I just order 3 more fancy guppy fish

I just order 3 more fancy guppy fish. They look like 2 to 1 inch I'll sh0w the photo from ebay. I also have a 20 gallon tank tall.
I also have 3 guppy males (small), 10 Glo Tetras, 3 red eye tetras.
How often do I have to do water changes? And that i am not buying anything more for my 20 inch tank.
Thanks... Also I notice one of my live bearers keeps following one of my fancy guppy around. Could it be that she is not a he. lol
photo from ebay.

 

Rule of thumb for many is 50% weekly, but every tank is different. A rough indecater is the nitrate concentration. Don't let it get above 20ppm and you will be fine.

 

A rough indecater is the nitrate concentration. Don't let it get above 20ppm and you will be fine.

This is indeed of more importance.
A weekly 50% wc seems a lot to me. Of course, every tank is different. But if a 50% wc is needed, then there must be something wrong with it.

 

Is this for the same tank that is already overstocked ? If so 50% minimum.

 

Is this for the same tank that is already overstocked ? If so 50% minimum.

My pet shop said every two weeks, otherwise I could destroy the bacteria.

 

My pet shop said every two weeks, otherwise I could destroy the bacteria.

Your LFS is incorrect. Your bacteria is largely in your filter media & on hardscape like gravel & decor. Water changes should be done in response to nitrate levels. I keep mine well under 20 - 0-5. Regular weekly water changes to keep your nitrates low will not destroy your bacteria.

The guppy following around the male could be a female but also may be challenging a fellow male.

 

Your LFS is incorrect. Your bacteria is largely in your filter media & on hardscape like gravel & decor. Water changes should be done in response to nitrate levels. I keep mine well under 20 - 0-5. Regular weekly water changes to keep your nitrates low will not destroy your bacteria.

Thank you for your reply. What you say makes since. Right now my nitrites and nitrates are both 0. So should I do a 50% water change once a week? So should I clean the gravel every two weeks? My tank is over stocked. I have 3 red eyed tetras, 6 guppies, 10 glo fish (tetras). I have a 20 gallon tank.

 

Thank you for your reply. What you say makes since. Right now my nitrites and nitrates are both 0. So should I do a 50% water change once a week? So should I clean the gravel every two weeks? My tank is over stocked. I have 3 red eyed tetras, 6 guppies, 10 glo fish. I have a 20 gallon tank.

So I keep heavily planted (80-90%), dirted tanks as well as lightly or no planted hospital tanks.

In the hospital tanks, I do water changes when the nitrates are over 5, approaching 10. If your nitrates are currently at 0 with your stocking, I suspect you've either just done a very big (near 100%) water change, the nitrate test is in error & should be re-done or most likely, the tank is completely uncycled & has ammonia.

You'll need an ammonia test if it's uncycled & as you have a bunch of fish, will be doing fish-in cycling. There is a lot of info on fishlore & elsewhere about cycling your tank with fish-in. You will need to do more regular water changes, not fewer, if there is ammonia in your tank. I'd recommend getting an ammonia test, testing for ammonia, nitrites & nitrates daily. Then you'll change out water in direct proportion to the test results to keep your fish alive & healthy. IE: 2 parts ammonia will be reduced to 1 part if you change 50% of the water.

Read up on fish-in cycling tho. Your ultimate goal is enough bacteria to eat up ammonia, turn it into nitrites & then into nitrates you keep under 20 with water changes. This will take time - weeks to more than a month. You'll know you're cycled when your tests show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites & 5-20 nitrates for several days. Until then, you're in for a lot of water changes for the health of your fish.

Good luck & hope it helps.

 

So I keep heavily planted (80-90%), dirted tanks as well as lightly or no planted hospital tanks.

In the hospital tanks, I do water changes when the nitrates are over 5, approaching 10. If your nitrates are currently at 0 with your stocking, I suspect you've either just done a very big (near 100%) water change, the nitrate test is in error & should be re-done or most likely, the tank is completely uncycled & has ammonia.

You'll need an ammonia test if it's uncycled & as you have a bunch of fish, will be doing fish-in cycling. There is a lot of info on fishlore & elsewhere about cycling your tank with fish-in. You will need to do more regular water changes, not fewer, if there is ammonia in your tank. I'd recommend getting an ammonia test, testing for ammonia, nitrites & nitrates daily. Then you'll change out water in direct proportion to the test results to keep your fish alive & healthy. IE: 2 parts ammonia will be reduced to 1 part if you change 50% of the water.

