Fishes Catalogue - "Glorious Guppies"
Live-bearing Tooth Carps,
(Family: Poeciliidae)
Contents
Anyone thinking that guppies are just an insignificant
starter fish for beginners couldn't be farther from the truth. These
lively colourful little beauties will bring life and sparkle to any
average community aquarium. Far from insignificant, Poecilia reticulata
is probably the most popular aquarium fish of all time, they are hardy
and peaceful, and the male is a most handsome and amorous pursuer of
the livebearing females.
Guppies suffer from the same misconception as all the
other livebearers, this is the "salt water environment and vegetarian
myth". In reality most guppies come from fresh, soft water habitats,
I'm not saying they can't be found in harder brackish water, there are
some that can, indeed guppies can, and do, adapt to all sorts of water
conditions the world over.
As for the guppy's diet, they may well eat vegetable
matter, however, they will also eat many other things as well. Many
years ago they were distributed around much of the world in a bid to
control malaria, the idea being they would consume the mosquito larvae,
which is not the sort of food for a vegetarian is it?
Taking into consideration that the guppy is indeed
omnivorous, its diet in the aquarium should reflect this with a variety
of foods such as insects, other small live foods, as well as a good
quality flake. There is one thing that you should bear in mind when
feeding guppies. Guppies should be fed little and often if they are
to develop into colourful healthy fish, they do not have a stomach in
the way we and other mammals do. Their gut is much like a continuous
intestine and food cannot be stored, therefore it has to pass through
the animal without causing a blockage, which means it can only consume
a little at a time. If too much food is put into the aquarium all at
once the guppies would not get their fare share because of their slower
eating habit, any other fishes in the tank would have eaten all the
food by the time little old guppy came back for a second bite.
Another falsehood laid on the guppy is that they are
capable of changing sex, it is often said that if all the male guppies
are removed from a mixed sex aquarium that one of the females will turn
into a male. When you look at the reality of this situation, that these
sex changing fish's are actually immature males that are now allowed
to mature because the dominant males have been removed, you realise
that the sex change theory is just nonsense. Yes, I know that some old
females can develop a gonopodium, however, they do not have the necessary
"fishing tackle" with which they can produce sperm.
Dr. R Guppy first collected Poecilia reticulata in
Trinidad in 1866, although it was discovered earlier, in 1859. The genus
was originally known as Lebistes, but since 1963 it was changed to Poecilia,
which is internationally accepted, and its common name of guppy is likely
remain in use. In the wild they can be found in small pools and streams
in most areas of Central America, where they live peaceably with other
species.
However, most Guppies available are captive bred, many
are from Asia, especially Singapore. These specimens will be more adaptable,
they will be quite hardy and will eat most foods. The best general care
should be afforded them, with frequent small water changes.
Breeders aim at recommended finnage varieties, and
try to introduce as many different colours into the fish as possible.
Establishing a new colour variety is not simple, although breeding is
straightforward, with the females producing up to 100 young every four
to five weeks, the young grow rapidly and are very hardy.
This beautiful little fish has done wonders for the
hobby and will always remain a firm favourite with experienced and novice
fishkeepers alike. Here are just a few varieties out of the many strains
that are around:
- Golden Guppy: These fishes are bright yellow and the colour
is uniform in both male and female.
- Golden Lacetail: The male of this popular pure strain has a
beautiful lace-like pattern to his tail, whereas the female is coloured
plain yellow.
- Blue Guppy: The mail of this strain is coloured mainly blue
with the tail being a darker blue; the female’s tail has a more
greenish tinge to it.
- Red Guppy: Similar to the blue strain except red is the dominant
colour.
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| |
Key to abbreviations
|
| F: |
Female |
| M: |
Male |
| C: |
Carnivorous (flesh-eater).
|
| H; |
Herbivorous (vegetarian,
plant eater). |
| L: |
Limnivore (Mud-eater,
bottom feeding on vegetation, algae, worms, etc. any micro-organisms
they may find in the detritus on the bottom). |
| O: |
Omnivorous (varied
diet, live or recently killed meaty type food and plant
material). |
| FD: |
Freeze Dried. Min.
Aquarium size (minimum). |
| dH: |
degrees of hardness
(on the German scale). |
| KH: |
Carbonate Hardness
(a measure of temporary hardness see
Water Quality ). |
| Temp: |
Temperament.
|
Top
| Common Name |
Guppy
Multicoloured Veiltail Guppy
Red Veiltail Guppy
Snakeskin Guppy |
| Scientific Name
|
Poecilia reticulata
|
| FAMILY |
Poeciliidae |
| Origin |
Central America
to Brazil including Venezuela, Trinidad, and Barbados.
|
| pH |
7.0 |
| Hardness |
10ºdH |
| Temperature |
75ºF (24ºC) |
| Size |
2 - 2½in (5 - 6.5cm)
|
| Min. Aquarium
|
12 Gal (55 ltr)
e.g. 24 x 12 x 12in (60 x 30 x 30cm) |
| Feeding |
O; Flake, loves
mosquito larvae, was introduced into many areas as a mosquito
control fish |
| Reproduction
|
Livebearing, they
do not look after their young, and will often eat them.
|
| Aquarium Lighting
|
Medium Light
|
| Behaviour/Temp
|
Peaceful fish, a
firm favourite with beginners. Well suited to a community
aquarium, although don't mix with fighting fish, they are
likely to nip at the guppy's finnage. |
| Aquarium Set-Up
|
Well planted with
some floating cover as well as open swimming areas. |
| Swimming Habits
|
Swims All Levels
|
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Livebearing
Fishes Catalogue
|
