|
  |
|
|
Tropical Aquarium Fish - The Guppy
One of the most popular aquarium fishes the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) is also known as the millionfish. Named after Robert Guppy who described the fish he found in Trinidad in 1866 although it had also been found and described in the Americas before then. The guppy is one of the smallest members of the Poecilidae family with females being about 5 centimeters long and males about 3 centimeters long. The females are live bearing. Guppies are native to many Caribbean islands, Guyana and Venezuela. They have been introduced, by accident and by design as part of mosquito control measures to many other countries where they have had an impact on the native fish population. In the wild the females are grey the males have spot, stripes or splashes of blue, red, black, purple, yellow or orange. They have been bred to improve the natural colours of the males and many different colours and patterns can now be seen. This has led to to less hardy fish however that may not be able to survive sudden changes in water temperature. Guppies are highly prolific with a gestation period of between 21 and 30 days. They prefer a water temperature of about 82F for reproduction. A female will display a ‘gravid spot’, a dark area near to the anus after insemination. A female guppy will usually give birth to between 5 and 30 live young which are mature enough to swim away from danger immediately after birth. The female can store sperm and can conceive again within hours of giving birth using the sperm already stored. The fry will take about two months to mature and can eat uneaten food left by the adults or nibble on the algae. Young fry take roughly one or two months to reach maturity. Baby guppies will eat any flake food that the adults leave and will also eat algae. Adults who are well fed will not eat the young but to be sure a breeding tank placed in the aquarium can be used to house the fry safely until they are bigger. Although guppies prefer hard water they can stand a higher level of salinity and have been included in marine tanks successfully. They are generally peaceful fish that do well in community aquariums. Occasionally male guppies may nip at top swimmers like Swordtails or Platys or other male guppies. Fancy guppies have been bred with a wide range of colours and patterns but the ‘wild’ guppy, although less fancy is hardier and is preferred by many aquarium keepers. |
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
The copyright for this content entitled "Tropical Aquarium Fish - The Guppy" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
 |
|
This intel was contributed by janetra
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