Read up on fish-in cycling tho. Your ultimate goal is enough bacteria to eat up ammonia, turn it into nitrites & then into nitrates you keep under 20 with water changes. This will take time - weeks to more than a month. You'll know you're cycled when your tests show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites & 5-20 nitrates for several days. Until then, you're in for a lot of water changes for the health of your fish.

Good luck & hope it helps.

When I went to the pet store and had my water tested she told me everything looked fine. I think the test strips are not so accurate. I had test strips giving me false ammonia readings of 3.0. Well if my water that was tested by fish lady, was fine, than I have to assume my water is fine.

I just received my 3 male guppies in the mail today. They are very tiny, so tiny, that I found one guppy swimming in my fish bucket. I quickly scooped him up in my hands, and placed in my fish tank. It's a miracle the fish was alive. Before i found the fish. i dumped fish water down the drain from the fish bucket, and the fish was in the bucket. When I put the bucket down I thought I seen a fish. Yep, I was right I seen a fish. The fish is in my fish tank now.
I also did 50% water change today The person I bought the guppies from on Ebay said the guppy fish is 6 months old. Are guppies full grown at 6 months old?

 

When I went to the pet store and had my water tested she told me everything looked fine. I think the test strips are not so accurate. I had test strips giving me false ammonia readings of 3.0. Well if my water that was tested by fish lady, was fine, than I have to assume my water is fine.

I just received my 3 male guppies in the mail today. They are very tiny, so tiny, that I found one guppy swimming in my fish bucket. I quickly scooped him up in my hands, and placed in my fish tank. It's a miracle the fish was alive. Before i found the fish. i dumped fish water down the drain from the fish bucket, and the fish was in the bucket. When I put the bucket down I thought I seen a fish. Yep, I was right I seen a fish. The fish is in my fish tank now.
I also did 50% water change today The person I bought the guppies from on Ebay said the guppy fish is 6 months old.

I've just read the previous posts as you've struggled with tests & cycling. You've gotten a lot of excellent advice from other members about cycling so I'll leave you to it.

I'm glad you're happy with the 3 new guppies you ordered for your tank. I wish you the best of luck with them!

 

Are guppy fish that are 6 months old fully grown? When are guppies full grown?

 

Are guppy fish that are 6 months old fully grown? When are guppies full grown?

At 6 months your guppy would typically be full grown.

 

The top two pads are for nitrate and nitrites which I think it's at 0..If it were in pink than I would have some nitrites.

At 6 months your guppy would typically be full grown.

Thank you for your reply.
Why are my guppies not a big as this picture? Are there guppies as big as whats in this photo?
A video of all my fishie's

 

I've got 80 tanks running indoors a not one of them will have a wc once a week and for sure not a 50% water change. And knowing that with one exception all tanks are breeding tanks that would be overstocked on a frequent basis. If I look at the rules most will keep in mind, I'm doing something wrong. But you can come over and check those water parameters and you'll see that they're just fine.

Of course, one should check the water parameters regularly. But I always tell that if a tank is well balanced, don't screw with it too much... A lot of people are also too careful with their fish. They can handle more than you think. Which makes them also stronger.

 

Why are my guppies not a big as this picture? Are there guppies, as big as whats in this photo?

I've got 80 tanks running indoors a not one of them will have a wc once a week and for sure not a 50% water change. And knowing that with one exception all tanks are breeding tanks that would be overstocked on a frequent basis. If I look at the rules most will keep in mind, I'm doing something wrong. But you can come over and check those water parameters and you'll see that they're just fine.

Of course, one should check the water parameters regularly. But I always tell that if a tank is well balanced, don't screw with it too much... A lot of people are also too careful with their fish. They can handle more than you think. Which makes them also stronger.

When I was taken my guppies out of the fish bag. I used my fish net to transport to my tank, one of my guppies did not make it into the fish tank (But once I did a water change from the bucket), I looked down into the bucket and I th0ught I seen a baby fish. Well I was correct I seen a tiny fish. I did get the fish into tank asap. The fish seems to be doing fine. I can't believe the fish was doing ok.. I named the fish.. Miracle.
Why are my guppies not a big as this picture? Are there guppies, as big as whats in this photo?

 

Guppy fish can differ in size. That could be by their genetics (so, the strain itself or diversity of mixed genes), but also how crowded has it been in the tank, or how small was the tank, how warm was the water temperature and how well were they fed (or the quality of the food). These are all factors that will be of importance of the final adult size of a guppy.

This evening my black lace guppies gave birth. And those fry are with the adults. No adult is chasing nor eating them. They're so used to small tank mates that they don't care about them anymore. Hardly some hiding spaces in there. And if I look at them, those fry are swimming in the open.