what supplies(besides the guppies) are needed to keep them in an aquarium?

3 Comments

1. atxdrew says:

   February 6, 2010 at 8:51 am

   A filtration system, some gravel, some plants, a lid with light, thermomemter, heater, and of course, fish food
2. Zoe says:

   February 6, 2010 at 9:00 am

   You’ll need a tank. How many guppies? You should have a minimum of 5 gallons, and then 1.5 gallons for each guppy. So if you want 3 guppies, that’s an 8 gallon tank.
   Always get more females than males – if there are the same amount of females (or less) the males will always be pestering them.
   You will need a substrate of some sort (gravel or sand)
   You will need a heater (get a submersible heater, Ego-Jaggar is a good brand). You should also get a thermometer.
   You will need a HOB (Hang off the back) filter (get a filter rated for 20 gallons MORE than your tank – so if you have a 10gallon tank, get a filter rated for 30 gallons)
   Do you want to have live plants? if so, you will need a fluorescent light to grow them.
   You will need other tank decorations, such as rocks, driftwood, castles, coconut shells, fake plants.
   You will need water conditioner to neutralize the chlorine in your tap water.
   You will need a net, for catching fish, and a gravel vacuum tube to clean your tank. Do 20%-30% water change every week.

   You will also need to CYCLE your tank.
   In the wild, and in established tanks, there are bacterial colonies (they are nitrifying bacteria). When fish poop, or when leftover fishfood rots, toxic ammonia is produced. These bacteria break down the ammonia into less toxic nitrates.
   There are several ways to obtain these bacteria.
   You can buy some Bio-Spira, which is the actual live bacteria
   http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html – some petstores sell products like Cycle, which is the dead bacteria, and it’s completely useless. Total waste of money.
   You can also obtain a filter sponge or/and some gravel from an established fishtank. Lots of bacteria in there.
   Those are the two methods to instantly cycle your tank (well, it takes about a day)
   You can also put a source of ammonia into the tank (like a piece of shrimp, or some fish food every other day. Or you can put a fish in which will produce ammonia. It takes 2-5 weeks to build up enough bacteria. Until then, your fish (if you put them in at the start) are suffering from an ammonia burn, and it borders on animal cruelty, so if you must put your fish in right away and cannot instant cycle, keep doing water changes (up to 30%, once every few days) to keep the ammonia levels down.

   Good luck! Also, if you have any females, expect plenty of babies. If you don’t want babies, get only males.
3. Jasmine L says:

   February 6, 2010 at 9:13 am

   To keep guppies in an aquarium, you would need a tank ( at least one gallon per inch of fish meaning that if you had 12 2 inch guppies then you would need at least a 24 gallon tank but make sure you know how large your fish will grow in the future) Guppies are schooling fish meaning that they prefer to live in a school of least 6 other guppies. It keeps them happier when they have some company. You will need a bucket (water changing) a filter, heater, air stone (optional of your filter provides enough oxygen) thermometer, fish food, net, lid so they don’t jump out, light, a table or stand to place the tank on and water conditioner (follow the directions to how much to put in each time). Put the tank away from drafts and direct sunlight.