How to care for guppy fish in an aquarium

An obvious representative of aquarium fish is the guppy family. Beautiful inhabitants have won universal recognition, so many are wondering about the correct care for fish of this breed.

Guppy Features

1. The fish do not need special care, they are unpretentious, therefore they easily get along and enjoy even an aquarium with a volume of 5-7 liters. Guppies are good because they do not require high quality water, some aquarists do not clean it when changing.
2. However, some subtleties should be taken into account. A male guppy needs a minimum of 1 liter. body of water, females are more demanding, they cost 2 liters. Therefore, if you are the happy owner of a pair of guppiks, a 3-liter can for two is enough for them.
3. Water in the home of aquatic pets should be renewed once every 10-13 days. Contrary to popular belief, it is better to defend the liquid before pouring for 2 days before pouring. When changing from the aquarium, only 1/3 of the available volume of water is drained, a new one is added to this amount.
4. Guppies feel well and live long under water temperature of about 23-25 ​​degrees, but fluctuations within 19-29 degrees are permissible. It is necessary to monitor the level of acidity of the liquid, indicators should not exceed the mark of 6-7 units. With these characteristics, guppies will have a bright color, especially males.
5. If you are organizing a home, take care of a decent layer of soil at the bottom of the aquarium. Choose sand of a neutral color so that it does not overshadow the peculiarities of coloring fish. Then their color will be more advantageous. Suitable gray, brownish, white soil.
6. All fish love solitude, guppies are no exception. They find peace and quiet in stunted algae. As for the neighbors in the aquarium, guppies can conflict with them, despite their peaceful nature. Therefore, create for the pets a secluded place in which they will hide during "quarrels" with roommates.
7. For this purpose, the aquarium should have algae, various grotto houses, shells, driftwood, etc. But you should not force the dwelling of the water inhabitants too much so that they have room.
8. In terms of health, guppies are of the type of fish that often suffer from infectious diseases due to their undemanding purity. To prevent death and maintain health during a major change in water, dissolve 15 g in a new liquid. salt with a calculation of 10 liters. water.
9. The addition of salty liquid is carried out no more than 1 time in 3 weeks, at another time, the aquarium is changed without these manipulations. So you provide your pets the right alkaline environment for 20-25 days. Because with the accumulation of ammonia and nitrates in the aquarium, guppies can die.
10. It is easy to identify the moment when the fish require a thorough cleaning of the home. Females with males, wanting to cleanse themselves, begin to intensively rub the body against all kinds of ledges of the house, pebbles, shells. They scratch themselves, causing the wearer to change water.
11. If you do not do it in time, the guppy's eyes begin to become cloudy. The fish looks depressed, exhausted, cannot protect itself. Such an individual must urgently be deposited in another jar. Otherwise, roommates will attack her, which can lead to death.

How to distinguish a male from a female

Many new owners do not even suspect what sex of fish they brought. However, determining the gender of a guppy is simple. Males have a length of 2-4 cm, a beautiful glossy tail and a bright color.

Females are larger, they grow up to 6 cm, individuals do not differ in bright color and are lost against the background of other aquarium inhabitants. The female in the lower abdomen has a dark spot. Female individuals can produce from 20 to 150 fry.

How and what to feed guppy fish

1. Almost every owner of such a pet knows that guppies are omnivorous. Therefore, without fear, the fish can be thrown into the aquarium, both canned, synthetic food, and live, frozen.
2. To a special extent and with great pleasure, pets will regale on flies, cyclops, worms or a live moth. But guppy mixes will also consume worse. The bottom line is that in such formulations all kinds of useful additives are concentrated.
3. Despite the fact that guppies are just fish, they should also have a balanced diet. Twice a day you need to allocate a certain amount of feed. A serving of food depends on how many individuals in total you contain.
4. It is important to understand that during spawning, the amount of food should increase. For one adult, on average, there is food at the tip of a knife. It is also important not to overfeed the fish. Otherwise, pets may suffer from obesity and die.
5. You should know that if you are not going on a long trip, guppies can do without food for up to 1 week. Such fish are unpretentious, so you can afford a short vacation without fear. Do not worry about something happening to your pets.

Guppy fish breeding features

1. If you did not know before, then the guppies are viviparous, they do not spawn, unlike other fish. The presented pets reach puberty after 4-5 months of age. By the way, once a fertilized female can give offspring without a male for a long time.
2. Guppies also easily reproduce in a common aquarium. Such fish do not need special conditions and an isolated place. After a few hours, male fry are able to eat on their own and move around without problems in the aquarium.
3. It is also important to understand that such fry become easy prey for other large fish. Parents often enjoy their own offspring. If you do not want to watch such horror, it is better to move the pregnant female to another aquarium. Fry should have a dense algae shelter.
4. Keep in mind that a pregnant female needs round-the-clock supervision. As soon as the fish is born, send it to the general aquarium. In this case, the fry will remain completely safe and survive without difficulty. The female, therefore, does not harm the offspring. After 2 weeks, the fry can be launched into a common aquarium.

Who can keep guppies with?

1. Such fish are not conflicting and once again do not mind hiding in a secluded place. Therefore, you can safely launch swordsmen, plecostomuses, bots, corridors and pecilia into the aquarium. If you do not understand the types of fish, consult a specialist in a pet store.
2. It is strongly recommended that you do not have gourii and barbs in such an aquarium. It is also strictly forbidden to contain in the total capacity also goldfish, discus and scalar. The last species of fish will simply eat guppies. Therefore, if you are the first to start fish and plan to contain several species, consider everything in advance.

More and more people are installing fish tanks, and this is not surprising. This kind of water pets do not require special care, walking, intense games. At the first glance at them, a person calms down, receives aesthetic and moral pleasure.

Video: maintenance, care and breeding of guppy fish