Creating an Aquarium for Guppies
Making your own aquarium for guppies can be an excellent project to take on. Whether you decide to tackle the project by yourself or make it a creative family venture, there are some things you will need to bear in mind. Understanding the personality and lifestyle of guppies is the best way to make sure that you provide them with a healthy and happy environment. We are going to start by talking a little about the history of the guppy fish.
The guppy is one of world’s most popular fish for freshwater aquariums. They were first discovered in Trinidad in 1866 by Robert John Lechmere Guppy, a British-born civil engineer. Wild guppies can still be found in Trinidad, as well as Guyana, Barbados, Venezuela, Vietnam, Brazil, and in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they can enjoy clear waters and the warm temperatures of the tropical atmosphere.
Guppies are small fish, but they do need plenty of room to swim around. In this species of fish, the females are generally larger and can grow up to two and a half inches long. Although the males usually only grow to be about an inch and a half long, they have much larger tail fins than the females, and are also more vibrantly colored. The females have smaller fins and are more plainly colored. Both genders are sure to add a bit of flare and liveliness to your aquarium, though!
Guppies are notoriously easy to breed, which can be quite a good thing because this species of fish is so darn easy to care for! The guppy has a pretty easy-going personality and can get along well with many other types of fish, such as mollies, platys, and tetras. It is important that you understand how laid back guppies are, as they can be easy targets for more aggressive species of fish. If you intend to keep aggressive fish as well, please consider getting a separate tank for them.
You might be wondering what kind of supplies you’re going to need for your aquarium for guppies. First off, you need to have a rough idea of how many guppies you’d like to keep in the tank. This is important to know so that you can choose the right size of tank. It is recommended that you do not keep more than five guppies in one 10-gallon tank. The tank should be fully equipped with a water filter, air pump, and a heater. Guppies can live in slightly murky water, but their quality of life and their activity levels will be much better if their tank water is mostly clear. To ensure this, you can do a water change once a week in which you remove about 1/3 of the water from the tank and replace it with fresh water. The heater should keep the water’s temperature around 78 degrees F in order to encourage good levels of activity among the guppies. Just remember that the cooler the water, the less movement your guppies will want to make.
Gravel or rocks can be added to the tank, but if you really want to set off the guppies’ colorful bodies, I suggest you consider adding a variety of plants to the aquarium. You can also jazz things up with a bit of driftwood or a small clay or ceramic pot, which makes for a good hidey-hole. Glass marbles, colorful sand, and interesting rocks from a local river or creek also make great additions to an aquarium for guppies. Just stay away from anything metallic or water soluble, as these could be toxic to your fish.
Decorating the aquarium is only half the fun. The real enjoyment comes when you get to pick the guppies for your tank! Just bear in mind that guppies must have plenty of room to move about. If you aren’t looking for babies right away, make sure to carefully inspect any female guppies before you purchase them. If her abdomen is protruding (it kind of looks like the fish swallowed a large pebble), then she is likely pregnant. Thanks for reading and have fun building your aquarium!