Guppies in general are pretty cheap. Lots of pet stores sell them for a dollar or two. Sometimes they're even free.

Guppies need at least a 10 gallon tank preferably 20 especially if you want to breed them. They are breed uncontrollably. The tank must have a heater as they are tropical fish and a proper filter. Add some fake plants or real or ornaments in which the babies can hide as the parents will eat them.

Usually you should have a 2 to 1 ratio of females to males. So for every male you should have 2 females. The males are relentless and will constantly harass the females so it's better to have more females then males to spread out the aggression.

I had guppies once. Stated with 6 females and 3 males. About 6 months later I had over 100 guppies in my small 20 gal. They were literally everywhere. I was giving them away to pet stores and friends in the bag full for free because I had so many.

Ended up getting rid of all of them eventually. And don't think I'll ever try breeding them again.

Same goes for all livebearers. Mollies, platies, sword tails, mosquito fish, enders livebearers..... You'll start out with a couple and end with a thousand.

So just be cautious as you'll end up with a ton of fish.

Hi

To the above I'd add .Pick out a strain that you like by color, finnage whatever so that as they breed you will have above average offspring. Much better to trade off ,sell as they reproduce. and you'll always know which offspring to keep . I always used the culls as food for angelfish and Cichlids .They love them !! lol gary

I had guppies in a 29 gal. community fish tank for 6 years and never encountered an overpopulation problem. Other fish and grown guppies will eat the babies if they do not hide well enough. Give them plenty of hiding places, it`s a lot of fun to watch the babies grow!

Great fish! However, sometimes the fancy ones imported from overseas are weak and disease prone. This was a very big problem for many years and a once popular and easy fish were temperamental and often quickly died. However, more recently I have seen even the big chain stores have types of guppies that are hardier and healthier. The types with smaller tails including lyretails seem to, in general, be stronger and more vigorous than the best of the show guppies with huge tails. The ones I have I keep for pleasure, they are hardy and don't even need additional heat (in a heated home)or filtration and still look great and happily breed (slowing a bit in cooler temps). Where are you located?

I'm located in New Jersey the fish have been doing okay they are probably imported fish but so far so good no deaths yet

Where in NJ??? I am too, in central NJ, work in Edison and live slightly north of there. What type of aquarium dis you put them in, how many guppies and what type? Any other fish with them??

I'm in secaucus nj it's a one gallon aquarium and there are 3 fancy guppies from petsmart there and there one ghost shrimp in there.

How are they doing? Are they in a warm room? My guppies regularly go down to mid-high 60s F but they are hardy and adapted to it.......some strains require it a bit warmer at least into the 70s. Did you get males and females? Are you planning on a a larger tank? I would recommend a 10-gallon with a light and airstone minimal. Easier to maintain than a one gallon, better buffered, more room but not so large that it is unmanageable.