Guppys Arival

[alexbinge]

Ok guys 5 days ago i had 6 guppy in my 4 liter tank and then i had 12 fry. I have had another female start having her fry,I havve also got 2 more pregnant females and they will give birth soon. Im just wondering on peoples different opinion on how many guppy i could have in the tanks thanks. alex

 

[Joshwainwright]

That is an awful lot of fish for 4 litres. I would recommend you re-home some or upgrade to a larger tank...

 

[alexbinge]

o sorry i was suposed to say 40

 

[Joshwainwright]

Oh

Good.

At 40 litres I don't see a problem in that.

 

[alexbinge]

how many guppy would you say is the max for a 40L tank ?

 

[Joshwainwright]

I'd say a maximum of maybe 10 adult guppies.

 

[OldMan47]

I have a 37 litre tank that often has as many as 30 guppies in it. When It gets that many, I sell off all of the adults at local fish auctions. It is really too many fish for a long term healthy group so the surplus must go. If you count only adults, about 10 would be maximum for a tank that size. The population will be self limiting shortly after that since the adults will end up eating all of the new fry.

 

[mdohanl]

I have 6 male guppys and 5 female guppys - is this ratio okay? I do have one guppy fry that is a few weeks old and is starting to get adventurous and join the clan but can't see what sex it is yet. Do I need any more females or just let nature take its course and see what the fry bring?

 

[XFiSh_CichildX]

I have 6 male guppys and 5 female guppys - is this ratio okay? I do have one guppy fry that is a few weeks old and is starting to get adventurous and join the clan but can't see what sex it is yet. Do I need any more females or just let nature take its course and see what the fry bring?

the way you should work the ratio is 1male to 2-3females so you should get a couple more females so the male doesnt chase the females to death thanks

 

[OldMan47]

The 2 females to 1 male ratio is well accepted, and IMO, is overemphasized. I find that any somewhat mature colony breeding situation reaches a near equal female to male ratio and simply does great. If you are keeping small numbers of any species, the ratio of at least 2 females to each male is a good idea. If you start having 5 or 6 or more of both sexes, an equal number seems to work fine. If you have huge numbers of fish of a single species, almost any ratio will work.
Now let's get back to breeder ratios. A commercial breeder will prefer about 5 females to each male. At that ratio, all females will be carrying fry at all times and the number of males will not be high enough to reduce the number of surviving fry in the colony. At a ratio of 2 females per male, the males are more of a predatory factor than at a ratio of 5 to one. That means less surviving fry to sell on to the next consumer.