The Fancy Guppy (Poecilia reticulata) is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the rainbowfish, missionary fish, millionfish, or mosquito fish.   Although it is widely distributed throughout the world and is arguably one of the most popular freshwater fish of all time, it’s natural range is in northeast South America

The Common Guppy (Poecilia reticulata) has two other relatives in the Poeciliidae family; Poecilia wingei (the Endler guppy), and Micropoecilia picta, the smallest member of the guppy family that is found in brackish waters.

Wild Guppies can be found in the wild in Antigua, Barbados, Brazil, Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Venezuela and have been introduced into many different countries for the purpose of mosquito control, hence the name mosquito fish.

The common Guppy is a highly adaptable species that can survive and thrive in a variety of relatively “harsh” environments.  They are found in almost every freshwater body of water accessible to them, but prefer smaller streams and still pools rather than large, deep, or fast flowing rivers. Because of their high tolerance to salt water, they have also populated brackish water Estuaries.

In their natural environment, common Guppies feed on both animal and vegetable matter; primarily small insect larvae, small crustaceans, and benthic algae.

Male guppies are always much smaller than females, however their dorsal, anal, and caudal fins are usually much longer and colorful.  Female guppies are usually much larger, drab in color, and lack the ornamental fins that adorn the males.  Wild caught Guppies are much less colorful than their domestically bred counterparts however, through selective breeding, many unique color strains, body color patterns, and caudal fin types have been developed over the years to provide tropical fish keeping enthusiasts a plethora of choices for stocking peaceful community aquarium.  These strains are generically called Fancy Guppies.

Fancy Guppies are available in every color combination of the rainbow, as well as different body patterns and tail types.   Guppy breeders are constantly working on creating new varieties, and because of the limitless variations that can be bred, it is practically impossible to describe every variety here.   Instead we will try to identify some of the more popular varieties available to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts.

 

Three characteristics are used to distinguish Fancy Guppy strains.

• Color (Body and fins which are often different)
• Pattern (Body and tail patterns frequently vary)
• Fin types (Delta, Round, Lyretail, etc.)

Fancy Guppies are bred in every conceivable color of the rainbow including albino, iridescent, and metallic varieties.  Their colors can be solid, split on the upper and lower portions, split on the front and rear portions, or mixed.   Except for the albino, gold, and platinum strains, the head and main body colors are usually lighter and in many strains, the posterior portions of the body closer to the caudal fin, is sometimes differently colored.

Fancy Guppy body patterns can be broken down to three or four types.

• Cobra
• Snakeskin
• Tuxedo
• Solid

Cobra body patterns exhibit rosettes as well as some vertical barring.
Snakeskin body patterns have a chain like look across the base body color. Some strains have rosettes.
Tuxedo body patterns have the front half of the body one color, and the rear half a different color. Light colored upper bodies and a darker lower body color also distinguish Tuxedo strains.
Solid body color strains are also available and except for true albinos, are actually more difficult to obtain.

Fancy Guppy caudal fins can be a solid color, or patterned.  The most common patterns are Grass, Lace, Leopard, and Mosaic.

Grass pattern tails are made up of a series of fine dots that cover the base color and are said to resemble grass seeds.
Lace pattern tails have a web like appearance.
Leopard pattern tails cover the fin with a series of spots that vaguely resemble those of a leopard.
Mosaic pattern tails are made up of an irregular pattern of connected spots.

Guppy breeders have developed several different tail types over the years, most of which are listed below:

Bottom swordtail
Cofer Tail (Spade Tail)
Delta Tail (Triangle Tail)
Double sword Tail
Fantail
Lyretail
Pintail (Needle Tail)
Ribbon
Roundtail
Scarf Tail (Flag Tail)
Speartail
Swallow
Top swordtail
Veiltail

The above tail types often go by different names in different areas of the world, which can lend to some confusion in identification.   The pictures however are self explanatory.

Most Fancy Guppies have black eyes however, there are two types that have red eyes.  The true albino guppies that lack melanin and have paler red eyes, and the so called Real Red Eye guppies which are colored normally, but have red eyes.  The latter are usually smaller than the strains with normal colored eyes.

If you think about all the possibilities when you mix these characteristics, you can understand why it is impossible to describe all the strains available to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts and why only a small fraction of fancy guppy varieties are ever sold in tropical fish shops.

As you might guess, Guppies are highly prolific breeders and one of the easiest to breed species; perfect for beginning tropical fish keeping enthusiasts.   These colorful fish are live bearers and can be bred in a community tank or in the case of Fancy Guppies, in separate tanks to create a new strain or keep an existing strain pure.

