The guppy, also most commonly known as Rainbowfish due to the various rainbows like colors they come in. They are also known as the Million Fish. The Guppy is the most common and widely distributed tropical fish. Many prefer having the guppy since it is one of the most popular fresh water aquarium species. It is live bearing, meaning that that the guppy hold and preserve its eggs inside its body and at the time of birth, the guppy gives birth to free swimming and live young. In a year, one can see two to three generations of Guppy’s all around the world.
Guppy Tank Conditions:
if you plan on taking a guppy as a pet, then you need to know the ideal water The Ideal Water Boundsand factors into consideration for your Guppies. Being the most popular and most preferred fish species for beginners due to their flexibility to adjust in all kinds of situations and in all kinds of waters. As compared to other fishes, they are can adapt well into any fluctuations that may occur in the water.
The Guppies are more prevalent and found in the salty and fresh waters of the Amazon River. Apart from the amazon, one can find guppies nearby various islands in the Caribbean as well. They are mostly found in salty waters and is known to be the smallest and tiniest live bearing species. The female Guppies are slightly larger than their male counterparts; they go on to a length of maximum 2.5 inches whereas their males are slightly smaller, going up till 2 to 2.3 inches.
To make sure that the guppies you have brought home thrive and stay healthy in your aquarium or tank, you need to replicate the conditions of the Amazon and Caribbean islands as much as you can. You need to make sure that the amazon habitat is brought to your tank for them. Of course there will be some limitations and some constraints but you can replicate it by focusing and aiming attention at some important and crucial water parameters.
Basic water chemistry
when trying to replicate the Amazonian habitat for your guppies, there are three factors that need to be taken into consideration. Water pH level, temperature and water hardness are the considerations that need to be focused upon to create the idyllic and perfect conditions for your fish.
pH is known to be a measure of how acidic or how alkaline a particular substance is. It is measured via a scale which starts from one till fourteen. The seven on the scale is an indication of being neutral while any value which is above seven is basic, or alkaline whereas any value that ranges below seven is said to be acidic in nature. Seven is the middle value which is taken into consideration when determining the acidity or basicness of a substance.
Tap water is neutral since it as a pH value of seven. But because your tank water will consist of various chemicals that will be dissolved or suspended, there is a chance that the pH will become low or high, depending on the water. There is no specific pH for fish as various kinds of fish flourish in water of various pH levels. For Guppies, a pH from 6.8 to 7.8 is the ideal one.
water hardness can be defined as the total amount of dissolved minerals in water, if the level of dissolved materials is high, then one can say that the water is hard, but if the level is low, the water is termed as soft.
Many aquarium owners don’t take water hardness into much consideration when trying to breed fish. For Guppies, water hardness plays a vital and significant role for their survival and their growth. In case the level of hardness isn’t achieved, there is a very good chance that your fish might not survive and may succumb to death due to high levels of stress. It is vital that one should take good care of the relationship between the pH and the harness. The minerals present in the water act as a safeguardand reduce the pH in the water. For Guppies the hardness should be in the range of GH 8 to 12.
Many fish and plants can bear a certain level of temperature. Consistency is also another factor that should be kept in mind when breeding fish in tanks. Abrupt and radicalalterations in water temperature can cause health issues in fish. For guppies, the ideal temperature lies between 10-29 °C (50°F – 85°F); with guppy fry flourishing best at 25.6 °C (78°F), juveni