Guppies - Poecilia reticulata

Ornamental tropical fish - Guppies - information - introduction

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 05:12:00 +0000

Introduction to ornamental tropical guppies fish → History → Taxonomy

You have reached the right place for getting all information about the ornamental tropical guppies.

Herein an attempt is made to give you an exhaustive guppies information on various topics on their care, ecological requirements, breeding, diseases, varieties etc.

Here the information is given keeping in mind both the beginner and the experienced ornamental fish keeper.

Of all the ornamental tropical aquarium fish, guppies are the easiest to maintain and breed.

It is interesting to breed these pets and with dedicated work new breeds and strains can be developed, if some basic information is known.

It is easy to breed them and do some home experiments to get new colours and tail shapes and enjoy the fruit in a short span of time.

It is an exiting experience to watch them grow and breed in our home aquarium.

Exchanging and swapping different varieties and sharing information with fellow fish keepers is a wonderful experience.

Especially children must be introduced to this hobby and it is an infectious hobby as it catches up with the neighbourhood buddies. This will keep them engaged as well as help in their positive psychological development.

Keeping ornamental tropical guppies at home is found to increase the interaction between the family members and to reduce stress and strain.

Setting up ornamental guppy fish aquarium - Cleaning of new aquarium tank

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:35:00 +0000

Selection of ornamental guppy fish aquarium → Equipments for guppy fish aquarium → Water quality for ornamental guppy fish aquarium → Setting up guppy aquarium → Purchase of fancy guppy fish
The process of setting up guppy fish aquarium can be divided into the following four aspects.

Cleaning the fish aquarium and accessories before Setting up the aquarium
Setting up the accessories and equipments in the ornamental guppy fish aquarium
Setting up for "cycling" process for the ornamental guppy fish tank
Introducing ornamental guppy fish into the aquarium

In this post we will take up the first topic of cleaning of ornamental guppy fish aquarium and accessories for setting up the fish aquarium. In the subsequent posts you will find more information about the other topics.

When you purchase the ornamental fish tank, request the store owner to check the tank for breakage and leakage.
If that is not possible your first action on reaching home is to check the tank for leakage.
Remove the packing used to protect the aquarium from breakage and scratches.
Wipe the tank with cotton swap to remove greasy matter, if any.
In the outdoors fill the tank with water by placing it on the thermocole sheet on a level ground.

Fancy guppy (enlarge) photo: Redguppyman
Do not move or lift the ornamental fish aquarium with water. Apart from being heavy, the bottom glue may give way due to direct weight of water on the joints.
Check for leaks. Then clean the glass with plain water with glass scrub to remove dust on both the sides of the glass. warm water will help in removing grease and oil.
Never use soap or detergents as the chemicals may hang on and poison the fish later.
You can use dilute bleach to sterilize the tank if you want. If the tank is second hand, you must sterilize the tank with bleach.
Rinse the tank thoroughly to remove the traces of bleach.
Now place the stand at the predetermined place. Put the sheet of thermocole on the stand and place the empty tank on it.
Wipe the tank glass clean with dry cotton or paper to remove water drops sticking on it.
If the water drops are allowed to dry by themselves dust may deposit on them leaving marks.
If you have purchased a hood clean it with dry clean cloth.

Now you have to clean the gravel. Use only the gravel supplied by aquarium supply stores as it is more likely to be free from chemicals and harmful agents.
Wash and rinse the gravel thoroughly as it may contain silt and dust; any laxity in this will leave your tank water cloudy and your sponge filter may clog.
Rinse ornamental fixtures, ornamental artificial plants, if any, several times to remove dust and dirt (do not use soap or detergent).
Not all types of rocks are suitable for fish. Some are really harmful to the fish. Only use the rocks purchased from aquarium supply stores. Wash the ornamental rocks with scrubber and rinse well.
The scrubber and buckets must be exclusively used for the ornamental guppy fish aquarium.

Wash the submersible parts of the air pump, filter, filter bed, tubing, thermometer and heater with clean water and wipe the electrical appliances with clean dry cloth after switching them off.

Now you are ready for setting up the accessories and equipments inside the ornamental guppy fish aquarium.

Fancy Guppy fish aquarium - water quality and conditioning

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:47:00 +0000

Selection of guppy aquarium → Equipments for fancy guppy aquarium → Water quality for fancy guppy fish aquarium → Setting up guppy aquarium → Purchase of fancy guppy fish

Good clean aquarium water with ideal quality of Ph and alkalinity is most important criterion for growing large fancy guppy fish with colorful, long and flowing tail fins.

Conditioning of aquarium water for quality improvement by removing chlorine

Urban location of most of the fancy guppy fish hobbyists limits their water source to city supply.
Local companies have very different quality criteria focused on making it pathogen free for human use.
They treat it with chlorine and more often with chloramine (combination of ammonia and chlorine).
Chlorine released from bleaching powder or chloramine is highly corrosive to living cells and is toxic to fancy guppy fish and can kill them.
Hence the chlorine in the aquarium water must be completely removed before introducing fancy guppy fish.

Chlorine removal
Depending upon the type of disinfectant used there are different methods to improve the water quality of the aquarium.
To improve the quality wherein only chlorine is used just leave it to age for 48 hours or aerate it for 24 hours. The chlorine will escape from the system.

