Are Fancy Guppies hard to keep?

T

TeaPea

AC Members
Aug 26, 2002
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Brightwaters, NY
I have a newly cycled 5 gallon on my kitchen counter and wanted to put some fancy guppies and maybe a betta fish in it. Went to my LFS last night and there were no nice guppies in stock. He said he will order them for me but he really discouraged me from keeping guppies. Said they are a pain in the butt and hard to keep. I always thought they were easy. I even did a google search and everything I come up with says they're hardy, easy, adaptable, etc. What's the deal? Anyone have experience w/fancy guppies that could offer some insight? :D Thanks alot guys!
 
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One important point to consider is that Guppies do not like strong currents. Keep water movement to a minimum, and this goes with the Bettas too. :)
 
Fancy guppies and bettas do not a good combo make. The betta is notorious for being a pretty jealous fish and an insane one at that. (The follow the finger trick works because your finger is crudely shaped like a betta...) They will attack guppy tails due to the fact that they look like miniature male betta tails. I would suggest just the guppies, or, just the betta (if choosing between the two).
 
the days of the hardy guppies are nearly all but over. new strains have been weakened through inbreeding, and it can at times be hard to produce viable fry. however, that is not to say it cannot be done. i used to breed guppies, producing about 50 good fish a year. but soon i gave up on the idea of guppy breeding, as it was hard to find people to take the young off my hands due to the reputation guppies were beginning to pick up. so i gave up on guppies, and allowed my stock to decline until there were none.

recently though i have revived my passion for guppies, and have set up a 4gal planted tank with a 12 volt halogen light, and plants including 3 young amazon swords, an unknown sword, parrots feather, bronze bacopa and some crypts. it has a sand substrate and an open ended airline providing air. instead of a filter i am carrying out water changes of about 50% every 6 or so days. i keep the tank at room temperature.

i had stocked it with 4 female guppies (which i have found to become very colourful these days) and a male. they are all very beautiful fish, but sadly i have lost one of the females. all the others seem very healthy though, and so i guess that it was just one of those things. two of the females are now looking very pregnant, so i egarly await the arrival of some fry. so in conclusion i would fully recommend you go ahead with guppies. they are still a lovely fish with plenty to offer to the hobby, the only difference is now you cannot neglect them, which really shouldnt be done anyway. keep on top of maintance, and they will certainly bring you lots of joy. good luck!

(pictures of my 4gal guppy tank can be seen on the link below...)
 
oh, forgot about the betta. like said by the others, they dont make a good mix. i would certainly go with the guppies, as if you went with the betta you would probably have to keep it on its own.
 
Thanks for the feedback everybody...I'm still undecided. About the strong currents, the tank has a small whisper HOB filter on it, (whatever the smallest one is) would the current be too strong for guppies or a Betta? And also, is there any fish that the Betta can be peacefully kept with (that would also fit in a 5 gallon)?

Thanks!:confused:
 
I have no experience with Whisper filters. I don't know what guppies are supposed to like, but any guppies I have had actually enjoyed currents. The guppies in my 10 gallon (AC mini on fullest) actually use the output current like a water slide, purposefully swimming up to it and letting it push them down. I remember in my very first tank (5 gallon with one of those corner filters) the guppies would swim into the bubbles and "ride" them up.
 
i have a 5 gallon with guppies and a small whisper on our kitchen counter! fish are becomming weakened due to imbreeding. when i was 10, bout 10 years ago i had guppies in a 3 gallon bowl, some plants and gravel. they did fine no heater no filter. but now you will need heaters, filter ad regular water changes. but they are not too hard to keep, make sure tank is cycled and add a few at a time. i brought a trio at petsmart and 2 died, i got them replaced for free and 1 died. so i had enough and just kept the 2 i had they had babies and now i have 7 guppies in the tank. with black sand, a piece of driftwood some slate to hold down the wood and some live cabomba, java fern java moss and a sword. get the guppies since they are the few colorful lively fish that would live happliy in a 5. if they live 4 days or so they will make it.
 
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Originally posted by kveeti
...... but any guppies I have had actually enjoyed currents. The guppies in my 10 gallon (AC mini on fullest) .....
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I also have the AC Mini on my 10 gallon 'quarrantine' tank - now a Guppy / Molly tank. The AquaClear Mini doesn't have enough flow to tire the small fish. At least this is just what I have noticed. A step up or two in AC sizes might be way too much current. Seems like long flowing tails and fins are not the best in faster currents.
 
I don't know where some of you are getting your guppies, but I have had very good luck with them.....except for cherry barbs killing on of my males :( ... I have three very pregnant females with one male in a community tank...then I have a 10g fry tank with an AC200, which doesn't seem to bother them at all.... I haven't lost a single fry and they are growing like crazy....this is the first litter, if thats what you call it, of fry that I have tried to raise...the female was very young and only had 16, but my other females are much older and bigger and I expect they will have at least twice that many, they are huge....I like the guppies very much and my lfs wants to buy them back....Although, I can't even imagine how bad the inbreeding is....horny little boogers....
 
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