Aquarium Tips for Tropical Fish

Freshwater Guppy Aquarium Care

Of all the fish you can keep in an aquarium guppies are probably the most popular. Guppies can adjust quite well to differing water conditions in moderation of course, and are known to be one of the hardier species of fish. But like all fish they will suffer from stress if the water fluctuations become too common. Water conditions for guppies should have a PH level between 7.0 and 8.2, water temperature can differ about 10 degrees from about seventy two to eighty two degrees. These variations in water conditions have quite a bit more scope than water fluctuations that tropical fish and other marine fish can survive in. Guppies are fun to keep and their small bodies with tails that are like a feathery fan can be great for your aquarium. They do not grow too large, about one and a half to two inches long and they grow quickly into full maturity.

Caring for your fish can basically be split into three separate important parts. One is there diet. Guppy diets consist mainly of flakes or frozen food and they should be fed only small amounts about three times per day. Guppies will eat most things and the young are especially vulnerable if the adults are hungry as they will eat young guppies. Another important ingredient to keeping healthy fish is the condition of their water. Apart from water temperatures and PH levels it is most important to keep the water clean by changing it frequently. Keep and eye on the water and if it starts to go cloudy or suddenly starts to smell this is a good indication to change it. It will usually be one to two weeks for water changes. Water changes should be done gradually it will disrupt the fish less than a full water change. So it is probably best to change only about one third of the water at any one time.

The third ingredient is keeping your fish in a state of happiness. If you can create a natural environment for your guppies then they will stay in a happy and healthy condition. The substrate in the tank bottom should be about two inches thick. Guppies are used to living with aquatic plants and a variety should be available in the tank for them to hide in. Other nice additions to your guppy aquarium to make them feel at home can be some nice coloured rock or dead crushed coral.

Guppies come in different varieties and a few you should try include Spadetail, Deltatail, Flagtail, Roundtail and Fantail. The tails of these types of guppy are remarkable and quite unique and as you can see their names focus on their tales. These tails take up about one third of the entire fish’s length. Guppies can be targeted by other fish because of their fancy tale and although they can live with other species of fish you will have to be careful which varieties you keep them with. You can take advice from you local aquarium store experts on this. You probably do not need many guppies at first because they are great breeders. They can breed every three to four weeks and interbreed amongst themselves. Aquariums can quickly become full of small colourful fish and because of there many colours you may not need any other type of fish in your aquarium. Guppies are relatively easy to keep and will brighten up any aquarium.