Guppies in the wild

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Austin Burgess

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So I will probably get put on blast for this question but I am genuinely curious as to why this is:

A lot of people ask this site and or similar ones stocking questions, and a lot of these lists include guppies and tetras or guppies and cories. And the answer always posted is no, absolutely not, because they need hard water, because the ecology of livebearers bodies need the minerals to properly function. That makes perfect sense!

But, my question, especially with guppies specifically, is that wild guppies and platies are found in the Amazon river basin and all throughout Central and South America, where hard water is very hard (haha) to come by. Why is it the case that guppies and platies are found naturally alongside tetras and cories, with all species being healthy, but this cannot be recreated in the home aquarium?
 
Hard water fish kept in soft water do not live as long as they should. Perhaps the livebearers found in those rivers are short lived fish compared to those livearers that live in their native central American hard water?
 
I haven't seen guppies and platies with tetras in the Amazon. There might be some livebearers there but I haven't seen any books or videos that say there is.

As a general rule, livebearers are found closer to the coast or in lakes with a lot of mineral content. Whereas most tetras come from the upper reaches of the Amazon where the water is still soft and pure, although stained with tannins.
 
Another reason (or is it the same) is that some wild fish to have a much shorter lifespan in the wild. E.g. in the wild cardinal tetras are pretty much an annual fish where in tanks they can live for 10 years. I have a group that is over 5 years old.
 

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