Caring for your guppies is one important task that you should do right and carefully. Guppies are very hardy fish, and could live through just about any water conditions as it seems, but we don't want them to just survive, we want them to live happy and healthy lives. These next few paragraphs will help you to maintain a healthy enviroment for your little pets.

The first important thing you need to know about is tank size. This really depends upon the number of guppies you are planning on keeping. Just remember, a male and female will mate and have babies every month. Ever so, the mother and father will eat the babies, so as long as you don't remove the male and female, you should be fine. A good tank size for people just planning on keeping the guppies as pets would be a 10 or 20 gallon. Just remember not to overcrowd your tanks, you can be sure not to overcrowd by using the one (small) fish per gallon method.

Another thing that is a must is a filter. A good type is a simple undergravel filter, or a box filter. Be sure to clean out the box filter at least once a month. Also, water changes are very much needed. At least once a week change 25-30% of your water. Be sure that the fresh water is free of clorine and other harmful substances.

If your house stays fairly warm year-round, then you should be fine without a heater. But, if your house stays cool or you just want to be safe, you can pick up cheap heaters at Wal-Mart or the pet store. Example as to what size heater you will need: A 10 gallon requires a 50 watt heater. Just be sure your water doesn't get too hot by buying a thermometer. The temperture should be about 74-78 degress F.

Overfeeding is one of the main reasons humans kill their fish now a days. Adult guppies should be fed 2-3 times per day, and a different food at each feeding would be very much appreciated. Adult guppies can take a number of foods- flake, frozen brine shrimp, frozen Tubifex worms, live brine shrimp, live/frozen blood worms the list goes on and on. Now baby fry need to be fed every 3 hours. This maximises their growth by letting them grow to their fullest. They can be fed live brine shimp (a favorite treat of theirs), crushed up flake, powered formulas, beef heart, and just about any other type of food as long as it is crushed up. Feed as much as the fish will consume within a few minutes, and you should be OK.

A hood with a lighting fixture is also needed. The guppies should have at least 5 hours of light each day. Example: 2 hours in the morning, 1 hour around noon-time, and 2 hours at bed time.

And last, be sure to check your PH and Amonia levels weekly. You can buy cheap kits at your local pet store. After all of these things are done, you can put in decorative items like gravel, plastic or real plants and nicks-nacks; just make sure they are safe for you aquarium!

If you follow all of these guides, your guppies should be living pretty good lives and will reward you by staying healthy and active. Of course, even if we keep their enviroment right and clean, we can't always stop Mother Nature from making our fish sick or even die, but following these guides should reduce the risks.

If you have any further questions regarding guppy care, or if I left something out, feel free to e-mail me at: GuppyGal30@hotmail.com

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