Guppies originally came from South America and survived well in stagnant brackish water.  Guppies are an excellent choice for the beginning aquarist.  There are numerous colorful variations and tail shapes.  They are closely related to the Endler's Livebearer and the Mosquitofish.  Guppies are extremely popular not only for their color, but for their hardiness and the ease with which they produce live young.  Guppies can survive easily on flake foods, but they also appreciate freeze-dried bloodworms, tubifex, and brine shrimp.  The males mature in 2 months and the females in 3 months with the females being larger.  The females have almost no color and have a large dark gravid spot near their anal fin as their young develop.  The male has a gonopodium which is extended to fertilize the female internally.  Females can have young every 5 weeks.  It is important to have more females than males in a tank, as the males harass females in a continual attempt to breed.  Try to arrange for areas where the females can escape from the males occasionally.

Guppies will eat their own young, so a thick dense floating plant cover, such as java moss, is required for the fry to survive.  Alternately, a simple plastic breeding trap can be purchased at aquarium stores and the pregnant female can be placed in it.  The young will fall through to safety at the bottom of the trap. The young can be fed fine grained flake food.

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