If you are a beginner aquarist, a 10-gallon tank is the best size to go for initially. Also, guppies are relatively easy-going and suitable for kicking off your fishing career. However, it will immediately let you to one obvious question, “How many guppies in a 10-gallon tank are suitable?”
Generally speaking, a 1 inch of fish will usually require 1 gallon of water in the tank to thrive. And as we know, an adult guppy grows around 1 inch to 1.5 inches in size. So, if we calculate the guppy size and tank capacity, you can keep approximately six to ten guppies in a 10 gallons aquarium.
However, the number of guppies will vary depending on its size, gender, and reproduction capacity. So, we will discuss the accurate number of guppies suitable for a 10-gallon tank considering all these issues properly.
Also, we will include proper tank maintenance for guppies to help you rear the beautiful fish properly. So, are you ready?
Table of Contents
How Many Guppies In A 10 Gallon Tank?
When you want to know the accurate number of guppies suitable for a 10 gallons water tank, you need to realize the fish keeper rule thoroughly.
The fish keeping rule is straightforward-
One gallon of tank water is necessary for each inch of fish.
So, it implies that in 10 gallons of tank water, ideally, you can put around 8 to 12 fishes at best. Now, let us illustrate the rule for guppies.
Ideally, an average guppy will grow around 1 inch to 1.5 inches.
Therefore, 10 gallons of the tank will accommodate 7 to 10 average-sized guppies successfully. The size of guppies varies considerably depending on their gender. Also, it depends on their reproduction capacity.
What’s more, in a ten-gallon tank, there will be plants, substrates, and other materials that can eat up massive space in the aquarium. So, you can expect to keep four to six guppies perfectly in a 10 gallons tank without harming them.
Now, take a deep understanding of these factors for guppies.
How Much the Size Matters?
Likewise, most fishes, male guppies are slightly smaller than female guppies. So, in a fish tank, you can keep more males and fewer female guppies.
As the guppy grows, a male guppy will be sized around 0.60” to 1.40,” whereas a female guppy is a sized average between 1” to 2.20.”
So, in a tank, the ideal ratio for guppies is 1:2 of male and female.
This 1:2 male and female ration being said, in a 10 gallons tank, you can keep 4 male guppies and 2 female guppies without disturbing their health and tank water parameters.
How Much Does the Gender Matter?
In the previous section, we dedicatedly already discussed that female guppy grow larger than male guppies. So, when you keep only male or only female guppies, the number will vary considerably.
Don’t be surprise….
Yes, many people consider petting only males or females in the guppy fish tank. So, you can keep between four to six male guppies together. On the contrary, you can stay only two to four female guppies in the same tank.
However, if you want to keep both male and female guppies in the same tank, the ideal ratio is two males and one female.
But there’s a dilemma.
So, what is the dilemma and how to deal with it?
You will get the answer in the following section.
What If Guppies Mate?
When you keep male and female guppies together, it is evident that they will mate. And this is the dilemma we were mentioning earlier.
So, how to deal when guppies mate and reproduce in the fish tank? Don’t worry. We have found ardently not one but two solutions to the problem.
Get a new aquarium:
This is perhaps the best solution we can offer you when guppies mate and reproduce. And it is essential since one aquarium can’t accommodate the offspring and parents simultaneously. It will be detrimental for the newborn and elder guppies.
So, it would help if you transferred the newborn babies, I mean guppies, in a new tank. When you go to purchase a new fish tank, make sure it is clean and adequately sized for the guppies. Also, when you pour water on it, dechlorinate it to ensure a healthy tank environment.
Sell the newborn guppies:
Now, this is an exciting solution.
And it is PROFITABLE too.
Yes, if your guppies frequently mate (they should be given ideal conditions), they will continue reproducing almost viciously. So, you can collect the newborn guppies and sell them to pet stores or online directly to fish keepers.
Also, you can gift fellow aquarists the guppies.
Believe us, and they will LOVE it.
Also, selling and presenting guppies is a great way to build a strong community of fish hobbyists. This way, you can create a strong relationship between the communities and also retrieve a considerable amount of your fish keeping expenses.
Tank Maintenance Requirements for Guppies:
When it comes to maintaining a 10 gallon of fish tank for guppies properly, you shouldn’t face many problems. However, you should know thoroughly how to keep a guppy fish tank if you genuinely want your guppies to thrive in the tank.
