Brandy Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 (edited) So I always wanted guppies as a kid and never got them. Now as an adult, I sort of felt silly for getting them, but I grabbed a few petsmart guppies a month or so ago on an impulse just for fun. It feels really good to realize 10 year old me was absolutely right. They are amazing. For such a small underrated fish, they have big personalities, they are hardy, pretty, they make more of themselves effortlessly, and they are their own clean up crew. What I seriously underestimated was how true that last thing was. I have a planted tank with snails and red cherry shrimp and it is mostly clean of algae. I have a tank with Pseudomugil and snails and it was being consumed by algae. I added a few shrimp and they didn't really dent it. But then I realized the guppy tank is spotless. I moved one juvenile and 2 adult females in there this morning. I should have taken a before and after picture. It is UNREAL. They have ripped out all the trailing brown threads that were infesting the dwarf hair grass I was trying to get established, cleaned every leaf, and all the moss. All that is left is some green on a sandy bit, and healthy plants. I can't believe it. When people go looking for "cleaner" fish, someone should point them at female guppies. Edited July 21, 2020 by Brandy 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 Yeah, I think guppies swim around tasting everything going 'is this food...is this food'. They were my first tropical fish when I was 9 or 10. I kept them in quart mayonnaise jars. When that first pregnant female dropped her babies, I was hooked! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickS77 Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 I think finally need to get some guppies, just have to find a place for them haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSamsell Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Daniel said: Yeah, I think guppies swim around tasting everything going 'is this food...is this food'. They were my first tropical fish when I was 9 or 10. I kept them in quart mayonnaise jars. When that first pregnant female dropped her babies, I was hooked! Daniel, I remember going to carnivals as a kid and winning a ping pong ball toss game. The prize, a little water bowl with a live Guppy in it. 😊. Good memories.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted July 22, 2020 Administrators Share Posted July 22, 2020 Guppy’s are like the perfect fish for me. I really appreciate them. To me they are a staple pet like a dog or a cat. I can’t see myself going very long without having a dog or guppies by my side. I love that when someone else’s likes the ones I have I can share them with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 When I was a teenager and in the hobby I wouldn't have put a guppy in any of my tanks, I wanted fish that were more difficult to keep and breed. Now, I have a couple strains and I want more! I see all the colorful ones that Cory and other put videos of on YouTube and I want them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 I think I am finally ready to try guppies after all these encouraging threads. Will they do ok with Neo shrimp, Leopard Danios, Glowlight Tetras, White Clouds, and CPDs in a community tank? This is my one kitchen tank with some hair algae from too much window light, so what @Brandy said has me especially interested! Thanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 Yay! I think they will do fine with almost anything, but they might snack in the occasional newborn shrimplet, if they happen to catch it in the open. I don't know about that really hard super strong hair algae, but mine think the slimy trailing stuff that appears in new or over lit tanks is CANDY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSamsell Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Streetwise said: I think I am finally ready to try guppies after all these encouraging threads. Will they do ok with Neo shrimp, Leopard Danios, Glowfin Tetras, White Clouds, and CPDs in a community tank? This is my one kitchen tank with some hair algae from too much window light, so what @Brandy said has me especially interested! Thanks In my experience, Guppies would like the water warmer than the White Clouds would. Just curious, what is your waters ph, gh & kh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RovingGinger Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I was at our local PetSmart as a middle aged man was buying his first fish. I was thrilled to overhear their staff a) tell another customer not to buy their fish same day as their tank and b) warn this guy against fancy goldfish or large cichlids in a 20 gallon if he wanted multiple fish. I don’t normally pop into stranger’s conversations but I evangelized about the glories of guppies, how they swim at all levels and eat algae, and the crazy variety they come in. He had them show him the guppies!! I had them as a kid and liked them and I got them as an adult and I like them even more. The first tank I bought came with tetras (Serpae, red eye, black veil) and in comparison I find them so. Boring. Even my nano tank for my pea puffer has been repurposed into a guppy home for a sad cripple fry. I have a few other types of fish but I think I’m guppies for life. