and a few nice baby females that I'm planning on taking from him. Although when the time comes to actually take them, chances are I'll forget which ones I wanted since he has so many.

[cellogirl]

Good luck getting them and I hope that you can get a tank!! I wish that my uncle had a twenty gallon that I could get from him ;D ;D ;D

[accountingchick]

My uncle also used to raise guppies. So I know a little tiny bit about this kind of fish. I agree with everyone else. Your best bet is to get a 5g. or larger tank with a filtration system to put them in. Also they breed like rabbits so you have to be careful when keeping a male and female together. That is why your uncle has inbred fish. When the female got pregnant, my uncle would quarantine the female in a separate tank and would put plants in there with her because the females sometimes attack there young and the plants gave the fry a good hiding place.

They are a very hardy fish and a joy to watch especially the male fantails.

Also I wanted to let you know that I was in my local Walmart yesterday and they had a complete tank setup minus the heater for a little over $35 and I think that most Walmarts throughout the states have around the same prices, so that might be something you might want to look into.

Good luck to ya and keep us updated.

[The Imploding Voice]

accountingchick said:

My uncle also used to raise guppies. So I know a little tiny bit about this kind of fish. I agree with everyone else. Your best bet is to get a 5g. or larger tank with a filtration system to put them in. Also they breed like rabbits so you have to be careful when keeping a male and female together. That is why your uncle has inbred fish. When the female got pregnant, my uncle would quarantine the female in a separate tank and would put plants in there with her because the females sometimes attack there young and the plants gave the fry a good hiding place.

They are a very hardy fish and a joy to watch especially the male fantails.

Also I wanted to let you know that I was in my local Walmart yesterday and they had a complete tank setup minus the heater for a little over $35 and I think that most Walmarts throughout the states have around the same prices, so that might be something you might want to look into.

Good luck to ya and keep us updated.

I'm from Canada, and my WalMart doesn't have anything.

[teresa]

Really? my walmart has a bunch of different sizes and prices of tanks allt he way up tp 50 gal.
I am in Canada too...maybe ask at the fish deptartment and they will get in what you want, the prices are pretty good

If you ever get to Edmonton though, go to AquaGiant and get awesome deals...