Chloramine removal
To remove chloramine you have to treat the water with sodium thiosuphate (contained in commercial water conditioners). The chemical separating chlorine from ammonia, eliminates chlorine. The ammonia can be removed by using ammo-chips in a box filter. You can make your storage water chlorine free by adding sodium thiosulphate and ammonia free by running ammo-chips in a box filter.
Ammo-chips can be reused by soaking them in salt solution for about two hours and rinsing.

Fancy guppy (enlarge) photo: Redguppyman

Fancy guppy fish aquarium water quality criteria

Having tropical and subtropical origins, fancy guppy fish have aquarium water quality requirements like, slight salinity, pH on the alkaline side (not more than 8.0), alkalinity on the hard side and temperature between 75° F to 82° F.
If your water source is a local company, it is most likely that the pH will be slightly on the alkaline side and hardness may vary between 20 -400 ppm (of total hardness) which is very much acceptable quality for raising fancy guppy fish in aquarium.

In rare cases the supplied water quality may be less than 7 pH in alkalinity. In such cases it may be a continuous struggle to manipulate the pH of tank water with chemicals for the sake of fancy guppy fish.
In such case it will be better to put fish varieties which stand lower pH like angels in the aquarium.

If your source is a open well or a underground well, then it will be better to analyse it completely before taking up this hobby.
Excess of metals like iron and copper can be toxic to guppy.
In some cases pH of the underground water may be very high and its hardness may also be very high and not suitable for the fish.
In some cases it may also contain high ammonia, nitrite and nitrate reducing the quality.

Alternatively you can use bottled water for your guppy tank; however it may turn out to be expensive on the long run.
Keep checking the quality of your water source now and then so that there are no sudden unannounced quality changes and treatments which may harm your fancy guppy fish in the aquarium.

Fancy Guppy aquarium - requirements - equipments and ornaments

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:51:00 +0000

Selection of tank → Equipments for fancy guppy aquarium → Conditioning water for guppy tank → Setting up guppy aquarium → Purchase of fancy guppy fish

Now that you have decided on the purchase of aquarium tank for fancy guppy, you will also require to have some more equipments, fittings and ornaments.

Filter requirements for fancy guppy aquarium

Filters are essential requirements for keeping a healthy fancy aquarium.
You can go in for easy to clean and inexpensive filters. Most popular filters are sponge filters, under gravel filters and box filters.
Mechanical filters like box filters have filter floss and some may also contain activated carbon. They should be weighed down with marbles or dolomite stones. However these corner filters occupy fairly large area of the fancy guppy aquarium. When changing floss some old floss must be left behind so that the bacterial activity continues.
Sponge filter is the easiest to maintain and most popular among the fancy guppy aquarium hobbyists. It is an air-lift filter and squeezing and rinsing it in clean water once in a week will suffice. By this cleaning not much of the beneficent bacteria is lost and there is no danger of re-cycling of the aquarium.
Please note that bacteria are essential requirements of the fancy guppy aquarium and they control toxic by-products of feeding like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate from reaching lethal levels.
Under-gravel filters are also very useful filters and are very efficient in providing large area for the bacteria. However while cleaning fancy guppy aquarium, care must be taken and whole gravel layer should not be disturbed as this can cause the water to turn cloudy.
If the aquarium is big, power filter can be used. Care must taken to see that the flow is not too fast, as fast flowing water will tear up the fancy tail of guppy.

Air pump requirements for fancy guppy aquarium

A good quality vibrator pump is one of the important requirements. The air flow can be used to operate the sponge filter or filter bed. Flexible air tubing can be used to supply air from the air pump. This system is easiest to install. While selecting the air-stones care should be taken to have stones with fine diffuse flow with smaller bubbles. Air-stone giving smaller bubbles makes more oxygen to dissolve in the water in the fancy fish tank.

Gravel requirements for fancy guppy aquarium

Gravel is one of the requirements in having a beautiful fancy guppy aquarium. If under gravel filter is used the waste and the fecal matter gets trapped in the gravel. Gravel provides extensive surface for the bacteria to cling onto and grow.
Nowadays gravel is available in different fancy colors and sizes. However care must be taken not to use chemically treated and colored gravel as this may become toxic to fish.
Up to 25kg of gravel may be required for a 50 gallon tank.

Lighting requirements for fancy guppy aquarium

Aquarium lighting is one of the important requirements for a successful fancy guppy keeping.
For home aquarium, hood-lighting is the best. It is best to have natural lighting as there are many benefits from it.
Color lighting, though makes the fancy guppy aquarium appear colorful, is an unnatural and abnormal environment. Color lighting in many cases make the color of tails appear subdued.
It is preferable to have light on for about 10 -14 hours in a day.
Guppy fish tend to be less active in a dark aquarium or an aquarium with poor lighting.
This affects their feeding response as well as breeding behaviour.
The light should be set to switch on one hour before the first feeding of the day and switch off one hour after the last feeding. It is best to install an automatic timer to turn the aquarium lights on and off.

Temperature control requirements for fancy guppy aquarium

The predecessors of fancy guppy are tropical wild guppy.
Their natural habitat is tropical and they require warmer waters for their healthy living.
A water heater and thermostat becomes one of the essential requirements for keeping guppy, especially in colder regions.
Fancy guppy can withstand gradual temperature fluctuations from 65° F to 90° F, but getting slowly distressed at the extremes. If the temperatures hang around the lower or higher extreme for days together then the fish gets into stress and its normal biological activities are affected leading to its death.
Different hobbyists have reported of successful fish keeping in the temperature range between 72° F to 86° F.
Most of the guppy breeders agree on the ideal range of 75° F - 82° F.
78° F is considered as the most ideal temperature.
One straight fact about temperature for guppy; At higher temperature the growth is faster fish age early and die.
So the best way is to keep temperature around 80° F till the guppy are 3 months old and attain full growth.
Once they attain full growth bring down and maintain the temperature around 72° F to make the guppy live longer in your aquarium.

