How many fancy tailed guppies can you have in a 5gal tank?
2007-02-05 14:41:00 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
Well, the old rule of thumb was 1" fish to 1 gallon, so that would give you 5 1" guppies. A newer way is to use the surface area/12 = inches of fish, so a 5.5 gallon is (16 x 8)/12 = 10.6666" of fish. You can also go by grams of fish/liter of water which would work out to about 9.
Truth is, you get one male and one female and you'll soon have an overpopulated tank with guppies - they don't call them the "millions fish" for nothing! (although it's better to keep 3 females to every male!)
2007-02-05 14:56:11 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not ideal! The best ratio with any live bearing species is 4 -1 though most people use 3 - 1. Any less and the females are constanly being hassled by the males! This can cause stress related illness like white spot, and can even cause the female to miscarry. If I was you I'd either buy 2 more females or just buy 1 male. I'd only consider breeding though if you know that you can find homes for the fry. If the tank is well planted and there are hiding places and no larger species in the tank, a few will survive without you doing anything.
2016-05-23 22:16:02 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
General rule is one inch of fish per gallon.
You have 5 inches to work with.
Of course, that's just a general thing. If you wanted to have more, do more frequent water changes.
If you take care of the water and the fish. I suppose you could put in a few more than 1 inch per gallon.
Also. keep in mind, if you put a male and female in the tank, you're going to need to get more tanks. Guppies bred a lot quicker than you think. If you only wanted one gender tanks, know that the males are generally a lot more pretty than females. They have much more vibrant colors.
2007-02-05 14:44:47 · answer #3 · answered by itskatyo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seeing as how my three guppies and small goldfish are happy in my 2.5 tank, I'd say up to 6 or 7. That may be pushing it. I'd have to actually see the tank to give you better advice *I dont believe the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule* I'm trying to get rid of the goldfish though so I can get another guppie or two.
2007-02-05 14:50:05 · answer #4 · answered by Kitty 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I'd go for the trio, 1 nice fancy male and 2 pure females.. If you can find them..><>:)
2007-02-05 16:31:07 · answer #5 · answered by PaPa Norm 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
3 males or females or 1 male and1 female
2007-02-05 14:44:41 · answer #6 · answered by zan j 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if u want them to reproduce, i would get 1 big male, and 4 females. then u'll get alot of babies
2007-02-05 14:48:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