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After years of following from over 2,000 miles away I finally stepped foot inside Aquarium Co-op. A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I visited Seattle so naturally we had to make the drive up to see the store. The store is smaller in person than it looks on online, its easy to understand the need for expanding. It was awesome to see Murphy in person, he is much bigger than I realized haha. My girlfriend loved watching and taking pictures of him, maybe a puffer in my future now? The store wasn't too busy on a Sunday morning so I was able to thoroughly browse all the tanks. I had prepared for this trip and I was sure to bring some breather bags in case I found what I was looking for. Going through and reading all the labels on the tanks I didn't see what I was hoping to find. Although upon another pass through I saw what I came for. Unlabeled in a tank I spotted some Vienna Guppies. I asked an employee to confirm and he said yes, they were some stragglers, possible dropped fry, left from the last time Dean brought some to the store. I told him, I'll take all you can find! It ended up coming to 8 fish total, 3 males and 5 females. I couldn't be more thrilled to have fish from Dean. I did ask if they could bag them in the breather bags I brought but its against store policy, understandable. I did ask to have some extra water in the bag for when I separated them into the breather bags, which they didn't have a problem with. We had a great time at the store and can't wait to return. It was nice to see the store in its original form before the expansions. I'm hoping to bring back some of Dean's Ricefish next time. Down to business now, the clock is ticking. My flight was scheduled in about 24 hours from buying the fish. Once we got back to the Airbnb I poured the fish and water into a large bowl to divide them up. I added some room temperature filtered water to the bowl with the fish, from a Brita pitcher. I used smaller bowls to hold the breather bags up while I used a measuring cup to equally distribute water between 4 bags. Once I had them about half full I used the measuring cup to scoop the fish into the bags. Two fish per bag. I got all the air out the bags, twisted them tight and tied them closed. I covered them with a towel and left them to sit. Next time I'd like to have a few chunks of Poly-filter to put in the bags to absorb any ammonia just to feel better. Before the trip I did check the TSA website to confirm live fish are allowed. Once at SeaTac I handed the TSA agent the bag with the fish and requested to have them hand inspected and stated they were live aquarium fish. She handed the bag to another agent who carried them through the checkpoint while I was waiting to get through the x-ray machine. The agent handed them to me once I was cleared through. The only thing they actually inspected was the Xtreme Floating Pellets I also bought at the store. They were flagged as a "powder" that required inspection. An agent swabbed the outside of the jar with a test strip and they were good to go. I got lucky my flight back wasn't full so I was able to set the fish nicely on the seat next to me. I covered them with my coat to keep any warmth in. Its worth noting they weren't in my carry-on bag. I had my carry-on in the overhead bin, my personal item bag under the seat, and the bag with fish all separate. I never had anyone question it. No problems on the flight, it was United Airlines, about 5-1/2 hours. Once I landed at Dulles (IAD) I hustled to my gate for my short flight to my hometown. It was much colder on the smaller regional jet, I put my coat on and put the fish inside to keep warm with my body heat. They were definitely chilly. When I landed at home outside temps were in the low teens Fahrenheit. I then rearranged my bags to put the fish in a real bag to protect from the cold. I got to my truck and let in warm up. Setting the fish on the passenger seat with the seat heater on. Its was only a 15 minute drive to my house. Once home around midnight, I got them in a tank in the warm fishroom. I didn't do any acclimating. One bag did get a little cloudy but the fish were fine. Its been a few weeks now and they're all doing great. The males are showing that awesome color and pattern, the females already have nice round bellies. Shown in the picture amongst a cloud of baby brine shrimp. The next plan is to get them set up in a nice planted 30 gallon and get a colony going.

That’s right there is a quiet but strong following of the Vienna guppy. We band together here to share stories of success, failures, of new lives, and lost souls. Be not afraid to share the Vienna journey through the aquarium world.

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for your ideas and feedback on my previous posts! Came back to give an update on the project. Specs Tank: 42L 35-cm cube tank (Urna Blau Cubic Aquascaping 42L) roughly 11 gallons Light: Chihiros WRGB Slim Filtration: HOB Aquaclear 20 with ACO nano course sponge *has been running on another tank I have for 2-3 weeks No heater yet, but I’ll add one before the fish go in. Without filter, tank runs 22-24*C right now in fall. Plant list Sag. sublata Valisneria nana Echinodorus tenellus Eleocharis acicularis Crypt parva Mayaca Fluviatilis Cyperus helferi (I’d like to add more Val nana and also Juncus repens, Potamogeton gayi, and/or Murdannia keisek.) I set it up Friday night/Saturday morning, and it's looking pretty good so far. Plan: (dependent on water quality and plant growth) Day 1 - 10 ppm nitrates, no nitrates, no ammonia, 300+ ppm GH, 40ppm KH, 6.8 pH, and 0 chlorine. I did a small 20% water change and rinsed course prefilter sponge in used tank water to remove pieces of grasses that were stuck. Day 3 - 50% water change *add more Val, ramshorn snail and amano shrimp Day 7 - 50% water change *add nerite snail Day 10 - 30% water change *add juvenile platy from my breeding colony and a snail Day 14 - 30% water change Day 17 - 30% water change *add 10 Pygmy corys Day 20 - 20% water change Day 20something *add 4 guppies, remove platy Like @Zenzo's recent video suggests, I find when I lean hard into patience and find joy in the process, I enjoy my planted tanks much more. Yes, I did add Seachem Stability and Prime, and, yes, I am using a used filter, but I don’t like putting my fish at risk for something I can control like just waiting a few days. I am lucky, though, as I have a lot of other tanks to keep me busy 🙂 and I’m not worried about the multiple LFS in my city running out or not having Pygmy corys. Anyway, feedback welcome! Cheers! PS - In a future post, I'll add some photos of the vienna guppies I brought back to Spain with me from the US. My pair has had two drops of fry since August, with a third batch expected next week. #viennaguppysuperfan 🤓

