Hello! I'm starting a guppy tank for my 10 year old sister. I have a five gallon that has been cycled, it has a filter, heater, and is pretty much ready to go. All it needs are the guppies. How many would you recommend for a five gal? I was thinking 3, but I want to be sure.
tbh i think that 5 gallons is the absolute smallest tank i’d ever put guppies in, and i think 3 would definitely be the max stocking for a 5 gallon. now, before everyone jumps down my throat for saying that, i’m saying that i think that’s the absolute minimum and there are some concerns that i would have about keeping a trio in a 5 gallon.
- guppies are super active! i have 5 fry in a 10 gallon and they use the. whole. tank. im actually surprised that it doesn’t look ‘empty’ to me :O they’re always wigglin around so there’s plenty of activity! that said, they’re still pretty small fish, and i feel like they’d swim throughout the entire tank no matter how big or small it was (the same 5 guppy fry would probs swim over every inch of a 30 or 40 gallon, but i dont think a 40 gallon tank is anywhere near the minimum tank size for a small group of guppies). so even though they don’t take up a lot of space / aren’t that big, they’re p active and i’m not sure how they’d do with 5 gallons of swim space…like, their tiny bodies don’t take up a lot of space, but they use a lot of space? i hope that made sense ^-^”
- guppies you buy from a store will definitely have more guppies, even if you buy all females. females can hold onto sperm for a ridiculous amount of time, so if you buy adult females from a store, they could have a few batches of fry even if there aren’t any males in the tank! and if you did get a trio (1m/2f) of guppies, then you’d probs have fry eventually too. having guppies in a 5 gallon doesn’t leave room for any more guppies. you could always rehome them or give them to an lfs, but what if you can’t find homes fast enough or your lfs won’t take them?
so i think you could put 3 guppies in a 5 gallon (granted you had somewhere to put the fry) but i dont know if you should (because they’re so active, even tho they’re p small). to anyone else who comments on this ask/post, or wants to give advice, please share kindly!also, i’d be interested in knowing what y’all consider the minimum for guppies to be, and if y’all think 3 guppies in a 5 gallon would do okay. would a pair be better? can guppies live singularly? .-. i’m new to guppies and i thought i could put them in a 5 but since i had fry, everyone suggested a 10 gallon (so as not to stunt the fry / give them plenty of water to emit growth hormones in). @scalestails you seem to know a lot about guppies! what do you think?
Also, OP: would you consider upgrading to a 10 gallon for an extra $10-15? you could use the same heater/filter and grab a few bigger plants (fake or real) to fill up the 10 gallon, and it’d probs be safer since it’d give you some wiggle room for stocking and fry :p plus ur 10 yo sis would probs think baby guppies are dope~
–because i’m new to guppies, it’d be great if this was a conversation and not just a “no dont do keep guppies in a 5 gallon” or “yes you can keep guppies in a 5 gallon”! :3 it really helps when y’all give pros/cons or reasons as to why you should or shouldn’t stock a certain tank a certain way! :p
thanks in advance to everyone who helps out / contributes!–