Plants and ornaments requirements for fancy guppy aquarium

Aquascaping is the latest trend in the aquarium tank keeping.
Instead of dumping lot of fancy fish into the tank a small number of fish are kept.
More efforts are spent on creating a natural and pristine environment in the tank using natural aquarium plants, artificial plants, rocks, stones and other ornaments.
Here is a place for showing and testing your creativity.
It is very interesting to have live aquarium plants and have them growing in your fancy guppy aquarium.
Live plants are helpful in nitrogen cycle but require sufficient lighting and in the absence of they may die and decay bringing more problems.
As it requires more care and the risk of loss of water quality, it not advised for a beginner.
You can go in non toxic plastic plants and grass beds. Take care to keep sufficient space and clearing for the fancy guppy to move about.
You can decorate your tank with rocks, stones and glass ornaments. Quartz, granite, slate and pebble make excellent ornaments.
It always better to keep them on the sides leaving open areas in the middle of aquarium for the fancy guppy.

Medicines and test kits requirements for fancy guppy aquarium

One of the requirements is to have a kit of chemicals and test-kits for the maintenance of the aquarium.
Keep test-kits for knowing the levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
Requirements for treatment of fancy fish and prevention of diseases; basic water conditioner, formalin, salt, methyline blue, potassium permanganate, nitrofurazone, sulfa and tetracycline.

Very essential accessory requirements for fancy guppy aquarium

Do not forget to buy at least two hand nets for transferring fancy guppy.
Buy one or two 4 gallon buckets for transferring fancy guppy and holding them before releasing into aquarium.
Buy a gravel vacuum with sufficient length of tubing for exchange of water and a bucket to collect siphoned water.
Buy a small aquarium of about 2 - 4 gallon to function as quarantine/hospital tank for fancy fish.
Drum or bin (preferably plastic) are essential requirements to keep a reserve of conditioned and aged water which you can use for water exchange in normal course or in emergency.
Keep a diary of your fancy guppy aquarium schedules and activities for future reference and guidance.
Buy quality feed for your fancy guppy and you can consult your supplier in this regard.

Fancy tail Guppy aquarium tank - requirements - tank selection

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:59:00 +0000

Selection of tank → Equipments for guppy aquarium → Conditioning water for guppy tank → Setting up guppy aquarium → Purchase of guppy fish

Welcome! If you are reading this post because you are interested in keeping fancy guppy fish, you have come to the right place.

Though this article is written keeping in mind a beginner to this hobby, people already experienced in maintaining ornamental guppy fish will also find useful information.
Guppy is one of the most easiest ornamental fish to maintain in an aquarium tank. However the health of the guppy fish purchased and how you set up the guppy fish aquarium will lead you to a very successful outcome or a frustrating experience.

Where to keep your fancy tail guppy aquarium?

The first and the foremost thing in keeping a fish aquarium is deciding about the suitable place in your home. Unless you already have a built in shelf or a fixed space for it, you have to visualise the guppy aquarium along with a stand for it.
You have to have enough space between wall and the aquarium for accommodating air pump, electric cords, tubing and external filters, in any. They must be out of reach of small children.
Next comes the safety of the aquarium, fish, children and large pets. Place the tank in a safe place, where accidental bumping into the tank may not happen due to running about by children or large pets like dogs.
The stand must be strong enough and well balanced so that the set up may not get toppled when a small child or a pet tries to climb on it.
You have to avoid placing your guppy tank where it may get exposed directly to sunlight.
Direct sunlight will cause algal blooms in the tank making the water green and the glass will get a coating of algal growth. Further this exposure fluctuates the temperature of the tank widely, harming the fancy guppy fish.

Aquarium tank type for guppy fish

You can either go in for ready-made all glass tank or acrylic tank.
The advantage of the glass aquarium is that it is non-toxic, scratch free and less expensive. However the disadvantages are that, bigger size glass tanks are heavy, they can crack or shatter and if the sealing is not properly done they may develop leak.
Acrylic aquarium is very light, do not break, safe and do not crack easily.
However the acrylic aquarium can get very easily scratched and over years it will lose transparency. Moreover much expensive when compared to all glass tank.
Never go in for tank with some sides or bottom made of metals. The metal will react with the water salts and form chemicals toxic to fish. On the long run the metals may get eroded and develop leaks.
Now select a suitable type of aquarium taking into consideration, the space available, safety and your budget.

Size of aquarium for guppy fish

It is advisable to go in for a tank of at least ten gallons capacity.
For your convenience volumes in gallons are given below for some sizes of tanks. (Length (l), width (w), and height (h) values are given in inches)
l x w x h = volume in gallons
16 x 12 x 12 = 10 gl
24 x 12 x 12 = 15 gl
32 x 12 x 12 = 20 gl
40 x 12 x 12 = 25 gl
36 x 16 x 12 = 30 gl
36 x 15 x 15 = 35 gl
36 x 16 x 16 = 40 gl
45 x 16 x 16 = 50 gl
50 x 16 x 16 = 55 Gl
To understand which dimensions of a fish tank will hold how much water use the fish tank volume calculator given on the side-bar.

