Guppies

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PK Tester

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
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501
Location
Ohio
Do any of you find it cruel to keep guppies in 10 or 12 gallon tanks? I have plecos in each of my tanks too but if they get large I either return them to the pet store or give them to a friend...

I read on Doctor Fosters and Smith that guppies should be in a minimum of a 20 gallon tank...that seems large to me.

Any opinions?
 
A ten gallon tank is ok for a guppies. Remember you can keep an inch of fish per gallon with a FW tank at the most. So 1 male and 3 female guppies could be good in a 10 gallon. Different people like 10 Gallon tanks because they are small and easy to maintain but a 20 Gallon tall or even better a 20 long would be much better and would offer more swimming room.
 
Gozetec...I have guppies right now...I was just seeing what some may consider cruel

In my one 12 gallon aquarium I have an uncountable number of just feeder guppies that has genetic problems it seems. Some of the females have extreme curved spines. a large plant exists in this 12 gallon so ALL babies that are born survive...they immedtialy fall into the plant and eat away at the organisms living within it.

I'm not postive what I'm going to do about that 12 gallon...I would like to restart it with fancy guppies but I have no idea what to do with all the feeder guppies.

I have had this one strain of feeder guppies for about and year and a half now and they go through cycles of over-population.

I have a 10 gal with a combination of fancy guppies and some feeders.

The 10 gal has no genetic problems (when I picked the feeders to place in it I picked the best of the best)

The fish can't over-breed in the 10 gal as there is no huge plants for them to hide in.

The 10 gal is a MUCH healthier tank and I have no problems with it.

The 12 gal is like a doom tank...When it goes through a cycle of over-population fish can die and its a mess...I may end up just giving the LFS all those fish and medicating the water and starting again with fancy guppies.

The only problem with fancy guppies around here is...they die VERY VERY VERY easily...I guess because they are poorely kept at the fish stories or what not...

Any advice?
 
I think they were saying that because of how often the female guppies have babies.

If you plan on starting a fancy guppy population, I suggest that you get one great looking male and 2-3 females. In my personal experience, the guppies you actually raise yourself really outlive the one's you buy at your LFS.

Like you mentioned before the guppies are so poorly raised that by the time you get them home they don't last very long.

I am currently raising some guppies now that are awesome looking. They are a mix of the endler colors, but are as big as the regular fancy guppies. I actually have 2 with bottom swords.
 
I have Endler's in a 5gal, though not too many. I think 10gal is fine for guppies (also have Endler's in a 12gal) but you do need to keep an eye on the population and sell or set up new tanks for the extras.
 
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