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 3 hours ago, DaveSamsell said: In my experience, Guppies would like the water warmer than the White Clouds would. Just curious, what is your waters ph, gh & kh? Well, that would depend entirely on what type of guppies we are talking. My mutts are tough little buggers in an unheated tank--which in Seattle in summer is hovering near 75. In the fall, I will probably start a heater, because the humans like it cool in the room they occupy. The main thing I do try to do for them, because our water is soft, is add some minerals bringing Kh40-60, GH30-40, and drag the pH up to at least 7.4-7.6. Tap water is like 6.6 here with almost nothing in it. NOT guppy water at all. They show zero signs of stress, surprisingly. I know those are not optimal guppy parameters, but I am operating on the stable is better than chasing parameters theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) The prospective tank is a sixteen gallon bow in my indoor tank journal. Temp is probably 73-75°F. This the the water: Edited July 31, 2020 by Streetwise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Welp. I use the same strip and it looks a shade better than mine--after I add stuff! But I am one person, with 7 adult petsmart guppies and some random fry. 🙂 what do I know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSamsell Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 4 hours ago, Brandy said: Welp. I use the same strip and it looks a shade better than mine--after I add stuff! But I am one person, with 7 adult petsmart guppies and some random fry. 🙂 what do I know? @Brandy, you seem like a very conscientious fish-keeper. 😊. You are right, Guppies are tough critters. They will adapt to many types of water quality. My well water has a ph of 7.4 with some gh & kh. I've noticed that my several strains of Guppies, do better, in about 76 degrees Fahrenheit and in hard water. I add some Wondershell & baking soda to keep my gh & kh up around 12 deg hardness each. I don't chase water parameters either, but like to improve them a bit & keep them stable. @Streetwise, the temp you stated may work for the white clouds, but is definitely at the upper limit, IMO. You can try the Guppies as is or modify according to how the fish responds. I think where folks go wrong is they look at fish parameters of "wild caught" species. Most fish you will probably buy are U.S. bred anyway. Just my $0.02 on the matter. 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 (edited) While researching The 1930s Historically Accurate Aquarium I ran across this, the lead Editorial from the October 1935 'The Aquarium' Exhibition standards for the leading species of exotic aquarium fishes are now receiving the attention of committees representing the Eastern societies. It is to be hoped that this will both make judging easier and be more satisfactory to the competitors. Your editor, although a member of the committee, is not young enough to foster any hope that any system will give satisfaction to all concerned. To bring such a dream to pass, we would have to go back and change human nature, so there would be no bad losers. On the whole, exotic fishes do not lend themselves to specified fancy varieties are fixed breeds of species as do goldfish or cats or dogs. For that reason standard-fixing for most of the variable species does not need to be elaborate. There is one fish, however, with the most sporty natural variation in color and fin formation. Many of its most interesting peculiarities can be fixed into definite strains by persistent selective breeding. I refer to our dear old friend, the incomparable Guppy. It is already been fairly well fixed in a number of patterns, and it would seem to be a feasible thing to hold shows for Guppies only, making awards for definitively fixed breeds, as is done with the Goldfish. The fish is more widely owned than any other species, and such a show might well be a matter of general interest, attracting exhibitors who would not feel qualified to enter any other level of fish competition. Many owners of Guppies consider that they possess wonderful strains. An exhibition of this sort would make actual comparison possible. As fairly well-established varieties we already have the Peacock or Lacetail, the Birds Eye (with a large black dot in the dorsal), the Chain, the Lyretail, the Swordtail and the Giant. Practically all of these strains can be repeated in the new Golden Guppies, thus doubling the number of classes. In addition, awards could be made for the most interesting novelties, which would give everybody a chance. The classes could be recognized as they become sufficiently fixed. For instance, a black Guppy is said to be in the offing. I’ve recently seen the strain in which two thirds of the body is black. To me the Guppy seems to offer unique possibilities, purely as a fancier’s fish. If anyone organizes a Guppy exhibition on an elaborate scale and along the lines suggested, this magazine would be very pleased to offer a suitable prize to be given at the first show Edited August 1, 2020 by Daniel mispelled guppy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestJenn Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 3 minutes ago, Daniel said: Your editor, although a member of the committee, is not young enough to foster any hope that any system will give satisfaction to all concerned. To bring such a dream to pass, we would have to go back and change human nature, so there would be no bad losers. This made me chuckle. That was an entertaining read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RovingGinger Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 25 minutes ago, ForestJenn said: This made me chuckle. That was an entertaining read! Between that bit and the magazine article where they claimed god gave all the brains to cichlids, I am very much enjoying the snarkiness level of old-timey aquarists 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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