Although they are hardy, quite adaptable, and can breed in almost any type of water conditions, the breeding tank water should be kept between 74 and 82°F.

When a well conditioned pair or trio is placed together and ready to spawn.   A male will approach the female from below, extend his gonopodium, and inseminates the female.   If mating is successful, the female guppy can store the sperm from a single male for up to 3 months and give birth to up to three spawns from one coupling.   This is important if the breeder is trying to develop a new strain or maintain the current strain.

If a new color strain, body pattern, or fin type is trying to be developed, the female should be kept isolated for at least 3 spawns to allow all the sperm to be used up before introducing another male.

When the female is pregnant, her belly will become rounded and quite large.   A dark gravid spot will appear on her belly near the anal vent which is actually the fry developing.  Immediately before birth, the tiny eyes of the fry can be seen through the skin of the female’s body.  During this period she should be left alone to reduce any stress which could cause her to either absorb the fry or have a premature birth; either of which could kill the fry.

When birthing occurs, individual fry are dropped in sequence over a period of up to eight hours.

Although the gestation period for the common guppy is usually around 28 days, they can give birth anywhere from 20 and 40 days after mating.   And, depending on the size and age of the female, anywhere from 20 to 200 fry can be produced per spawn.

After the female gives birth, the fry should be provided with plenty of Java Moss, Water Sprite, Water Wisteria, Duckweed, or other dense cover for them to hide and escape from being eaten.  Although, well fed adults seldom eat their young, it’s a good idea to remove the parents from the breeding tank after spawning.

The fry can be fed newly hatched baby brine shrimp, liquid fry food, microworms, infusoria, vinegar eels, finely crushed or powdered flake food, or Daphnia almost immediately after being born.   Avoid overfeeding and make frequent 25% water changes to keep pollution in the tank to a minimum.

Guppy fry grow quickly and only take about three to four months to reach maturity.  Within a couple of months you should be able to determine the sex of the fry.

The Fancy Guppy (Poecilia reticulata) has been successfully hybridized with various molly species (Poecilia latipinna or Poecilia velifera) using a male guppy and a female molly, however, the hybrids are always infertile males.   Guppies have also been hybridized with the Endler’s livebearer (Poecilia wingei) which produce fertile offspring.

Guppies are the perfect “starter fish” for beginning tropical fish keeping enthusiasts the world over.   They are peaceful, colorful, inexpensive, easy to keep, and tolerant of varied water conditions.   Although they prefer a hard water aquarium, temperatures between 78 and 82 °F, and a salt level equivalent to one tablespoon per 5 gallons of fresh water, they are able to tolerate salt levels up to 150% of normal seawater.

In the wild, Guppies are usually collected from large groups or shoals and should not be kept alone in an aquarium environment.   They lend towards nipping the fins of fish with long flowing fins and with other males, but they normally don’t do much damage.  In general, they make a colorful addition to any peaceful well planted community tank.

Adult Guppies are easy to feed and should be provided with a mixed diet of live, frozen, or freeze dried Daphnia, brine shrimp, tubifex, or bloodworms along with a quality flake food.

A plethora of Fancy Guppies varieties are readily available online from wholesalers, importers, breeders and at almost every tropical fish keeping retailer in the country.  Prices can vary greatly and are dependent on color strain, body and fin pattern, quality, rarity, etc.

 

The common Guppy (Poecilia reticulata), is also known as the millionfish, mosquito fish, or rainbow fish by tropical fish keeping enthusiasts.  They are a highly adaptable species that can survive and even thrive in environments that many other tropical fish species would be unable to tolerate.

Although the natural range of Poecilia reticulata is in northeast South America; they have been introduced into habitats around the world for various purposes, primarily mosquito control.  Guppies are native to Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Brazil, Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Venezuela.

Many countries have introduced guppies into their environment to slow down the spread of Malaria by controlling mosquito populations, however in many instances, guppies negatively impacted the native fish populations.

Because of their hardiness and tolerance to salt water, they have populated not only their natural range but also many brackish water rivers and streams.  Wild guppies tend to be more abundant in the pools of smaller streams than in the larger, deeper water, fast flowing rivers of their range.

Wild Guppies are generally grey in body coloration however,  wild males can have spots, stripes, or splashes of different colors over their grey bodies.

Male guppies are much smaller than females; however their dorsal and caudal fins are always much longer and more colorful.  Female guppies are larger, more drab in color, and do not possess the ornamental fins of males.