The required capacity of the aquarium depends upon the number of guppy fish you intend to keep and also the space at home.
It is always recommended to keep less than 1 inch of fish (body length excluding fins) per gallon of water. If you are keeping 5 numbers of guppy fish of 2 inches length it works out to 10 inches of fish and they require a minimum ten gallon aquarium.
A higher density guppy will be requiring frequent water exchanges and continuous aeration and filtration with a risk of disease out break and collapse of the system and mortality.
please also take into account the final adult size of guppy fish while calculating the required aquarium capacity.
Buying a larger aquarium will be more accommodating when you think of adding more guppy fish than you earlier thought of.

Endler guppy - Poecilia wingei - Endler's livebearers

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:50:00 +0000

Ornamental wild guppy → Feeder guppy → Ornamental fancy guppy → Endler guppy - Poecilia wingei - Endler's livebearers

The ornamental fish Poecilia wingei belonging to the genus Poecilia is known among the aquarium enthusiasts as Endler's fish, Endler's livebearers or Endler guppy.

Taxonomic position and distribution of Poecilia wingei

These ornamental colorful guppy like fish were first collected by Franklyn F. Bond in the year 1937, from the Venezuelan estuary called Laguna de Patos.
Again these ornamental fish were rediscovered by Dr.John Endler (presently Professor in Animal Behaviour, School of Psychology, University of Exeter)
in the year 1975.
The wild natural habitat of these ornamental livebearer fish is undergoing fast degradation and there is sharp decline in the number of natural specimens of these fish.

Endler guppy

Keeping Poecilia wingei (Endler's livebearer) in aquarium

The ornamental fish are small in size and are preferably kept as single species. In a community aquarium the preferable tank mates of these ornamental livebearer fish can be peace loving dwarf corydoras and Otocinclus Catfish.
As Poecilia wingei can hybridise with guppy, to conserve the purity of the strain they should not be kept with them.
As they are from warm tropical regions the aquarium water must be warm and in cold regions heater must be used to maintain water temperature around 75-80 degree Celsius.
Poecilia wingei prefer hard water and are tolerant to slight salinity.
These ornamental livebearer fish are preferably kept in a planted tank with aeration.
In the darkness they prefer to go to the bottom and rest.

Feeding Endlers livebearers

These ornamental livebearer fish are omnivores and feed on detritus, insect larvae and worms.
In an aquarium they can be fed with pellet or flake feed, dried worms and live worms.
The size of the food must be small enough to fit their tiny mouths.
These ornamental livebearer fish can be fed twice daily in the day time.

Breeding in Poecilia wingei

The males of these ornamental livebearer fish have bright colors and sport varying hues and patterns of green, orange, blue and black.
Like guppy females, the females of endler's livebearers are pale in color.
Mature females have gravid spot and the males carry a gonopodium.
Poecilia wingei is much smaller in size when compared to normal guppy.
The male Poecilia wingei deposits spermstophore in to the female and after a gestation of about 23-25 days the female Poecilia wingei releases 10-40 free swimming young ones.
Young babies can be fed with finely powdered adult feed.
When kept with guppies there is a possibility of getting fertile hybrid.
In order to conserve the purity of the species it is better not to hybridise Poecilia wingei with guppy.

Show guppies - fancy tail guppies - show quality characteristics

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:40:00 +0000

Ornamental fancy tail guppies overview → Fancy guppies types → Good characteristics of show quality fancy tail guppies → Fancy tail guppies clubs and associations

Show quality ornamental fancy tail guppies are judged by the body and fins characteristics like their shape, size, proportions, colors and patterns.

For more than fifty years the competitions for judging the best fancy tail show guppies are being held all over the world by regional and international associations and clubs.
Many of these clubs and associations have their own norms for the competition.
In the IKGH conference held in November 2009, a decision was made to update the standards and the newest version and revision of Inter-High breeding standards 1999 was made for ornamental fancy show guppies.
Here we can get an idea about the general norms followed for the ornamental show guppies (especially IKGH).
The objective of these standards is to achieve the standard form in each of the individual characteristic features of the ornamental fancy fish.
With a standard, shapes of fins and body, their proportions to each other and optimal proportions are established for the ornamental fancy fish.
In a show contest for the ornamental fish deviation from the standards calls for points deductions.
Excessive deviations can lead to disqualification of the fancy ornamental fish from the competition.

Body of ornamental fancy show guppies

The body length of the ornamental show guppies is measured from the tip of the snout to the beginning of the caudal peduncle of the fish.
The body length of the ornamental fish should not be lesser than 20mm for broad tail show varieties, 19mm for sword tails and 18mm for short tails.
The body height of the ornamental fancy fish, at its highest point, must be 1/4 of the body length.
Points are added for longer bodies of the fish up to certain lengths and for further long bodies points are deducted.
The show guppies must have a robust and graceful body.
Deviating characters like, lack of streamline, bulging body, very broad caudal peduncle, very flat body, look of emaciated body, round back and strong bend leads to deduction of points for the ornamental fish.
Ornamental fish affected by diseases and abnormalities are disqualified.

Finnage of fancy show guppies

For judging high breed show guppies, finnage of the ornamental fish plays an important part.
Fancy show guppies are classified according to the tail form.The main and sub categories of the fish are:

Large tail:

Fantail

Triangletail

Veiltail

Flagtail

Sword tail:

Double swordtail

Top swordtail

Bottom swordtail

Lyretail

Short tail:

Pintail

spade tail

Spear tail

Roundtail

In the above categories of fancy show for these ornamental fish, there are separate norms for the size of the tail fin in relation to the body length, shape of the tail fin, the angle at the caudal peduncle and the size and shape of the dorsal fin.

