See how hardy guppies can be...

[emeraldking]

Well, to me it's not surprising but to many of you it will be... When I harvested guppies from my outdoor tubs, it was 12°C water temperature. And they still had fry being born. This is how hardy they'll become when they are put outdoors during spring till somewhere during fall.

They were still vivid swimmers and good eaters at those temperatures.

 

[Back in the fold]

Fry in 52 degree Fahrenheit water ? That’s hardy alright ! I thought that was below their tolerance but apparently not .

 

[emeraldking]

Fry in 52 degree Fahrenheit water ? That’s hardy alright ! I thought that was below their tolerance but apparently not .

Nope, not at all...
That's what stores and sites with copied texts want you to believe. Simply because they originate from tropical countries. So, they must be kept at high temepratures. That's their policy they work with. While I'm always saying that the country itself doesn't determine a fish to be tropical but it's the location within that country that makes a fish tropical or subtropical. Even within a tropical country, there are subzones with a subtropical climate.
And as you can see for yourself in this photo, it's possible without forcing those fish to stay at such temperatures.
Also swordtails have dropped fry at such temperatures. And still swimming and eating perfectly.

 

[Back in the fold]

Nope, not at all...
That's what stores and sites with copied texts want you to believe. Simply because they originate from tropical countries. So, they must be kept at high temepratures. That's their policy they work with. While I'm always saying that the country itself doesn't determine a fish to be tropical but it's the location within that country that makes a fish tropical or subtropical. Even within a tropical country, there are subzones with a subtropical climate.
And as you can see for yourself in this photo, it's possible without forcing those fish to stay at such temperatures.
Also swordtails have dropped fry at such temperatures. And still swimming and eating perfectly.

Very good to know and thank you . It’s fun seeing myths bite the dust .

 

[MaloK]

You can also cramp hundreds of them in a 5 gallons and they all look like if they where at the shopping centre. showing their best attributes all the time, to get attention. In a guppy "only" tank. At night you can see them sleep on their two hears like nobody was there... And they always race to the top of the tank every time your finger reaches over it...

And yeah, my father was like that, no heaters, with a cheap bubbler filter, fish flakes only... He still maintained thousands of beautiful guppies in the same tank for more than 20 years without buying one. And nothing could have looked happier than them.

I remember when he started it, he brought 10 females and 5 very different males. And it produced a rainbow of descendent for more than 2 decades... Some where absolutely gorgeous...

All I can do is talk... This was the time of the "Polaroid Cameras" and there's nothing left from it.

But the concept of an happy fish is highly questionable, For me, it's calculated by the absence of perceptible stress. The size of the environment is secondary, but still highly relative to the projected size of an healthy specimen and it's requirement.

Comet Gold fishes lives for 5 to 14 years. If you could keep one more than 5 in a 1 gallon bowl when you where young... You where able to keep everything, pops said... "Peanut" lived 9 years. I received this fish at school in middle of January and protected the little thing from cold in my coat to get home. While I could see other kids trowing theirs like water balloons on the ice, to see what it will do.

But i'll never forget their faces, when the teacher asked how they where doing a week later..

 

[Back in the fold]

@MaloK I loved reading that story about your Dad and the guppies . It brought back memories of very similar guppy aquariums I saw many years ago .

 

[GaryE]

When we were in Gabon, we stopped at a fuel place with some University offices behind it. There was a 6 inch wide drainage trench, probably a foot deep and covered with bar grating. It had about 3 inches of dirty water, a lot of food wrappers, and a large feral guppy population. A friend caught them with his hands to take a look at them.

The US decided to send guppies along coastal Africa in the 60s for mosquito control, not noticing the local killies had it covered as much as anything could. Every once in a while, 2 or 3 guppies would arrive mixed in with very edge of the coast Nigerian or Cameroon fish. Luckily, they've never made it inland.

The toughest guppies I ever met were in the folds of a bag holding 40 young piranhas. They had survived 3 days in there. I took them home, as they'd earned it, and kept their line going for a few years.

 

[Back in the fold]

When we were in Gabon, we stopped at a fuel place with some University offices behind it. There was a 6 inch wide drainage trench, probably a foot deep and covered with bar grating. It had about 3 inches of dirty water, a lot of food wrappers, and a large feral guppy population. A friend caught them with his hands to take a look at them.

The US decided to send guppies along coastal Africa in the 60s for mosquito control, not noticing the local killies had it covered as much as anything could. Every once in a while, 2 or 3 guppies would arrive mixed in with very edge of the coast Nigerian or Cameroon fish. Luckily, they've never made it inland.

The toughest guppies I ever met were in the folds of a bag holding 40 young piranhas. They had survived 3 days in there. I took them home, as they'd earned it, and kept their line going for a few years.

Guppies sure get around ! One thing you mentioned struck me and that was the filthy conditions you encountered those Gabon guppies in . We go to such great lengths to make sure our aquariums are sparkling clean when these fish will tolerate much less . I’m not saying let things go just noting what fish will survive in . Did you happen to check the temperature of that ditch ?

 

[Back in the fold]

@emeraldking Along the lines of your remarks about sub tropical zones and the 52 degree Fahrenheit temperatures these fry are at I must ask - do you heat your indoor guppy aquariums and to what temperature ? Also do you see any loss of vitality in guppies kept at consistently low temperature ? I have an idea what you will answer but I want to hear from the oracle .

 

[GaryE]

Guppies sure get around ! One thing you mentioned struck me and that was the filthy conditions you encountered those Gabon guppies in . We go to such great lengths to make sure our aquariums are sparkling clean when these fish will tolerate much less . I’m not saying let things go just noting what fish will survive in . Did you happen to check the temperature of that ditch ?

It's hard to say what filthy is. For those guppies, we were looking through grating. There was all the usual urban debris in there. But the water was moving, and who knows, maybe looks were deceiving. We didn't test it because we weren't into guppies. We were picking stuff up and hitting the road to look for native species.

That city, Libreville, was pretty rough though, and I'd expect urban water to be polluted.

For temperatures, my last guppies came from a coworker's backyard in Trinidad. She had brought them to Canada as a reminder of home, and gave them to me when she retired and moved back. The usual low in Trini is 22c, but shaded streams can be a couple of degrees cooler than the air. So if I attempt to speak the weird language of Fahrenheit, that would put them in high 60s temps part of the time, and I'm sure they could go lower as noted above. They are survivors.

 

[emeraldking]

@emeraldking Along the lines of your remarks about sub tropical zones and the 52 degree Fahrenheit temperatures these fry are at I must ask - do you heat your indoor guppy aquariums and to what temperature ? Also do you see any loss of vitality in guppies kept at consistently low temperature ? I have an idea what you will answer but I want to hear from the oracle .

I don't heat my indoor tanks. We've got a central heating system in the house. Those that prefer lower temps will be placed at lower shelves and those which require more warmth, will be placed at higher shelves. But in general, I still keep the temperature moderate at room temperature. When it comes to guppies, once they're used to lower temps, they'll be vivid as when they would've been kept at higher rates.
I've got another space where I've got tanks running where it's max 20°C. But all fish are okay at lower temps. Even my mollies and they won't stop reproducing at such temps. And when it comes to my goodeids, they need a period of low temperature. Same goes for a number of wild swordtail and platy species. This way, I'll keep them healthy and strong. And it does add to a longer lifespan.

 

[Back in the fold]

@emeraldking Thank you for that . Good information !

 

[emeraldking]

@emeraldking Thank you for that . Good information !

My pleasure...