I’m going to get a tropical 10 gallon tank and was wondering how many male guppies and ghost shrimp can fit in it. Also are there any other easy-to-care for fish that I could have in my 10 gallon?

4 male guppies and 4-6 shrimp. The shrimp have a very light bio load and there’s room for reproduction, but get all male guppies you you won’t overpopulate. Also they’re smaller than females and will have more space. That would pretty much stock you but it will look very nice.

Im looking at setting up some breeding lines and want to split bigger tanks into numerous small tanks. For planning purposes, i was wondering if my females and males could be housed in the same large tank and be sexually isolated if they cant physically touch yet essentially share the same water. Im just starting out and dont really know the breeding mechanics for guppies.

Female guppies will not be fertilized until a male guppy has consummated a sexual act with them.

However the males that the females have been growing up with probably have already fertilized them. Female guppies store the sperm from every sexual encounter for about six months which means they can become pregnant about six times without further sexual contact. The most recent "sperm donor" is the father of most of the fry in the next batch, but a percentage of them can be any of the previous males the female has had.

For an example, swordtail livebearers share this reproductive method with guppies. I had two Montezuma swordtail males I could not find mates for. They were getting old so I supplied them with normal green swordtail females. Most of the male offspring from this cross had the enormously long swords of the Montezuma but a few didn’t. So you can still isolate your females, and then expect that most of the fry will be fathered by the male guppy you select. Keep them together and each brood will be more and more the result of your matching.

I have two guppies and thankfully I finally saved enough money for a 10! I really like cory cats but dont they need a group of at LEAST four? So how many of each should I get without overstocking ?

Are you monitoring the tank and able to measure for the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates? As you very likely know, the cycling process often involves a very toxic ammonia spike, the development of a "good-guy" bacterial; culture that breaks the ammonia down into the just toxic nitrites. Then as the nitrites spike, bacteria bloom to break that stuff down into the much less toxic nitrates.

A kit testing for those three is not cheap, but after some fish have been lost it will seem like a bargain. What you want to aim for is an eventual reading for ammonia of 0 PPM (parts per million) 0 PPM of nitrites and under 20 PPM nitrates. The partial water changes will go a long way to lowering nitrates.

You can make those spikes less lethal by installing a good filter (and the less expensive sponge filters are great for growing beneficial bacteria). If you have a box or power filter, put a bag of rinsed activated carbon in there every few days. Weekly partial water changes of 50% (maybe treated in food quality containers left open a couple of days) will also smooth out the process. Val and hornwort are among the more reasonably priced plants, fast growers (soaking up some ammonia) and are perfect "guppy plants." If you can leave you tank light on 12 hours they will grow well. (No sense dumping the urine, feces and stress hormones they released on the way home and any disease organisms in the shop water into your aquarium.)

Carefully dump some of that water into a bucket. (That way nobody is lost in a toilet.) The Corys should just be covered with water. Add that much water again from the tank. After 20-30 minutes pour some of the water in the jar our and double the remaining water with stuff from the tank. After another 20-30 minutes dump all of that water through a net and easy the Corys into the tank. Corys aren’t the jumpers many other fish are, but cover the jar.

When the ammonia and nitrite reading come back down, get two or three more Corys. There is no law that we must buy all of the fish at once. As a matter of fact, starting an aquarium with a whole bunch of fish may sentence them to death by ammonia poisoning. You did extremely well in starting with just a couple of guppies.

In the streams of much of South America, Corydoras school by the hundreds or thousands. So whether we get 4,5 or 6 in an aquarium is up to you.

I think that you know that Corys don’t eat fish droppings (unless they are really starved and near death). It is a little trickier feeding bottom feeders. Corys feed more by touch and scent, not by sight. So we do have to be a little patient with them. Watch to see that they are cleaning up all the food given them.

Two other things to consider with Corys. You probably are doing both of these things. We never want to put them with sharp-edge "gravel" especially little glass like things that can cut off their whiskers (barbels). Also, they are sensitive to dirt and too much bad-guy bacteria in the substrate or gravel. The gravel vacuum that we use to remove the dirt in a part of the tank bottom while doing a water change is really essential.

If you get bronze, albino or salt & pepper Corys, it is possible that some day those easiest of the Corys to spawn may do just that as you grow in the aquarist’s craft.

If you have been surprised by the need for an accessory that you don’t have, maybe ask your family to help with an eventual birthday present. My bride and I do that all the time for each other (birthday, Christmas, anniversary…). I think we are grateful to be "getting" something the other really wants.