Colors and patterns in show guppies

The well known base colors for ornamental fish are grey, blond, gold, blue, albino, pink, white, cream, silver and lutino. All other colors are considered as cover colors of the fish.
The acknowledged patterns for the fish are filigree, snakeskin and Viennese emerald green.
The cover color and patterns for the fish are: red, green, blue, yellow, black, white, neon, metallic, Moscow, 3/4 black, 1/2 black, single color, multicolor, all colors, Japan blue, red grass, blue grass and medley.
There is deduction of points for the ornamental fish for less than 100% coverage of the colors and patterns individually of body, dorsal fin and tail fin in fancy show.

The vitality and swimming behaviour of the fancy show guppies are also considered and points awarded/deducted.

courtesy info. and images: IKGH

Ornamental guppies types - Fancy guppies types

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:52:00 +0000

Ornamental fancy tails → Good characteristics of show quality fancy guppies → Fancy guppies types → Fancy guppies associations

Colors, patterns and shape of both body and fins are taken into consideration for classifying ornamental fancy guppies.

Guppies are live-bearers and belong to the family Poeciliidae.
Guppies types are grouped into four categories namely, wild guppies, common or feeder guppies, Endler's guppies and fancy guppies. A detailed discussion on the first three types is given in the other posts of this site.
Herein we will discuss the classification of the fancy ones.
By selective and sophisticated methods of breeding may unique breed strains have come into existence.
Innumerable combinations of body colors, tail colors, tail patterns and body patterns are existing.
Adding to these are varied shapes of tail and dorsal fins.
In some unique breeds the place of origin of the fancy tail like 'German', 'American' or 'Russian' are added.

Color and patterns in the classification of guppies types

Irrespective of the body colour, tail color denotes the first name of strains. For example guppies with black body (any color for that matter) with red tails will be named as red types of guppies.
Patterns on the tail and body then come into reckoning for the sub group name types.

The anterior (towards head) body color pattern types:

These are classified as gray, golden, white, tiger, metallic, albino, RREA (real red eye albino) and many other color variants.
Grey: This is the most common anterior body color and it is believed to be due to dominant genes as it is produced more often.
Metallic: Metallic color is seen in these types. The color may appear on the anterior region or on the entire body.
Platinum: In these strains the anterior body sparkle with platinum color.
White: In these fancy breeds the anterior body is white in color.
Tiger: In this fancy breed the scales have blackish coloration in the edge of the individual scales.
Gold (blond): These strains have yellowish gold coloration on the anterior side of the body.
Albino: This appears due to lack of color pigments.
RREA: Real red eye albino has pinkish eyes.
Red eye: In this fancy breed the eyes are deep red in color and the body may have different pigments.

The posterior (towards tail) body color pattern types:

The posterior body pattern types include tuxedo (half black), cobra and snakeskin.
Tuxedo: In these types the posterior (towards tail) half of the body is black in color. AS if wearing tuxedo suits. These types are also called half blacks. Some fancy breeds have been developed to have colors like green and red in the posterior half.
Cobra: These strains have rosette pattern and also vertical bars, similar to snakeskin, but with bolder pattern.
Snakeskin: These fancy ones have a rosette pattern of small dots with chain like streaks giving the appearance of snakeskin.

The types of tail colors and patterns:

Most commonly recognised patterns for tails are solid, Mosaic, Grass and leopard.
Solid color: In these fancy tails the color of the tail fin is total without any blemishes of other colors or patterns.
Grass: This pattern appears as small spots on the tail.
Mosaic: Unlike grass in these types the spots are bigger and inter-connected.
Leopard: These fancy breeds are similar to grass, but the spots are much bigger.

Fins in the classification of guppies types

The shape of caudal fin, appearance of caudal fin and size of the tail fin is also considered for naming the ornamental fancy guppies.
Bottom sword, top sword, double sword, pin, spade, lyre, delta and fan tails are fin classifications.

Poecilia reticulata (guppy) Clubs - Guppy breeders - associations

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:51:00 +0000

Ornamental fancy tail guppy (Poecilia reticulata) overview → Fancy Poecilia reticulata types → Good characteristics of show quality fancy tail Poecilia reticulata → Show Poecilia reticulata breeder clubs and associations

Shows and contests among the breeders for Poecilia reticulata (guppy) are being held all over the world by local and regional, national and international organisations of breeders.

Three major internatonal breeder organisations are presently existing.
Though three major breeder organisations are there the requirement of the day is a nodal international organisation with uniform rules for champion breeder competitions all over the world.
This can happen if the major breeder organisations merge or an international body brings them togeether to start a nodal breeder association.
Presently the norms differ from one guppy breeder organisation to another breeder organisation. In some breeder associations the membership is free whereas some charge fees.