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some input for my next tank - specifically stocking and aquascape. Background: I am American, I live in Barcelona, Spain, and I brought a pair of Vienna guppies back with me that I bought from 614 Aquatics while I was visiting my parents for the summer. The pair has had 16 babies so far, and while I am caring for them in simple breeding and rearing tanks, I want to be able to sit and enjoy these very special fish with a nice planted aquascape… so I bought a new tank that will allow me to observe from three sides, including my desk and a guest bed. Purpose of tank: Vienna guppy display & breeding Peaceful nature aquarium, deceptively simple, highlighting fish and - to a lesser extent - also my skills at aquascaping Nano community Specs: 42L 35-cm cube tank (Urna Blau Cubic Aquascaping 42L) roughly 11 gallons Small sponge filter with USB pump - and probably a small HOB filter for additional filtration and water polishing Small heater Blau nano light - may swap out for something like a NICREW 30cm LED light Stocking options: Start with a pair of VG but later up to 3-4 pairs Some breeding of Neocaridina shrimp down the line after tank matures (likely yellow or orange) My go to cleaning squad: 2 amano shrimp, a nerite snail, and probably ramshorn snails Kind of want to include a couple other fish… mainly a nice shoal of grayish nano fish and a group bottom dwellers. My options: panda corys (I love them, have never kept them, and fear this footprint might not be right for them…I have looked into smaller corydoras species - like hastatus or habrosus, but feel like whenever I see them, they are schooling about midwater rather than hanging out on ground, which is more the look I want, I think? Although I’m a bit apprehensive if corys dig up plants - not sure?), either platinum or mottled gray medaka (which I already keep / breed in indoor/outdoor ponds, so I can easily add or remove as desired), Yunnanilus cruciatus, Normani Lampeyes, Black neon tetras Oryzias woworae White clouds Input welcome!!! (Non negotiable: VG. Top choice: panda corys.) Aquascapes I am considering: Option 1: “Riverside” Inspirations: https://youtu.be/oHtACMTK0oY https://youtu.be/AxPbDGFFoSk https://youtu.be/pMyzCUBYUNY https://youtu.be/Q0juwigB4vM Option 2: “Wabikusa Bouquet” inspirations: NATURE IN THE GLASS 'A bouquet of aquatic plants' | ADA https://youtu.be/f3cHV6S0W9o https://youtu.be/Is-lg6eoFJ0 https://youtu.be/7Qz6Z7GeMoo (but with tank filled completely) Option 3: “Epiphyte island” Inspiration: MulMung’s albino full red guppy tank Notes: This tank will not be my main breeding colony of Vienna guppies. Of course, I want to encourage breeding, but I also have a 20-gallon pond tub for growing out and breeding. I’ll likely remove newborn fry from this tank and add to grow out tub. Eventually extra adults may be sold (yes, some fishkeepers in Spain know Aquarium Co-op!). Basically, breeding /overstocking isn’t a concern as it’s (a) my goal and (b) most VGs can stay in other tanks while this is mainly display. I do want a balance of VGs and another fish or two. I want to avoid too many distracting/busy branches and wood that a net may catch on (see above). Alright, so given alllll that context, what insights and advice do y’all have in terms of aquascape and stocking? 😅😄

I have breed many Vienna guppy’s but have only had one like this. I wanted some options on if I should try breeding him for his unique look or would that “ruin” the Vienna guppy. Also if Cory or someone from the coop could chime in I would really like to hear their opinions. Thank you all this is truly a great community of people.

Hey everyone! I finally was able to find someone local to Aquarium Coop that is willing to ship some of the Vienna Guppies to the middle of nowhere Iowa. Very excited. Does anyone know of any videos or livestreams where the story behind them is fully told? I've heard the quick and dirty abbreviated version a couple times in the livestream and through other people. If there isn't great footage of the whole story, @Cory that may be an idea for a video (with updates on how they're doing in your fishroom).