Guppies

[kimbosaur]

Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out or anything!! Guppies are pretty hardy fish and with the two fish you have in there now, you should be able to get through cycling with no problems! The problems that I was talking about were what would happen if you added more fish right away and overstock the tank.

What does cycled mean?
Chris explained cycling pretty well. Fish waste and leftover food creates ammonia, which is basically toxic. The more fish you have, the higher your ammonia levels will be in the beginning. "Cycling" is the process where your "good" bacteria establishes itself in the tank. This bacteria is what naturally breaks the toxins down. This is the natural filtering process.

The main purpose of a mechanical filter is basically to aid this natural process. In every filter, there will be a type of media where the bacteria lives. Different filters use different kinds of media (i.e. a sponge cartridge, bio-balls, etc.) The filter sucks up waste so that the bacteria bed can break it down.

How important is the gravel and why?
The gravel basically provides more places for the good bacteria to live. Think of it like another filter. The only thing is, the gravel is home to good bacteria AND bad bacteria, so it does need to be vacuumed once in a while. It's up to you if you want to add it.

Do I need a specific kind of filter or will just a normal little internal box one do?
It's really up to you. A better filter means less work for you in maintenance, and you can possibly keep some more fish with it.

What is a "small bio-load"?
A bio-load is basically the "load" that your tank has to support. A small bio-load basically means there isn't too much burden on the bio-filter (or your bacteria colony).

[kimbosaur]

Chris totally beat me to it!! I also wanted to add that guppies are really hardy fish. I wouldn't worry too much about temperatures and PH. Many sites I've seen say that they will breed in any conditions, but this is my personal experience with them:

1 gallon (~4 litres):
- 1 pair produced 0 babies
- (could have been that one or both fish were just infertile, not too sure)

10 gallon (~38 litres):
- I think I started with about 3-4 fish
- after the guppies started reproducing, the population remained steady at around 8 fish (not the same 8 fish)

25 gallon (~95 litres):
- naturally planted tank
- originally started with two adult pairs- now have a gazillion babies (too many to count)

Dug up an older picture of it:It has been relatively neglected and is now very overgrown and definitely over-populated with guppy babies.

Baby guppy. You can see kind of seen what how overgrown the tank is in this picture. They've reached the surface.

In my 5 gallon tank (~19 litres), I felt I was maxed out at 7 males, and the tank was naturally planted as well. Hope that helps.

[Jeff B]

Nice looking guppies, don't get to attached to the garter food though, lol

[JodiLeigh]

Ok I think I get it now.

I am going to buy a little filter next week which comes with an air pump. Is an air pump safe? It will help oxygenate the water but it won't negatively affect anything else will it?

Until then every other day I am replacing some of the old dirty water with fresh tap water (boiled then cooled) and scooping out any debris out with the net.

How do I test to make sure the water is getting better? I need some kind of test kit but what am I testing for, amonia?

I definitely think the male is comfortable in the tank as he has been very frisky; following the female around all the time, flicking his anal fin forward and getting really close to her.

Oh and putting the gravel in tonight after it's been thoroughly cleaned.

[kimbosaur]

To be honest with you, with guppies, I don't bother with testing. I just play it by ear by observing the fish.

It obviously is better to though. You would have to test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, in that order. In the beginning, there's no point in testing for nitrites or nitrates, just ammonia. Once your ammonia reaches 0, then you can start looking out for the other two.

[JodiLeigh]

To be honest with you, with guppies, I don't bother with testing. I just play it by ear by observing the fish.

It obviously is better to though. You would have to test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, in that order. In the beginning, there's no point in testing for nitrites or nitrates, just ammonia. Once your ammonia reaches 0, then you can start looking out for the other two.

Ok thank you! =] And how to I do that? What do I look for? I really have no clue :/

[chris-uk]

There's test kits available, for what you're asking the most readily available kit is an "API Master Test Kit", costs around £20.
An API test kits will cost you around £7, the master kit includes 4 tests. They last forever, I've had my tests since September and still plenty left.
What Kimberly is saying about testing is that with guppies being hardy fish its not crucial as long as you are looking out for the signs that they are struggling with ammonia levels rising.

The air pump isn't too crucial, if the filter is disturbing the water surface it should be enough to keep the oxygen level right.

[RicMartin]

Well, by the time I got to this thread you got it all covered, guys, good job!

Still, for my 2 ¢, I will share this story:

I started a guppy tank a few years ago, when I thought of getting garters, because I read that I would need them.
I googled my way to some great fancy guppy sites, and I found this little fish shop in San Francisco, where a guy from Hong Kong told me that he couldn't sell me his expensive guppy fish without me first bringing him a sample of my fish-tank's water.
He wanted to make sure I wasn't going to kill his fish by neglecting the water. Mentioning garters to him was out of the question.

Turns out that in Hong Kong there's quite a cult-following for small fishtanks with six inches or so of light, calcium-heavy, gravel; full of Java Ferns, Java moss, and faster growing water plants. If the tank has the right load of cycle bacteria, and some snails, then, even without filters (I use one), they break down the ammonia and the plants take up the byproducts of that, leaving no food for algae to even grow, while also hyper-oxygenating the tank. The result is a tank that only needs a partial water change once a month, yet it's much healthier and stable water than what one gets from the high-maintainance, high chemical, style of fish-keeping.

The plants also create a darker place, less stressful, with plenty of hides for fry. I was told to keep many females (3 or more) to a male, or I'd lose my female due to the constant harassment from the male. If not breeding you can have two tanks and separate them by gender. Males are not territorial if there are lots of them. Feed only once a day and not a lot. They will snack on some plants. If the sand gets covered with uneaten food and dirt, the system is not working. a slice of cucumber or zucchini will give your fish a good extra snack, it will also attract the snails.

When the snails over-breed, which they will do if they are good mollusks, you can use the cucumber to catch them.

My tank became two tanks thru the years, and now I'm back to just one.
My garters have not used them at all, my scrubs all have eaten fillet right away, so far, fingers crossed!.
I love my guppies now, though, so Im keeping them.
My only addition to the Hong Kong formula: Distilled Water.
We have sulfur in the water here; good for your skin, bad for the tank's bacteria.

Sorry for the very longish post.

[kimbosaur]

Turns out that in Hong Kong there's quite a cult-following for small fishtanks with six inches or so of light, calcium-heavy, gravel; full of Java Ferns, Java moss, and faster growing water plants. If the tank has the right load of cycle bacteria, and some snails, then, even without filters (I use one), they break down the ammonia and the plants take up the byproducts of that, leaving no food for algae to even grow, while also hyper-oxygenating the tank. The result is a tank that only needs a partial water change once a month, yet it's much healthier and stable water than what one gets from the high-maintainance, high chemical, style of fish-keeping.

Sounds very much like a Walstad Natural Planted tank! I followed these instructions for my 10 gallon and the plant growth boomed (mostly heavy root feeders like swords). My tank now is still planted in top soil but I cheated and added a filter.

[i_heart_sneakie_snakes]

My little Wandering loves to eat my live guppies. Its a good thing I breed them!!!