The I.F.G.A. (International Fancy Guppy Association)

This organisation is in existence from 1966 and is active in United States. Many North American and one Brazilian clubs are its members and are listed below.
Chesapeake Guppi Club (CGC)
Deep South Fancy Guppi Associates (DSFGA)
Guppey Associates of Greater Cleveland (GAGC)
Michigan Gupy Breeders (MGB)
Pan Pacific Gupppey Association (PPGA)
South Jersey Guppy Group (SJGG)
GUPPY ASSOC. INTERNATIONAL OF CHICAGO
International Fancy Guppi Association
SAN DIEGO GUPPEY ASSOCIATION
Gateway Guppey Club (GGA)
Guppy Associates of Milwaukee (GAM)
New England Fancy Guppy Association (NEFGA)
Rocky Mountain Guppy Associates (RMGA)
San Fernando Valley Guppey Club
CLUBE DOS CRIADORES DE GUPPEY (Brazil)

The I.K.G.H. (Internationales Kuratorium Guppy Hochzucht)

This association is having many European clubs as members. IKGH is organising European championships since the year 1978.
The member clubs of IKGH are:
Associazione Ferrarese Acquariofilia ed Erpetologia (Italy)
Belgische Guppey Vrienden (Belgium)
Cluub Aktiver Guppyzüchter Deutschlands
Deutsche Guppey Federation (Germany)
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Lebendgebärende Zahnkarpfen (Germany)
Guppii Club Deutschland (Germany)
Interessengemein schaft Guppiis-Mollys-Xiphos (Germany)
Klub.Akva.sk (Slovakia)
Österreichische Guppey Gesellschaft (Austria)
Svenska Guppysällskap (Sweden)
Interessengemein schaft Poeciliidae Deutschland
Magyar Guppey Club (Hungary)
Association France Vvipares (France)
British Livebearer Association (UK)
Die Guppyfreunde Dutschlands (Germany)
Dansk Guppey Klub (Danmark)
guppeyclub.be (Belgium)
Guppey Klub Rheinland (Germany)
Guppen-enzo (Netherlands)
Stowarzyszenie pot nazwa Klub Akwarystow Molinezja (Poland)
Poecilia Nederland (Netherlands)

World guppy association (WGA)

This association was found in 1997 to promote the hobby, competition and uniform world standards. This organisation has international membership. Members of this organisation are:
Die Guppyfreunde Deutschlands e. V. (DGD)
Österreichische Guppey Gesellschaft (ÖGG)
Akvárium zal. 1899 (AKV)
Aqua Breeders Club (ABC)
Associação Portuguesa do Guppey (APG)
Guppey Club Singapore (GCS)
Korean Fancy Guppi Asssociation (GUSAMO)
Deutsche Guppey Föderation e. V. (DGF)
Guppey-Klub-Rheinland (GKR)
Clube dos Criadores de Guppey do Brasil (CCG)
Associazione Italiana Guppey (AIG)
Guppey Associates of Milwaukee (GAM)
Guppeyclub Belgium
Malaysia Poecilia reticulata Club (MGC)
China Poecilia reticulata Club (CGC)

Ornamental fancy guppies - overview - present status

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:51:00 +0000

Fancy guppies → Feeder guppies → Wild guppies → Endler's livebearers

Fancy guppies are one of the most popular, easy to keep, hardy and lively ornamental fishes in the fish keeping hobby.

The advent of fancy guppies

After the discovery of million fish and after its introduction in to United States, first successful attempt was made in developing double sword tails in 1930.
Selective breeding was taken up by pet enthusiasts in 1950s and Paul Hahnel, was one of the pioneer in development of new strains of these ornamental fish.
Coffer tails can be considered as the first fancy guppies. They were developed by W. George Phillips of Britain who later on developed the English Leopard (English Lace) which are the forerunners of almost all the snakeskin varieties.
From these, Eduard Schmidt Focke developed half black tails.

Ornamental fancy tail

Ornamental fancy guppies and show guppies

Breeding these ornamental fish with specialised techniques has brought them far away from the phenotype and genotype of wild varieties. Presently they hardly resemble the wild ones.
Now the emphasis is on getting ornamental tails such as spear tails, round tails, sword tails, lyre tails and delta tails.
The breed name and classification of these ornamental fish is not consistent and differs between and within countries.
With a new breed or strain being evolved every day a semblance of uniform names and identities is becoming difficult.
Now that national and international level breeder associations and clubs of these ornamental fish have come up we may expect that the classification will be put into an order.
With excessive inbreeding the genetic and reproductive vigour of these beautiful ornamental pets is diminishing and this problem has to be looked in to.

Keeping fancy guppies

Quite often you will read that the fancy tails are peaceful, mix well with other ornamental fish and are great community fish.
It is true and they are harmless to other fish. However with the big tails their movement is slow when compared to common guppies. Other community fish may peck and nibble at the fancy tails.
You may have to take into consideration the temperament of the other ornamental fish in the community tank before introducing them into a community tank.Otherwise you may have the tails injured and torn.
If you are also keeping females of these ornamental fish then it will be better to have two or more females for each male so that the females may not get harassed much.
With good quality of water, proper feeding and timely water exchanges, these ornamental fish can be raised easily and they may live up to two years.
Breeding of fancy fish is easy but for developing show quality champion fancy guppies, it requires dedication, years of experience and understanding to select the perfect breeding pair.
To start with, finest and quality parents are required.
Starting with fancy guppies from pet shops and other sub-standard ones, no doubt you may get average specimen but not champions and high value fancy guppies.

Feeder guppies - Feeder fish

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:30:00 +0000

Wild guppies → Feeder guppies → Fancy guppies → Endler's livebearers

Feeder guppies sold in the pet stores are the inferior quality ornamental guppies with no takers.