In the wild, guppies feed on both animal and vegetable matter; primarily benthic algae, small crustaceans and insect larvae.  In an aquarium environment, guppies should be fed an algae based flake food along with some freeze dried bloodworms, tubifex, brine shrimp and micro pellets.  They need both algae based and meaty foods for proper nutrition.

Through selective breeding, literally hundreds of unique color strains of guppies have been developed over the years.  These “Fancy Guppies” are bred to exhibit a plethora of colors, unique body color patterns, different shapes, body markings and sizes of caudal fins.

Some of these strains are listed below along with categories that distinguish them from each other:

 

Albino Guppies

Albino guppies exhibit the recessive albino phenotype trait (red eyes and the absence of black melanin) and appear in numerous color varieties.

 

 

Black Guppies

The goal for breeders of Black guppies is for the fish to be completely black, with no secondary color.

Most Black guppies are either medium or small in size.  When breeders attempt to breed larger sized Black guppies, the results are often the loss of the deep black color in the body and matching dorsal fin of the fish.   Below are some examples of Black guppies.

 

Blue Guppies

Blue guppies as the name implies can range in color from a deep dark blue to a sky blue color.  Males continue the blue body color into their fins but female blue guppies only show blue highlights in their fins.

Half Black AOC

The is any half black body guppy that cannot be entered into the black class, or any other half black color class.  The examples below are typical of Half Black AOC guppies.

 

Half Black Yellow Guppies

The Half Black Yellow Guppy strain is a difficult line to maintain.  They are strikingly beautiful fish that have a bright yellow tail and a contrasting Half Black body coloration.   Here are a few examples of show quality Half Black Yellow Guppies.

Multicolor Guppies

Multicolor guppies ideally have three or more distinct colors that are equally distributed throughout the tail.   To be considered a tail color, a true Multicolor Guppy must have at least 15% or more of the tail area that color and the dorsal fin should match the pattern and color of the caudal fin.  Below are some typical examples of Multicolor Guppies.

Purple Guppies

Purple Guppies have a solid purple color in bvoth their caudal and dorsal fins.

Red Guppies

Red guppies come in a variety of body color types such as gold, gray, or albino.   They generally have larger bodies and are slow in the development of fin growth.

The Gold and Albino body types of Red Guppy are the most popular because the black melanin is minimized or totally eliminated.  This creates a cleaner red color strain.   Color quality depends on the combination of basic red with background colors of blue, lavender, or yellow.  Fancy Red Guppies on the show circuit range in color from orange to deep maroon.   Below are some examples.

Red Bi Color Guppies

The Red Bi Color Guppy must have a base color of Red and a secondary color that is at least 25% of the tail color.

Both colors in the fish must be distinct.   If another third color is present that is more than 15% of the total color, the guppy would be considered a Multi Colored guppy; not a Red Bi Color Guppy.   The dorsal and caudal fins in the guppy should also be the same color and pattern.

Yellow Guppies

Yellow guppies are a striking strain that are genetically gold.  The intense yellow color of these fish is difficult to maintain, as are their fins.  Yellow Guppies are a medium size fish.

Female Show Guppies

Female show guppies frequently have large fins and bright fin coloration similar to those of wild male guppy stocks.   To qualify for competition in an IFGA class, Female Guppies must show a gravid spot.

These pictures show guppies that carry the snakeskin genetic trait with a rosette pattern on the body.

The snakeskin trait is generally dominant and Y-linked, but some strains can be X-linked.   Many strains also carry the dominant zebrinous trait that causes vertical bars on the peduncle area.

All domestically bred Guppies are hardy, colorful, and will add a degree of brilliance and excitement to any peaceful community aquarium.  Because of their hardiness, peaceful nature, and rapid growth, Guppies make an excellent starter fish for beginning tropical fish keeping enthusiasts.

Guppies are highly prolific live bearers and are easy to breed in an aquarium environment.  The gestation period of female guppies is anywhere from 21 to 30 days. Once inseminated, the females can store sperm in their ovaries and gonoducts, and if necessary will continue to fertilize their eggs for up to eight months without having another male present.

Guppies have been hybridized with various Sailfin Molly species and with Endler’s live bearer (Poecilia wingei).

In an aquarium environment, Guppies prefer hard water with a temperature between 78 and 82 °F and salt levels equivalent to one tablespoon for every 5 gallons of tank water.  Guppies can easily tolerate salinity levels of up to 150% of normal seawater, which is why they are occasionally housed in marine community tanks.

Although nipping behavior is occasionally observed between male guppies and other fast swimming species, Guppies are generally a peaceful fish preferring to shoal with others of their own species.  They should never be kept alone in a tropical fish tank.