Detailed Information page about the Guppy Aquarium Fish

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Brief Overview

Freshwater Guppy Tropical Aquarium Fish can be an entire hobby in and of themselves. Many people take on the heavy responsibility of breeding these fish. This is covered in more detail below. Fifty years ago most, Guppies you would see would be gray and very plain in their appearance, with one in a hundred having some very small amount of distinct coloration. The frequency of this coloration increasing toward the equator. Through the year avid hobbyists, and professional breeders, have hand selected their favorite traits and bred them. The genes associated with the brighter colorations come from the male of the species.
Now, in the market today, we see 'fancy guppies'. The colors and beautiful fan tails you will see today are FANTASTIC!! We have, slowly, been compiling an image bank of only the most beautiful Fancy Guppies. You can take a look by clicking HERE. There is a down side to the cultivation of the most beautiful traits throughout the years. Being live bearers these fish reproduce at astounding rates. Lots of inbreeding has occurred making the species produce an inordinate amount of defective fry that have birth defects, and are particularly susceptible to disease.

Guppy Tropical Aquarium Fish are generally very susceptible to disease, and death due to shock during tank transfers. It is important that should you attempt to breed these fish you will cull out (kill) any that have defects to ensure they do not breed. Also try not to let ANY inbreeding take place by purchasing from different stores at the start. Once established in a tank they do quite well. Suggested tank mates would be schools of Blue Neon Tetra, Cory Catfish, or Black Mollies.

To watch a Youtube video of this fish click here.

Detailed Wikipedia Information

The Guppy Tropical Aquarium Fish (Poecilia reticulata), also known as the millionfish, is one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish species in the world. It is a small member of the Poecilidae family (females 4-6 centimetres long, males 2 and ½ to 3 and ½ centimetres long) and like all other members of the family, is live-bearing.

Taxonomy

Robert John Lechmere Guppy discovered this tiny fish in Trinidad in 1866, and the fish was named Girardinus guppii in his honour by Albert C. L. G. Gunther later that year. However, the fish had previously been described in America. Although Girardinus guppii is now considered a junior synonym of Poecilia reticulata, the common name "guppy" still remains. (In Trinidad and Tobago, the common name is "crayfish".) Over time guppies have been given a variety of taxonomic names, although Poecilia reticulata is the name currently considered to be valid.

Distribution

Guppies are native to India[citation needed], Barbados, Brazil, Guyana, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands, Venezuela.
However, Guppies have been introduced to many different countries on all continents, except Antarctica. Sometimes this has occurred accidentally, but most often as a means of mosquito control, the hope being that the guppies would eat the mosquito larvae slowing down the spread of malaria. In many cases, these guppies have had a negative impact on native fish faunas.

Ecology and behavior

Guppies exhibit sexual dimorphism. While wild-type females are grey in body colour, males have splashes, spots, or stripes that can be yellow, orange, blue, red, black, or even purple.
Guppies are often bred for their natural color, so over the years the domestic guppy has grown weaker. As a result, guppies will sometimes die after 2-3 days. A guppy may not survive a sudden increase or drop in temperature.
There is a great deal of variety between the populations, many with distinctive coloring or patterning. Those that live in habitats where predators are common tend to be less vividly decorated as a protective measure. Populations that deal with fewer predators are much more colorful. Recent studies suggest that vividly colored males are favored via sexual selection (handicap principle) while natural selection via predation favors subdued tones. As a result, the dominant phenotypes observed within a reproductively isolated community are a function of the relative importance each factor has in a particular environment.
Occasionally male guppies may behave aggressively towards each other, engaging in fin-nipping and other bullying behaviour. Guppies live in complex social networks, choosing social partners and remembering them.
Guppies are a seminal species for evolutionary biologists because predation often varies over small geographic areas. Both historical work and recent studies are summarised in Anne Magurran's Evolutionary Ecology: the Trinidadian Guppy.

In the aquarium

The guppy prefers a hard water aquarium and can withstand levels of salinity up to 150% that of normal sea water, which has led to them being occasionally included in marine tropical community tanks, as well as in freshwater tropical tanks. Guppies are generally peaceful, though nipping behaviour is sometimes exhibited between male guppies or towards other top swimmers like platys and swordtails and occasionally other fish with prominent fins such as angelfish. Its most famous characteristic is its propensity for breeding, and it can breed in both fresh water and marine aquariums.
Guppy Tropical Aquarium Fish breeding by aquarists produces variations in appearance ranging from color consistency to fantails and "spike" swordtails. Selective breeding has created an avid "fancy guppy" collector group, while the "wild" guppy maintains its popularity as one of the hardiest aquarium fish.
Well fed adults often do not eat their own young, although sometimes safe zones are required for the fry. Specially designed livebearer birthing tanks, which can be suspended inside the aquarium, are available from aquatic retailers. These serve the dual purpose of shielding the pregnant female from further attention from the males, which is important because the males will sometimes attack the females while they are giving birth. It also provides a separate area for the newborn young as protection from being eaten by their mother. However, if a female is put in the breeder box too early it may cause her to have a miscarriage.

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