The advent of feeder guppies

Guppies are prolific breeders having high fecundity and faster growth rate.
Only the male fish have the ornamental value and there are few takers among the hobbyists for this ornamental female fish. So the females become excess in number.
Even if the ornamental pet keeper wants the females the producer usually does not sell them for trade reasons.
Other fish breeders may be interested in the females to develop new strains.
The ornamental fish breeder stands to lose if his quality females get into the hands of other breeders.
So earlier, he had the option of killing them, feeding them to his big carnivorous pets or releasing them in to waterways.
With the growth of ornamental fish trade of arowana, cichlids and catfish the requirement of live feeder food has increased many folds.
So he puts the immature females along with drab coloured males got from his experiments and allows them to breed in a bigger tank. The progeny will be of inferior colouration. This is disposed off as feeder.
In the development of required fancy traits, all the siblings may not be useful.
As these are hardy and tolerate over crowding they can be raised in large tanks and disposed off as feeder fish.
As there is a demand for smaller size for feeding the young arowana and cichlids, the smaller and young guppies are also sold out as feeder fish.

Advantages for using feeder guppies

It is very easy to maintain feeder fish population. Only requirement is big growing tanks and a method to remove babies and to grow them separately.
Timely feeding and timely exchange of water does the rest of the job of raising the fish.
The carnivorous pet fish require by nature live feed and their requirement of animal protein is very high.
They have a shorter gastrointestinal canal suited to high protein feeding.
Feeding them with live food helps in their growth and maintenance of their health.

Disadvantages for using feeder guppies

Some hobbyists consider that using feeder guppies as cruel and unnecessary as alternate feeds are available.
This argument is countered by others by pointing towards raising cattle and poultry for human food.
This is only to show the divergent views and not to raise a debate over it.
The real disadvantage of use of feeder guppies is that they are usually kept neglected in crowded tanks, afflicted by diseases and emaciation.
They can carry parasites and diseases to the pet fish. If they are unhealthy and emaciated, their nutritive value is doubtful.
However they can be raised in a hygienic as well as in a commercial way. With the rise in demand for the carnivorous pets market for these feeder is on the rise.

Precautions to be taken while using feeder guppies

If you want to feed your arowana or your favourite flowerhorn with live food you have to follow some precautions so that your ornamental pet does not fall sick.
Inspect the feeder fish carefully for possible signs of attacks by fin rot, white spots and fish fluke.
The feeder must appear healthy and active.
If the feeder fish food are home delivered or you buy and bring them home, keep them separately in a tank for two days and feed them sufficiently.
Apply some medication for treating and preventing fungal and bacterial infections.
Watch for mortality. If you feel that nothing is wrong, then start feeding your pets with them.
It is always better to keep a stock of treated feeder guppies in a tank to last at least for a week.

Wild guppies - overview - present status as an ornamental fish

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:09:00 +0000

Wild guppies - Feeder guppies - Fancy guppies - Endler's livebearers

The guppies we see in the pet shops are the selectively bred descendants of the wild guppies.

True wild guppies

The true wild guppies fish come from the rivers, streams, lakes and ponds of Barbados, Virgin Islands, Guyana Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Mexico and the State of Florida.
Each of the water body in isolation has developed differing phenotypes and gene pools.
When in floods there is remix of the populations and diversity is strengthened.
They show great diversity in phenotype, easily visible in the males of these species in the form of great range of colours and patterns.
The access to these populations is limited to collectors and the people living in these regions.
Due to regulations and availability, it is hard to get them and they are also priced high.

Descendants of wild guppies

The 'wild guppies' sold in the pet shops and breeding facilities carry the tag of doubt.
At most they could be the early descendant generations of the wild varieties.
They are also priced high and breeding facilities may buy them to improve the genetic vigour of the brood stock.

Founder effect in captive-bred wild guppies fish

In a new population established by a small number of individuals from a larger population, the genetic variation is lost and this effect is termed as Founder effect in population genetics.
As they are not the descendants of a very large population, when brought to the breeding facility and bred in captivity, in 4-5 generations they lose the diversity and exhibit similar phenotype.

Genetic drift in captive-bred wild guppies

Allelic drift or genetic drift is the change in the relative frequency in which allele (genetic variant) occurs due to chance and random sampling.
The effect of genetic drift is larger in a small population of these fish and genetic variation is slowly lost.
In a larger population of these fish genetic equilibrium is maintained.
Further in the protected environment there is feeble natural selection and the least fit also may survive and the identity of the original phenotype is lost.

Negative frequency dependent selection in wild guppies

Negative frequency dependent selection in these wild fish is the result of interaction between them and their predators and also among the phenotypes.
It is found that rare brightly coloured and spotted male fish are attractive to the females and get better and more mating chances.
It is also found that orange spotted males are preferred by the females.
For the predators of this fish, common colouration seem to be a known attractive prey and the rare coloured males have less chances of being eaten.

'Wild guppies' away from their native homelands

These guppies fish varieties have been introduced in to many countries in the world for the purpose of controlling mosquitoes.
These guppies fish have thrived well in the new environments creating diverse phenotypes and genotypes.
These introduced species of fish have become pests in many a host country affecting its native fauna and flora.
Ornamental fish breeding facilities, especially in Asia have released unwanted males and females of these ornamental guppies fish into drains and waterways and these have got established well.

Guppies (million fish): Taxonomic Hierarchy

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:43:00 +0000

Introduction - History - Taxonomic hierarchy

Synonyms of ornamental million fish are given below.

