I'm just curious as to how many baby guppies will live to see adulthood?

When I get them I want a few babies which I know will be harder done than said, but I'm not looking to become a breeder or anything... so if I don't seperate them (the babies and the adults) and just keep adding regular food and keeping the water the same as it is... no special treatment... how many of the fry will live. Percentage wise or number... but number may be harder since I read they can have anywhere from 2-200 fry. o_o;;

well, if you arent going to seperate the fry, it depends on how many adults you have, how many places to hide, tank size ect. My tank is 30 gallons. i have about 25 adults and 11 plants to hide in. usually for me, 2 or 3 survive. the others usually get eaten or some even end up in the filter.

Hmmm... I have a 40 gallon tank with a bunch of artifical plants (6 ish) and some sculptures. I'm planning on getting four adults.

then you should have a pretty good survival rate

Um how many gallons does a guppy need? I read somewhere that like 3 need at least 5 gallons but would that mean you could only have 6 in a 10 gallon?

I only ask because I saw a clip of a 10 gallon tank with at least a dozen guppies happily swimming around and I'm wondering what the rule of thumb is...

guppies only need about 1 gallon each.

All of mine are surviving. I don't know if I'm cursed or gifted...I have about 40 or so month olds in a heavily planted 5 gallon, 5 in a 2.5 with my Barb, the male is in a 1 gallon which is inside a 10 gallon that houses the 2 fancy females, 1 mosquito fish female, and another 40-60 fry that are a few days/weeks old.

Only one stillborn this whole time. Everyone else is happy and healthy.

I don't like to see full-grown fish in a five gallon.

A dozen guppies in a 10 gallon is overstocked, but if they kept an eye on water parameters, then in its really not that bad.

If you're interested in breeding guppies I'd get more than 4 adults. I'd get like 3 males and maybe 10 females. You'll be overrun w/ babies in no time

I would suggest getting some floating anacharis from your local petstore for the babies to hide in. They will love to play and hide in it and it makes a nice snack for babies and adults alike. I leave the fry in with the adults and I usually get anywhere between 3 and 10 babies who make it to adulthood. Have fun with your guppies !

Well you see the thing is... I don't want to breed guppies.

I just want to have as many as I can comfortably fit in the tank because guppies are schooling fish and happier that way (I'm fairly certain.) I want to have some way to regulate the population that isn't guppy genocide (which is what my mum did when I was a kid and my two "female" guppies in a two gallon tank had a ton of babies.) So I'm not going to try and give the fry any special treatment and hope only a couple live each time. That sounds really mean but I don't want to overstock and have to go out and get more and more tanks and more and more supplies (you know... excessively of course I'll buy more food and water conditioner and stuff ).

I'm not a guppy breeder. Just a person who finds guppies adorable and gorgeous.

Hmmm... should I get live plants? I've always seen guppies in tanks with live plants but I've heard some bad stuff about them. Plus my room is on the bottom floor, not the basement because it's all above ground, but my windows are under our deck and in the Northwest there's never any sun really and my room is just lit by some lamps and stuff... so I'm concerned that they won't thrive in my tank and I don't really want to go out and get a plant light. Would live plants be okay in this er... climate? And which ones would you recommend? I've already jotted down floating anacharis.

No, that doesn't sound bad at all. Actually, quite responsible.

Live or fake plants is purely preference. I don't have a ton of luck w/ live plants, but anachris and swordtails have done well in my tanks in the past. I'm sure someone else will come along w/ more suggestions tho.

Yay! I'm going to get my guppies today! I'm finally allowed to walk around and go out and stuff (was on house/bed arrest after my surgery.)

What should I look for? Are there signs of a healthy guppy? A sick one? I'm so excited!