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How to look after
Poecilia reticulata
Guppy, Millions fish
Peters, 1859

(Other members of the genus Poecilia)

ADULT SIZE: 6 cm

WATER CONDITIONS: Not critical

TEMPERATURE RANGE: 20-29 C

FOOD: Feed Poecilia reticulata small live-foods and fine grade dried foods

DISTRIBUTION: This species comes from Brazil, Barbados, Trinidad, Venezuela

AQUARIUM CARE: A terrific community fish that will breed easily in a community tank. Because of it's bright colours, ease of keeping and mild temperament, the guppy is one of the all-time most popular aquarium species, probably the best first fish for a new aquarist.

BREEDING: This requires almost no attention. The live-borne fry can be raised on flake food. Remove fry to a separate rearing tank or provide a well-planted tank to improve numbers surviving to adulthood.

Have you bred Poecilia reticulata? Why not fill in a breeding questionaire?, or examine existing Poecilia reticulata breeding reports

Poecilia reticulata
Guppy, Millions fish

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Poecilia reticulata
Guppy, Millions fish
breeding notes

BREEDING: This requires almost no attention. The live-borne fry can be raised on flake food. Remove fry to a separate rearing tank or provide a well-planted tank to improve numbers surviving to adulthood.

Have you bred Poecilia reticulata? Why not fill in a breeding questionaire?

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This page summarises breeding reports provided by visitors to this site, along with some statistical analysis. Please feel free to contribute - whatever your experience! 10 breeders have filled in breeding reports, a summary of the results are shown in the graphs below. You can read the full reports here. To add details of your experiences of Poecilia reticulata, why not fill in a Breeding and maintenance Report.
Would Poecilia reticulata be a good addition to a community tank? Never Doubtful, only with VERY calm fish Only with species of similar size Yes, a good community fish	How would you describe the disposition of Poecilia reticulata? Very timid Slightly timid Neutral Somewhat aggresive on occasions Very aggressive
In which water conditions do you keep these fish? Very soft and acidic Moderately soft and acidic Neutral Moderately hard and alkaline Very hard and alkaline	At what average temperature? 10-15°C 16-19°C 20-23°C 24-27°C 28°C+
What, if any is the biggest difficulty encountered when breeding these fish? Poor egg production Poor egg survival Poor fry survival rate Deformities Skewed sex ratio	How would you describe sex ratios when breeding Poecilia reticulata? If you are unsure please leave this question unanswered. Almost all males Somewhat male heavy Roughly equal Somewhat female heavy Almost all females
In general, how difficult is Poecilia reticulata to keep and breed? Very easy Easy Average Difficult Very difficult	How sucessful have you been at breeding Poecilia reticulata? Very unsucessful Fairly unsucessful Average Fairly sucessful Very sucessful

Remember, each record represents only one persons experience; if you had different results, or used different methods, please share your experiences

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Water conditions: Moderately hard and alkaline	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Very unsucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments: My female was full of fry when I got her - I had at least a dozen babies within a week!
Date this record created: 29th April 2016	Breeding date: 2016
Breeder:	Location:

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Water conditions: Moderately hard and alkaline	Water temperature: 20-23oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Very sucessful	Years Experience: 10
Other Comments: Guppy breeding is very easy. A well planted tank is an advantage for fry survival, but generally these are really very easy fish to breed. I don't know any guppy breeder who has problems.
Date this record created: 25th May 2011	Breeding date: 2011
Breeder:	Location:

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Water conditions: Moderately hard and alkaline	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Other (see below)	Breeding problems: Poor fry survival rate
Sex ratio: Somewhat female heavy	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Fairly unsucessful	Years Experience: 2
Other Comments: some what planted aquarium lots of floating plants for fry. The growth rate are slow to very slow. mostly no or to none canibalism. sawing make take time (about a qwwk or two)
Date this record created: 8th April 2011	Breeding date: 2010
Breeder: dustin	Location: woonsocket ri

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Water conditions: Neutral	Water temperature: 20-23oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Very unsucessful	Years Experience: 10
Other Comments:
Date this record created: 29th December 2010	Breeding date: 2010
Breeder:	Location:

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Water conditions:	Water temperature:
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Other (see below)	Breeding problems: Poor fry survival rate
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Very sucessful	Years Experience: 5
Other Comments:
Date this record created: 21st December 2009	Breeding date: 2009
Breeder:	Location:

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Water conditions: Neutral	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: Deformities
Sex ratio: Somewhat female heavy	Breeding difficulty: Easy
Sucess: Fairly unsucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments:
Date this record created: 8th August 2009	Breeding date: 2009
Breeder: sss	Location: mal

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Water conditions: Neutral	Water temperature:
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Very sucessful	Years Experience: 4
Other Comments: we add live bearer salt to the water
Date this record created: 3rd March 2008	Breeding date: 2008
Breeder:	Location:

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Water conditions: Moderately soft and acidic	Water temperature: 16-19oC
Disposition: Somewhat aggresive on occasions	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: Skewed sex ratio
Sex ratio: Almost all females	Breeding difficulty: Easy
Sucess: Fairly sucessful	Years Experience: 5
Other Comments: I have found Poecilia reticulata to be the least difficult to breed thus far.
Date this record created: 14th January 2008	Breeding date: 2007
Breeder:	Location:

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Water conditions: Very soft and acidic	Water temperature: 20-23oC
Disposition:	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Other (see below)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio: Roughly equal	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Very sucessful	Years Experience: 1
Other Comments:
Date this record created: 9th January 2008	Breeding date: 2008
Breeder: Jordan	Location: NH

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Water conditions: Very hard and alkaline	Water temperature: 24-27oC
Disposition: Active, but not aggresive	Community tank?: Yes, a good community fish
Spawning Method: Long term (fry appear with adults)	Breeding problems: none
Sex ratio:	Breeding difficulty: Very easy
Sucess: Very sucessful	Years Experience: 5
Other Comments: If you have a pair, this fish will breed! Heavily pregnant females are best separated to stop the males continually harassing them
Date this record created: 6th January 2008	Breeding date: 1995
Breeder:	Location: