🧴Water care for a Guppy: 22 to 26°C, pH 7 to 8
Guppy : Hardy in moderately hard to hard, slightly alkaline water, it copes poorly with very soft acidic water. A 20 to 25 percent weekly water change and quarantining newcomers are recommended.
🩺 Our hygiene and health advice stays general: it never substitutes for an examination by a veterinarian, the only person qualified to advise on your animal.
In short: 3 to 6 cm as an adult depending on sex, 60 L minimum for a group, water between 22 and 26 °C. Peaceful and sociable, yet males court relentlessly: keep two to three females per male to spread the pressure. An ultra-prolific livebearer in hard alkaline water: plan for overpopulation and avoid the very soft acidic water that weakens it.
The Guppy’s water: its real parameters
The Guppy’s water contract has four clauses: 22 to 26°C, pH between 7 to 8, zero detectable nitrite, nitrates capped at 25 mg/L. A drop-test kit (NO2, NO3, GH, KH, pH) beats any strip — and the nitrogen cycle, three to four weeks before any fish, is non-negotiable.
Water changes and tank upkeep
10 to 20% of the volume weekly, with water pre-heated to tank temperature: thermal shock stresses more than imperfect water, gentle substrate siphoning as you go and filter media rinsed in tank water, never under the tap: chlorine sterilises your filter.
Health: what stalks the Guppy
Known watch-points: white spot disease in stressed fish and fin rot in unstable water. Nearly every aquarium disease stems from degraded water or chronic stress: test the water BEFORE treating — medicine poured into loaded water makes everything worse. Well kept, a Guppy lives 2 to 3 years.
Frequently asked questions
What water parameters for a Guppy?
22 to 26°C, pH 7 to 8, zero nitrites and nitrates under 25 mg/L — checked with drop tests, not by eye.
How often should a Guppy tank get water changes?
10 to 20% weekly, water brought to temperature, filter rinsed only in tank water. Consistency beats volume.
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