I hope the guppies and Corys are great fun to keep!

i am planning on getting some guppies only a few but i am told they breed uncontrollably, how many will fit before there are to many? (i am hoping some babies will not make it i don’t have room for any more tanks) also i plan on having a pleco in there to so my algae is not crazy.

and are guppies dirty fish?

Guppies are not particularly dirty. They will breed pretty much constantly but if you don’t move the babies into another tank, most of them will be eaten by the other fish. I wouldn’t keep more than 15 in a 30-gallon. Also, remember that you will need to feed the pleco (sinking algae wafers or similar) unless you have a really bad algae problem, which you shouldn’t unless you overfeed.

I have 7 baby guppies in a 1 gallon tank made for a Beta. They have a few simple water plants photosynthesizing. The tank is open. Will the water have enough oxygen?

For guppies, it should be OK depending on the size of the top. These hearty fish will just go to the top of the water if they need oxygen and even have their mouths out of the water. They do poop a lot so you’ll have to change about 20% of the water each week.

When I have guppy fry I’m planning on having them in a fish bowl for as little time as possible. Would two weeks be enough time before putting the other two adult female guppies with them? One week even? I would like the majority of them to survive.

This picture is of a breeding separator. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v415/Okiimiru/April2nd2009004-1.jpg You put the pregnant female in it when she is about to give birth, and she has her babies inside it. It floats in the tank. When the babies are born, they drop through a separating slot in the bottom and are safe from being eaten from their mother. Then you remove her once she is done giving birth and let the fry grow up in there.

The advantages of raising the fry in a breeding separator instead of in a fish bowl are:
1. A breeding separator shares the same water as your large aquarium, meaning that the fry never have to deal with ammonia buildup from their food, are at lower risk for fungus because the water is not stagnant, and grow faster because the water is heated.
2. In small containers, it is easier for the fry to find their food. Releasing the fry immediately after birth into a large tank is unwise because fry don’t yet know what is edible and what is not. By placing them in a small container with lots of food, they are able to use their mouths for the first time and will fill their tiny bellies. Food is harder to find in large tanks, there’s longer to swim between bites, and the buildup of all that uneaten food often causes fungus.

The picture above is really the best way to raise fry because they have a place to hide (the green stuff is flame moss), food readily available, and cannot be eaten by larger fish. They also have zero ppm ammonia, heated water, and good oxygen levels. It’s and ideal way to raise tiny newborn fry.

If you raise them in the breeding separator where they will eat frequently and not have to swim against a strong current, then they will be ready to put in the main tank with their parents within two weeks. You’ll know they’re ready to put in the main tank when they are too large to fit inside their parent’s mouths. Release one or two fry when you think that they are all ready and then watch what happens to those "test" fry. They will hopefully not get eaten. Then you can release the rest of your fry.
Growth is slower after release into the main tank because they have to swim against the current and food is farther between bits.

I just got some feeder guppies in my five gallon tank with a filter and one female is so pregnant! I was wondering How long does it usually take for guppies to have babies? Also what do i need in my tank for the to survive? I have rocks that cover about 1/2 of the floor in my tank. and i have a small fake plant very small though. do i need any more hiding places? What kind of things do i need for them to hide in?

The gestation period for guppies is about 28 days. You defiantly need more hiding spaces. I would recommend bushy plants either real or fake

My guppies have had babies, and the tank is now VERY full of adult and baby guppies. How maky is too many to have in a twenty gallon?

That is a really tough question. Guppies are so small, it shouldn’t be a huge deal to have extras in there. I would say maybe a max of 2 adult guppies per gallon, so no more than 40 adult guppies.

You could have maybe 4 baby ones per gallon I would guess.

So if you have say 30 adults, that would be 15 gallons worth, leaving you room for no more than 20 babies in there with them (5 gallons worth).

That’s just my estimate, but that would be the maximum. You would want to try to keep them under that limit I think.

~Kyle

I’m going to start a tank and I like guppies. What are good fish to put with guppies so that I don’t have any issues. Can I put an Angel fish with guppies? What would be some good choices? I don’t have a tank yet, but I will make sure to get one large enough to properly house the amount of fish that I get.

Personally I like tetras with guppies. They are very colorful, peaceful and tend to live in the middle of the tank while the guppies tend to live more at the surface. To round this tank off I would also include a few cory catfish that generally live on the bottom. Then you have pretty and interesting fish at every layer of the tank and no problems with aggression.

MM