Guppy Numbers

[willowstwin]

Hi All

So, I'm currently cycling my tank and I'm getting very excited about stocking it once it is stable... I have a question about guppies though, as I've found various bits of information and I'm a tad confused.

I would like some male guppies, as I find their form and colour variations absolutely stunning, however, someone has previously suggested having a couple of males, I've read elsewhere that they're schoolers so that suggests I should keep them in 6+ and other places I've foud people keeping 1 or 2..

I don't want to over stock my tank, but I aim to have 6 neon tetras, a dwarf gourami, and some cherry shrimp (my tank is a 48 litre). But I would also like to add some male guppies - would this be viable?

 

[KittyKat]

Guppies are not schoolers, and without females, the males are not particularly sociable. 6 is always nicer than 1 or 2, but if you don't want many, 1 or 2 is a good number.

From your current aim, there is a decent chance that the gourami will have a go at the guppies because it could see them as competition. I recommend an aim of 10 neons (they will really benefit from larger numbers), a honey gourami (more hardy than the average dwarf and more suited to a small tank like that) and cherry shrimp (which a dwarf gourami may try to much). Also, guppies and tetras have very different water requirements.. they will live in each other's conditions, but would flourish in the right ones for them.

 

[willowstwin]

ok, thanks for the info I'll leave the guppies (much to the disappointment of my 5 yr old nephew) but if it's best for them then I'll be happy with that. I've seen some beautiful honeys, but I liked the colouration of the dwarf, with the pretty blue markings, but if you think honeys would settle better, then I'm good with that too. I'd rather have a tank full of happy fish than a tank of the fish I would ideally have if they're only semi happy

 

[Fish Guy]

With a 48L tank I would go with guppies or neons, not both. You could go with 6-7 neons and 2 honey gouramis.

 

[willowstwin]

Right... so 7 tetras (my lucky number), a couple of honey gouramis and some cherry shrimp... sounds like a pretty tank to me I'll just have to get another tank with some guppies in

 

[KittyKat]

Yeah, although I think with time and plants, a few more neons will fit in MTS is about to bite you so hard on the #16#####, you won't know what hit you

So I would recommend that once your tank is cycled, you should plant it, add a small bit of bogwood or red moor wood and the fish on the same day. You should look to buy 4-5 undemanding plants (I recommend you look at Cabomba, Hygrophila, Crypts, Java moss and Java fern - not all plants will work for you, but some will do well). When you go to buy the fish, make sure you get an anti-whitespot medication and an anti-fungal/bacterial medication (I use Sera's Protazol and eSHa 2000) because if the fish turn out to have anything, you will need to treat it immediately and some people do not have much luck with neons. You probably want to get the tetras first, then the honey gouramis two weeks later and the shrimp another two weeks later. A few months later, think about topping up the tetra numbers. Also, the wood will dye the water tea coloured (it will be clear, just with a tinge), the tannins are good for the neons.