Poecilia reticulatus,
Poecilioides reticulatus,
Acanthophacelus guppii,
Lebistes poecilioides,
Poecilia reticulate,
Lebistes poeciloides,
Acanthophacelus reticulatus,
Girardinus guppii,
Lebistes reticulatus,
Girardinus reticulatus,
Haridichthys reticulatus
and Heterandria guppyi.

Ornamental guppies are also known as million fish show sexual dimorphism. The males of ornamental guppies (million) are colourful and smaller in size when compared to females which are larger in size with dull colouration. The males grow up to 3-4cm in length whereas the females grow up to 4-6cm.

These Poecilia reticulata are livebearers and females after a gestation of 3-4 weeks give birth to young babies.

Taxonomic Hierarchy of Ornamental Guppies (million fish)


	Kingdom	Animalia -- Animals
	Phylum	Chordata -- chordates
	Subphylum	Vertebrata -- vertebrates
	Superclass	Osteichthyes -- bony fishes
	Class	Actinopterygii -- ray-finned fishes
	Subclass	Neopterygii -- neopterygians
	Infraclass	Teleostei
	Superorder	Acanthopterygii
	Order	Cyprinodontiformes -- cyprinodontes, cyprinodontiforms, cyprinodonts, killifishes
	Suborder	Cyprinodontoidei -- cyprinodontoids
	Family	Poeciliidae -- livebearers, livebearing toothcarps
	Subfamily	Poeciliinae -- livebearers
	Genus	Poecilia -- ornamental livebearers, mollies, guppies
	Species	Poecilia reticulata --ornamental guppies, million fish, rainbowfish

Ornamental fish - Guppies tropical fish - history

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:09:00 +0000

Introduction → History of guppies - tropical fish → Taxonomy

Guppies are ornamental tropical fish belonging to the genus Poecilia.
The wild tropical guppies were first discovered by a British naturalist, Robert John Lechmere Guppy (born August 15, 1836 and died August 5, 1916 ) in Trinidad in 1866.

These tiny specimen of guppies collected in the rivers of Trinidad were sent by John Lechmere to the British Museum.

Albrecht Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Günther FRS (also known as Albert Charles Lewis Gotthilf Gunther, born October 3, 1830 and died February 1, 1914), working at the museum as Keeper in Zoology department, named the specimen as Girardinus guppii in honour of John Lechmere.

The genus name Giradinus was given in honour of Charles Girard, a French ichthyologist.

Though John Lechmere is credited with the discovery, De Filippi found guppies in Barbados in 1862 and named them Lebistes poeciliodes.

Another German biologist Julius Gollmer found them 1858 and sent them to Berlin. In 1859, Wilhelm Karl Hartwig Peters identified the females and named them as Poecilia reticulata. The males were later named as Giradinus Guppyi in Berlin.

Later from tropical South America various strains of these guppies fish were reaching museums around the world being mistaken for new species and more than ten scientific names were given by different ichthyologists.

The taxonomists Rosen and Bailey found the name Poecilia reticulata preferable and the scientific community has settled for this name for these ornamental fish as senior synonym.

Poecilia reticulatus, Acanthophacelus guppii, Poecilia reticulate, Acanthophacelus reticulatus, Lebistes reticulatus, Girardinus guppii, Lebistes poeciloides, Girardinus reticulatus, Lebistes poecilioides, Haridichthys reticulatus, Poecilioides reticulatus and Heterandria guppyi are the junior synonyms of this ornamental pet.

however the common name 'guppies' still remains for these tropical ornamental fish.

The wild guppies are natives of Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Virgin Islands, Guyana, Barbados and Brazil.

However they were introduced to many countries of the world for a different purpose. It was hoped that the these ornamental tropical fish will eat mosquito larvae and help in the fight against malaria. However these tropical fish have negatively affected the native fauna of fish.

Live ornamental tropical guppies were brought in to Europe around 1910 and were bred. Considering the reproductive rate, tropical guppies were nick named as million fish (Millionenfisch).

During early 1900 these ornamental tropical varieties were also imported in to United States.

At first wild tropical ornamental sword tail guppies were found and were sought after.

Later an ornamental tropical double sword tail guppies fish was developed in 1930.

In 1950's selective breeding was taken up by many pet enthusiasts and numerous strains with colourful ornamental fancy veil tail were developed.

This kindled the interest in ornamental guppies and big momentum in the breeding and genetics of ornamental guppies picked up.

Paul Hahnel, from Germany was the pioneer in ornamental fancy tail strains development. In Britain, W. George Phillips developed ornamental'Coffer tail' varieties.

Later on he also developed ornamental English Leopard Guppies (English Lace Guppies) with striped patterns.

These ornamental tropical fish were the forerunners of all the snakeskin strains developed through out the world.

From these ornamental guppies, half black fish were developed by Eduard Schmidt Focke.

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noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:10:00 +0000

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sitemap/index - guppies

noreply@blogger.com (Mahmood Syed Faheem) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Guppies - ornamental aquarium fish - information

Guppies - history of tropical ornamental fish

Guppies (million fish) - taxonomic hierarchy

Wild guppies - overview of the present status

Feeder guppies - feeder fish

Ornamental fancy guppies - overview -present status

Ornamental guppies types - fancy guppies types

Endler guppy - Endler's livebearers - Poecilia wingei

Guppy clubs -breeders - associations

Show guppies - fancy tail guppies

Fancy tail guppy aquarium tank - selection of tank

Fancy tail guppy aquarium tank - equipments

Fancy guppy fish aquarium - water quality

Setting up guppy aquarium