Ornamental aquarium fish > Endler guppy (Poecilia wingei) > Fancy tail Guppy aquarium tank selection
Welcome! If you are reading this post because you are interested in keeping fancy guppy fish, you have come to the right place.
Though this article is written keeping in mind a beginner to this hobby, people already experienced in maintaining ornamental guppy fish will also find useful information.
Guppy is one of the most easiest ornamental fish to maintain in an aquarium tank. However the health of the guppy fish purchased and how you set up the guppy fish aquarium will lead you to a very successful outcome or a frustrating experience.
Where to keep your fancy tail guppy aquarium?
The first and the foremost thing in keeping a fish aquarium is deciding about the suitable place in your home. Unless you already have a built in shelf or a fixed space for it, you have to visualise the guppy aquarium along with a stand for it.
You have to have enough space between wall and the aquarium for accommodating air pump, electric cords, tubing and external filters, in any. They must be out of reach of small children.
Next comes the safety of the aquarium, fish, children and large pets. Place the tank in a safe place, where accidental bumping into the tank may not happen due to running about by children or large pets like dogs.
The stand must be strong enough and well balanced so that the set up may not get toppled when a small child or a pet tries to climb on it.
You have to avoid placing your guppy tank where it may get exposed directly to sunlight. Direct sunlight will cause algal blooms in the tank making the water green and the glass will get a coating of algal growth.
Further this exposure fluctuates the temperature of the tank widely, harming the fancy guppy fish.
Aquarium tank type for guppy fish
You can either go in for ready-made all glass tank or acrylic tank. The advantage of the glass aquarium is that it is non-toxic, scratch free and less expensive.
However the disadvantages are that, bigger size glass tanks are heavy, they can crack or shatter and if the sealing is not properly done they may develop leak.
Acrylic aquarium is very light, do not break, safe and do not crack easily.
However the acrylic aquarium can get very easily scratched and over years it will lose transparency. Moreover much expensive when compared to all glass tank.
Never go in for tank with some sides or bottom made of metals. The metal will react with the water salts and form chemicals toxic to fish. On the long run the metals may get eroded and develop leaks.
Now select a suitable type of aquarium taking into consideration, the space available, safety and your budget. The required capacity of the aquarium depends upon the number of guppy fish you intend to keep and also the space at home.
Size of aquarium for guppy fish
It is advisable to go in for a tank of at least ten gallons capacity. For your convenience volumes in gallons are given below for some sizes of tanks.
(Length (l), width (w), and height (h) values are given in inches)
l x w x h = volume in gallons
16 x 12 x 12 = 10 gl
24 x 12 x 12 = 15 gl
32 x 12 x 12 = 20 gl
40 x 12 x 12 = 25 gl
36 x 16 x 12 = 30 gl
36 x 15 x 15 = 35 gl
36 x 16 x 16 = 40 gl
45 x 16 x 16 = 50 gl
50 x 16 x 16 = 55 Gl
It is always recommended to keep less than 1 inch of fish (body length excluding fins) per gallon of water. If you are keeping 5 numbers of guppy fish of 2 inches length it works out to 10 inches of fish and they require a minimum ten gallon aquarium.
A higher density guppy stock will be requiring frequent water exchanges and continuous aeration and filtration with a risk of disease outbreak and collapse of the system and mortality.
Please also take into account the final adult size of guppy fish while calculating the required aquarium capacity. Buying a larger aquarium will be more accommodative when you think of adding more guppy fish than you earlier thought of.