jjdaugh

I dont know why these arent recommended more. They are the coolest thing my tank. They school all over the tank, and when you add their tails and colors, they are awesome.

Other tank mates:

Hatchets
Platys
Ghost catfish
Cherry Barbs
1 goldfish

Jim

Lucy

I didn't know they weren't recommended. I'd love to have a guppy tank.

pinkfloydpuffer

I think fancy guppies are adorable! The only problem is that all the fish I keep would probably eat them

Shawnie

I got some a couple weeks ago and I adore them also...great lil fish

clinton1621

I agree, but I think people just assume everyone knows about guppys, so they are not recommended as much as they could be lol.

They can also go with neons, cardinals, rasboras, corys, plecos, swordtails, mollys, shrimp.... the list goes on and on lol

Blub

Guppies would owrk great in there...

Oh, and Goldfish need a cold water tank (no heater) and don't thrive in a tropical tank, and will also eat your other fish when full gorwn so take him back to the LFS or ger a 20gal tank coldwater.

How many hatchets d you have?

clinton1621

I respectfully disagree with the need for cold water.... here is a quote from wikipedia...

"Temperatures under about 10 °C (50 °F) are dangerous to fancy varieties of goldfish, though commons and commets can be exposed to these temperatures without a problem. Extreme high temperatures (over 82°F) can start to become harmful to the fish, though can actually be benificial when fighting protozoan infestations, increasing the rapidity of the parasite's life-cycle, thus eliminating the problem more quickly. The optimum temperature seems to be around 75°F " End quote.

However, I do agree that they should not be kept with tropical fish... they produce up to 10 times more waste than most tropical fish... they will outgrow almost any common size tank... and they can harbor diseases that tropical fish do not have a good immunity to.

Also I wasnt aware that goldfish would eat other fish

Blub

Commonb goldies grow to 20cm - big fish eat little fish.

What I mean by 'coldwater' is temperate climate. The climate in the water fluctuates with the seasons - which is why they need no heater because the ideal temps are no heater.

clinton1621

Goldfish are not carnivores by nature though are they? I was thinking they are herbivores... I know that they dont actually digest protein very well, so if they were eating fish it wouldnt do them a lot of good lol

I know what you meant by the temperature climate... obviously they dont require a heater, but having them in warm water is not bad for them.... probably speeds up their metabolic and growth rate, which would equal possible shorter lifespan, but then again goldfish can live for 20+ years lol.

RandomKayos

Goldfish don't eat other gold fish. Just because they get big don't change them to carnivors.

Back on topic, I also don't know why the are not recommended more. I know some strains can be a bit difficult to keep but in general they are very nice in a tank.

RK

Blub

That's why a lot of places don't reccomend them.

Goldies are omnivores - they eat both meat and veg. A full grown goldie happily snacks on neons. My understanding is they are mostly veggie though.

Shorter lifespan is the bad point of heated goldie tanks. They thrive best in goldie only tanks.

Aro

I did some research on guppy's and i was wondering if dwarf puffers would eat guppy fry? By the way, how fast and nimble are guppy fry?

Would be fun for the puffers to have some hard to catch food?

Red1313

I think that puffers eat snails and crustations.

Shawnie

goldies will eat other fish if they fit in their mouths I use to feed my lionheads guppy fry and small guppies..until I learned about HITH

Iron waffle

fry are surprisingly fast for such a small fish.

Iron waffle

A good temp to aim for in all goldfish tanks is 68*

fintail

I love having guppies. they do require water changes every week. depending on how many you have per gallon. I keep mine in warm temps and they usually dont get parisites. but on occassion one will get sick. as with any fish. I had a female have over 20 babies a couple weeks ago and Im down to 4. they were born too early and most had clamped tail. I have a couple that are 6 weeks old from the same female. and their developing beautiful colors. they are a nice community fish. I would recommend about 4 adults to a ten gallon tank. cause they will breed right away. my albino catfish is an excellent baby sitter. and will hover above them. and will not harm mine, kinda cute. to see the babies hiding underneath him.

jjdaugh

My water is doing great. I have live plants, and my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels are all perfect. (Knock on wood) The plants are Water Wisteria, and are growing like crazy in low light. After 45 days, I have to trim them down!

People really focus on that goldfish. He is one of my favorite fish since he is quite active and has a funny personality. I am hoping he wont get big enough to eat the guppies, although fantails can get up to 6" long. My guess is he is about 2.5" now. The fancy guppies though are just great looking fish, and can catch an eye.

Martinismommy

I adore Guppies......I almost set up a Guppy tank recently.....But it ended up another betta tank (imagine that) lol....

Red1313

Hmmmm.... I really have no experiance with guppies.... and I do have an empty ten gal... might be an interesting experiment.

Lucy

Which strains are hard to keep?

Blub

Temperate water is water that shifts with the seasons. In a temperate place, this should happen without a heater. I'm not sure the exact measurments through the season since it's something I never need to know in the UK.

RandomKayos

For me? Any fancy variety. I can keep feeder guppies with no problems but fancy's never last more than a week no matter how I try. Parameters can be text book perfect and still no go. I finally gave up a few years ago. Despite what some may think of me I'm not into fish torture.

RK

Lucy

Ok thanks.

In this statement, you presented it as a fact.

I'm interesting in guppies for my future tank, has everyone found fancy guppies difficult to keep?

Blub

Here's my experience: I bought my first guppys as some of my first fish. They went in an uncycled tank which never really had perfect water parameters. They lasted longer than any other fish! I tried another in that tank, who died straight away, but he was from a worse source. So, if you get them from a good LFS - according to my experience, it should be OK.

Alessa

My fancy guppies are die-hard. No matter what they are always happily swimming like nothing is going on... I have never lost one.

Although, they have always been in a small school, and a cycled tank.

Red1313

I've got that kind of luck with goldfish. When I started naming them by numbers I knew it was a sign to give up on them.

clinton1621

I've never had any problems with fancy guppies =)

The issue... like mentioned above, is the source, if you buy poorly kept fish then yes they will most likely get sick and die... because guppies are small fish which means they cant fight off disease well =(

The only other issue would be stocking... too many males vs females is not good (I would say 1m to 3fm is good)... an overstocked tank, or one that is too small is not good. I know this will catch some flack... but I honestly wouldnt recommend anything less than 20g for a nice breeding group of fancy guppies. Now to slightly correct that statement... you can have a smaller "breeding only" tank, but if you want the main display tank to be the breeding setup, you really want at least 20g or more for success.

Red1313

Hmmm... I see nothing with flacking in that statement.

Blub

But you can keep only males if you don't have a few fry tanks.