What is the best aquarium for fancy guppies?

Question

Like what absolutaly needs to be in the aquarium, and is it ook if i get guppies from Walmart, will they still be hardy, when I get them should I float the bag in the aquarium,what do you think is the best feature about fancy guppies? Tell me every thing you know, and do you need aquarium salt for them?

Answer 1

before you do or buy anything, do some reading.
this is an excellent book for beginners (availible at Barnes & Noble and PetSmart):
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=30841388&listingid=12629407&dcaid=17902


here are a few starter tips-

tank:
guppies need a minimum of ten gallons, but you can squeeze them into a sightly smaller tank if you have a good filter and you are religious about your water changes (50% weekly is best, and more often than that for tanks under 10 gal. never change 100% or your biofilter will crash). the 'one in inch to a gallon' rule applies to guppies like all other small tropical fish.

filter:
you will need a filter that will filter at least 10x your aquarium content an hour. that's 100gph (gallons per hour) for a ten gallon tank. more filtration is always better. along as the filter doesn't create a overly strong current, you can't over-filter your tank.

stocking:
it's a good idea to get only male guppies or your tank will become overrun very quickly. also start with just a few fish (two or three) to cycle the aquarium. even after your cycling is finished stock them slowly so the bacteria can catch up.

cycling:
cycling is a essential, but often overlooked part of having a new aquarium. cycling is building a 'biofilter' or a colony of good bacteria that will remove ammonia from your tank.
read about cycling here:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

source:
you probably shouldn't get them at Walmart, Walmart doesn't provide very good care for their fish so they are likely to die as soon as you get them home. i recommend PetSmart as all their fish are breed a a privet parasite free facility. they also have a fourteen day guarantee so if they do die you can get your money back or new ones for free.

floating:
yes, float the bag. that's the easiest way to acclimate them to the temperature of the aquarium. there are other methods like the 'drip' method that will also acclimate them to other water conditions. but that is more trouble than it's worth and only needed for very delicate fish (which guppies are not).

yay guppies:
the best feature of fancy guppies is they have a big impact with their bright colors and long fins for such hardy little fish. but remember 'hardy' does not mean 'indestructible'. and in bad conditions, even if the survive they will lose all that beautiful color.

heat:
guppies need heating(if you are getting a kit it will likely come with a heater). Marineland has probably the best, most reliable heater for a reasonable price: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754055
for a 10 gal the 50 watt Marineland heater is best, for a 'nano' tank (anything under 10gal) you may want to try a 'mini' heater, but most good heaters will shut off if the aquarium heats too fast. avoid PetSmart's 'top fin' heaters, they break easy and can cook your fish. (most other top fin products are fine as they are made by many different companies for PetSmart.)

salt:
guppies live in freshwater not saltwater, but small amounts of freshwater aquarium salt can be beneficial. it's also best to keep a little aquarium salt on hand for treating sick fish with salt dips.

please contact me if you need any further information. :)

Answer 2

Walmart is the WORST place to buy fish. If you must buy from Walmart make sure you get healthy guppies. Stand there for several minutes and watch the tank. Make sure you get fish with no physical deformities, no bent spines, no sluggishness, no swimming problems, etc. Make the clerk gets the exact fish you want. Don't except any extra fish that accidentally make it into the net. When you get the fish home you will want to quarantine them. Don't put them in with the other fish until at least a week has passed. Walmart fish are notorious for carrying disease.

If you're starting up a new tank, and shopping at Walmart, you'll need to buy a tank, a hood, a filter, a heater, a thermometer, a light, gravel and water conditioner. They have kits with most of that stuff ready to go - usually it's cheaper than buying everything separately. I don't know how well I would trust a filter out of a kit, but they're just guppies so you should be fine. Make sure you get a heater if the kit doesn't come with one. Get enough gravel to cover about an inch at the bottom of the tank - usually one pound per gallon but you'd be safe with less. It would also be nice to get a small gravel siphon.

In my opinion, Walmart fish are already dead. Any fish that actually survive are flukes. That's why I have no problem cycling a tank with them.

Answer 3

Fancy Guppy Tank

Answer 4

First.....Never get fish of any kind from Wal-Mart. None of the employees give proper care advice. Second (whether you buy from Wal-Mart or any other pet store), always check the stores tanks for sick or dead fish. If you count up to five dead fish in all the tanks, go elsewhere. The tanks they have are either diseased by the dead or dying fish. This is why I trust the site below for any fish that I want to add to my aquairum.

Instead of floating the bag in your current aquarium, get another tank of the same equal size (fancy guppies require a minimum tank size of 20g) and use it as a quarantine tank. Follow the same instructions and information provided as you would with the master tank. This way you can keep an eye out for diseased and dying fish so they won't contaminate your master tank. I have two links about quarantine tanks for you listed below also.

In my opinion, the best feature about fancy guppies is the tail fins.

I hope the informatin that I am providing you helps you out. Good Luck.

Answer 5

First cycle the aquarium. This will take a few weeks. Things that need to be in the tank are gravel(or painted bottom,outside of the glass). You'll need a heater,filter,and perhaps aeration of some sort(although some filters do this job). Also lots of plants(fake OK,real is better) for cover for the fry. DO NOT get a breeding trap or spawning trap or whatever they are calling them now,they are fish killers. There are better ways to acclimate fish to a new tank(look up "drip method"). This is especially true if you are getting your fish from a Walmart or other "big box" type of store. You should not get their water in your water. They are great sources of fish problems and diseases.
I know much more than I am willing to sit here and type,you really should start with a good book or two,or even more. If you are going to try to breed fancy guppies you have a long course of study ahead of you.
If I read your experience correctly you first have to learn how to keep your pets alive,then you can start learning about things like special diets,and growing out the fry and showing your fish and purchasing real fancy stock.(Hint: You won't find them at Walmart.
I don't mean to discourage,and there are lots of websites where you can find lots of helpful advice,it's just that you need to try some different sources of information.

Answer 6

When I got some fish I got a fish bowl like the one they had in Ponchio (Disney Movie) After about what felt like a Bazillion fish dying i asked the lady at the store why they kept dying and she told me that my fish bowl was too small and fish couldn't survive in a bowl that small. So I suggest a big, big aquarium. And yes, You do need to float the fish in the aquarium first!