Guppy advice!

[Lisak]

Hi all,

My son was just gifted 3 male guppies for his birthday! Yikes!
I quickly ran out and bought a 3 1/2 gal tank with a filter & heater (plus a few plastic plants and fish house).
However, a very kind sales girl at PetSmart told me they’ll actually require a 10 gal tank...
Unfortunately, 3 gallons is the largest we can comfortably keep in my sons room. We weren’t really expecting the fish and a 10 gal tank is a bit much cost and maintenance wise.
Anyone have guppy experience? Will the little guys be ok? Or should we look into re-homing them to someone with a larger tank?
We’ve had them about 5 days and they appear quite happy However, we don’t have any fish experience so I could be completely wrong.

Thank you for your time and advice!

Lisa

 

[SaraB]

They should be kept in the 10 gallons suggested with a filter and heater. Is there anywhere else in the house the fish tank could go?

 

[fearlessfisch]

Agree that they really need the 10-gallon tank and a heater and filter in order to have a decent life. I hate when people give pets as gifts, as though they were objects. People who have pets should have chosen them, because they are eager to have them and ready to take on the responsibility. I am sorry this was done to you.

Thank you for caring and posting about the fish. Fishkeeping is fun and fascinating and very educational, so you might want to reconsider and get a larger tank. I would suggest going even larger than 10 gallons, because this hobby can be addictive, and larger tanks are actually easier to maintain and keep healthy. If you really don't want to take this on, your best bet is to give them away to an experienced fishkeeper. Maybe post on Craigslist offering to give them to someone who has a healthy freshwater community tank. Don't give them away with the tank that is not large enough.

In the meantime, though, please browse through some of the articles on this site about cycling (links below). Your fish will need frequent partial water changes with dechlorinator in order to keep them alive over the next few days and/or weeks, because your new tank has not yet built up the colonies of beneficial bacteria (BB) necessary to keep their water from becoming toxic to them as they live in it. Good luck, and thank you for caring about the fish.


http://www.aquariumadvice.com/i-just-learned-about-cycling-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now/

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ou-get-started-with-your-aquarium-154837.html