So, I decided a few hours after moving my uber stressed betta out of my 10 gallon, that since I had a nice 10 gallon setup that was cycled, I might as well pop some fish in. So, I went to the lfs and decided it was time to rebuild my dream of a gorgeous guppy fraternity, (all males since I do not have the time or space to raise fry) and so I told the worker to surprise me in the colors, as I really liked delta tails and it didn't matter much, so I was surprised to see, when I took off the newspaper, to find a yellow sunrise, and two of the most depressed, grey looking, colorless, lifeless guppies I have ever seen. None of them in the tank looked like that, so I thought, well, I'll put them in the tank for now since the lfs is closed, and return them tomorrow. But, overnight, my little caterpillars became butterflies. Seriously. They became gorgeous dark grey and silver, with cellophane tails and speckes of black and red. Was it just the stress of being uncerimoniously netted and bagged that caused them to turn so ugly? I don't know, but also, the sunrises tail had a good split in it, which seems to hve gone away? like, randomly healed? :hmm: Well, anyhow, I plan to have about 8 guppies in this tank, perform obsessive water changes and watch for aggression. It has lots of caves and fake plants and hiding spots, is this a good idea or should I plan for less fish? Deltas don't get very big, most of them are about an inch, give or take a bit.

Hello!
Yes the lack of coloration was just form the stress of being moved and all. I would say that 8 guppies is perfect, ten would even be fine!! they are not very wastefull fish, and they do not mind the "colony" effect that a full tank gives them, that is how they are in the wild... large colonies. I wouldn't worry too much about aggression, as there are no females in the tank... just whatever you do don't add just one female... those horny little buggers will just tourture her!!

Welcome to GUPPYDOME!
~Krys

Guppies are going to take over the world!!!

Oh thanks! I really love guppies, and they seem to be LOVING their new home. More WILL be ciming home soon.

Yes guppies are very pretty. But when they reproduce they are like rabbits ;)

Good LucK!
Mango :D

Yeah, hence why I'm sticking to one gender only jay

I lost on of them today. I'll keep an eye on the tank, chances are it's just a fluke?

you'll lose plenty more till you get good fish

i've had guppies die without showing any symptoms at all!

it's taken me about 1/2 a year to get a good healthy stock. it's just that so many of them are very badly inbred and lack any trace of immune systems. at the moment i've got some which i've had from the biginning... others which are a bit newer.

they also can outgrow all expectations. one of my males is about 2 in at the moment & his tail is still growing.

good luck

thanks. Yeah, i gave up on guppies once, but I am ready to start again. I'll keep up at it, one at a time until I can see if I can get healthy stock. When I do I'm sure it will look lovely.

try to get guppies from a few different places and see which are the strongest

I've had incredibly good luck with the yellow sunrise guppies fromt he closest fs to me. I'm going to try the petco near me too. The rest of the pet stores have fish so weak that if you look at them funny they'll die.

are the ones there culls or farmed (or if you're v.lucky home bred)?

guppies look awesome but they only live for a year! :(

I've had fancy guppies live for more than 3.5 yrs. Try keeping the older ones at a lower temperature... about 72 - 75. They'll last much longer.

the ones i get here live up to 5 years... that is if they don't die from disease earlier!

This is just a typical, run of the mill pet store. My guess is that they just order fish in from who knows where, and they take home bred ones too. I got three more yesterday to add to the two I have now, lost another one, but the 4 in the tank now are as happy as can be. My favorite one, though, a dark brown one with a short reddish tail, (the rest are yellow) went missing yesterday. I looked in the filter, the intake, all on the carpet, picked up all of the decorations, nothing. Then, it occured to me that the decos were hollow, and i turned them all upside down. I saw under a fake rock the eye of what looked like a dead guppy. I shook it out in the water, and out darted my guppy, happy as can be. :laugh: No clue how he got under the thing, :hmm: but oh well.

once one of mine managed to get unde some stones... i found him too late
:rip: Perdita I
the stones got removed of cource. there is only one large one now, which is used to suport the terrace.

Normal guppy lifespan is 2.5 years.

well... do you mean from birth till death or from LFS till death? & are you talking about farmed fish or wild?

Average lifespan form birth to death of a guppy is 2.5 years. That Is just your average guppy... this is not to say that they couldn't live for 5 years, however, that's like living to 120 in human years... get that guppy a wheelchair!
~Krys

i don't have any that old! :P my friend does though!

it also depends on temp and variety