The Natural Aquarium

[emeraldking]

I don't do real water changes in my paludarium. Wild guppies are swimming in there. It contains rocks, swamp plants and no mechanical filtration. I only add some water every two months. What evaporates, hits the glass, plants and rocks and eventually ends up back in the water. The water is always clear. Those guppies are healthy and reproduce massively.

 

[GaryE]

@emeraldking
In Libreville Gabon, we watched feral guppies in the 6 inch wide, shallow open cement drain of a gas station. People were doing water changes by washing vehicles. The guppies were swimming in and out of a potato chip bag (salt tolerance?). They had candy wrappers galore. One that my friend picked up in his hand was a very gravid female. Guppies that start out healthy are tough as nails. I suspect I could make my recycling box into a biotope.

 

[emeraldking]

(salt tolerance?

Guppies are salt tolerant to a certain degree when we speak about large finned guppies. Short finned guppies are more salt tolerant.

Well, in free nature guppies are very btolerant when it comes to water parameters. They even thrive well in dirted water in free nature. And in certain countries even in sewers without any problems.

 

[Oldspartan]

@emeraldking
In Libreville Gabon, we watched feral guppies in the 6 inch wide, shallow open cement drain of a gas station. People were doing water changes by washing vehicles. The guppies were swimming in and out of a potato chip bag (salt tolerance?). They had candy wrappers galore. One that my friend picked up in his hand was a very gravid female. Guppies that start out healthy are tough as nails. I suspect I could make my recycling box into a biotope.

As the good Dr. in Jurassic Parc said …. Life finds a way.