I've been chatting with a few of my friends about guppies lately. Some say that they are easy to breed and easy to take care of. However, others say that they are really tough to take care of and very sensitive fish.

I was thinking of doing guppy breeding as a 4-H project. I am also going to do koi as one of my 4-H projects.

Anyway, I guess my question is...
What temperature do they live best?
Is gravel or barebottomed better?
What type of plants do they like?

I'm new to tropical fish, and would like as much information as possible.
I will be starting this in December, probably, and want tons of information! :phone

Guppies are fun! They can be sensitive, but so long as you aren't doing anything drastic to their water, they should be fine. Also, avoid meds or water conditioners with (newborn) fry in the tank. You can use gravel. I did when I first started with guppies. Now instead I just use a fakw plastic plant that "carpets" the bottom of the tank so that the fry can hide from mom after birth to avoid being eaten (also easier for me to clean). Temps anywhere from 68-80F, but I keep mine at least 76. Also, if you want bigger drops of fry, try feeding them a regular diet of brine shrimp (with ither goodies too, of course).

Good Luck!

The hardest part with guppies I have found and heard is getting your first ones to live and thrive. The majority of guppies are bred at a tropical fish farm, shipped out in bags of water to a distributor, who then ships them to stores. They are dumped into tanks of water that may or may not match what they have had, and potentailly then purchased and dumped back into a bag to your house. Stress is reportedly a huge killer of guppies - they get pale and look like fin rot and spots and such (guppy disease) and die.

The very best thing you can do it get some from a local breeder - be it a neighbor or a professional breeder. That way you can avoid the biggest problem of stress. I have lost a number to this problem. There are loads of sites on guppy care - since I am not at my home computer I cannot give you links, but if you search guppy care, you will be flooded with good info.

Depending on what you want to do with them you need to start with a female (s) that have NOT been with males since a very very young age. They can havea multiple litters of babies from one breeding with one male - sometimes 3 different litters of babies spread over 3 months from that one breeding, so if you are looking to cross anything specific, you need to either have loads of time and take some care to breed your own "clean" females, or you need to get them from a reliable source.

Good luck! I am learning a tremendous amount about them and truly enjoying them!

Thanks!

I'm looking for a professional breeder, whether it is nearby or online. I am not having much luck, but if anybody knows of any in the USA, just let me know...

When I got guppies, the really fancy males were hard to keep alive. (The ones with big flowing tails and a thinner/smaller looking body)

The females and regular males are very hardy for me and easy to take care of.

My guppies have always been extremely easy to care for....I can do anything to the water and my other fish may die but there will always be guppies. I negelected to clean the tank for a while (not a real tank...no filter) and it turned all gunky and smelly...the guppies lived. I buy all mine from nnnnnn which may have something to do with it. Survival of the fittest. To survive nooppee you have to be a mastewr fishy!