The tank maintenance for guppies includes the following factors.
The tank and water setup:
You will require beginning with the aquarium set up for the guppies. The tank setup includes broader factors, including tank substrate, plants, and so on.
However, at first, you will need to pick the right water for guppies. The proper water parameters for a guppy tank needs to have the following requirements.
- The temperature of the tank water is crucial. A slight variation in the water temperature causes serious harm to the guppies. Ideally, the tank temperature needs to be anywhere between 72°F to 80°F. It is close to optimal room temperature, so maintaining it won’t be problematic.
- Next, you should dechlorinate the water before you put fishes in it. You should find a suitable dechlorinator from the market and pour it into the tank. Only one to two tablespoon of dechlorinator is necessary for a 10 gallons water tank.
- Next, you should consider the material used to manufacture the aquarium. These days, most manufacturers use acrylic or plexiglass since these are cost-effective alternatives. However, these are more prone to scratches. So, we would recommend you use glass made aquarium since it is lovely and scratch-resistant too. Furthermore, glass won’t react with chemicals in the water and will be beneficial for guppies.
Find the right tank substrate:
Although many fish keepers like to go for a bare aquarium without substrate, we highly recommend you using a proper tank substrate for the guppies. What’s more, you may want to add some decorations in the aquarium as well.
You may choose from sand or gravel or even rocky substrate for the fish tank. A sand substrate is tough to keep clean of fish waste, although it comes in affordable pricing. The gravel or rocky substrate is easy to maintain and keep clean.
And as far as it comes to aquarium decorations, it is also essential for your loving guppies too. The decorative items such as ornamental plants, caves, or large pieces of rock provide your guppies a hiding place.
It is suitable for them to avoid fights and boost their mating requirements.
You should fill up about 1 to 2 inches of the aquarium bottom with the substrate. It is best suited for guppies and is easy to clean as well.
Proper filtration for the aquarium:
A proper filtration system is necessary to maintain the water parameters correctly as well as removing harmful chemicals and waste from the tank water. Also, including a tank filtration system relieves you from routine tank maintenance.
Ideally, a proper filtration system for guppies includes three layers of filtering mechanism within the tank. These are:
Biological filtration:
When you provide food to guppies, they can’t eat them all. The food decay consumes at the tank bottom. Also, guppies provide wastages in the form of feces. All these uneaten food and fish wastage results for ammonia build up in the tank.
Excess ammonia in the tank causes fishes to burn and suffers from blackening issues. It can be a margin between life and death for guppies. So, you would want to add a biological filter in the tank to treat the waste formation in the tank.
Also, biological filtration helps to grow beneficial bacteria in the tank, which eats up nitrate and ammonia. So, guppies remain safe and sound in the tank.
Chemical filtration:
When you pour water in the aquarium from a tap or water source, almost inevitably, it will contain hard metals and chemicals. These hard metals may contain potassium, chlorine, and other harmful materials for guppies.
A proper chemical filtering system such as carbon will reduce the presence of such hard metals in the water and make it livable for guppies. What’s more, carbon and canister filters help reducing odor and discoloration from the tank.
In fact, a proper canister filter can perform both chemical and, to some extent, biological filtration adequately for fishes.
Mechanical filtration:
A mechanical filter is ideal for keeping the tank water clean. While there are many commercial mechanical filtering systems are available for fish tanks, you can simply use a sponge or floss for the purpose. Also, a sponge is suitable to soak tank water.
Add some plants on the fish tank:
Last but not least, you would want to add some live plants in the aquarium. It not only serves as a decorative purpose but also works as a natural filtration in the aquarium.
As far as our guppy petting experience is concerned, this beautiful creature loves small plants and grass in the aquarium to hide and seek play. Also, these plants help the fish hide whenever necessary, especially during fights.
Moreover, decorative plants add color and vibrancy in a naked aquarium. So, a dull aquarium will instantly transform into a lovely looking and attractive aquarium with such plants. Guppies usually love the Amazon frogbit, duckweed, guppy grass, and water lettuce.
Some popular aquarium plants for guppies include:
- American waterweed
- Java ferns
- Wisteria
- Amazon sword
- Hornworts
Lighting (Optional):
Although guppies aren’t attracted to lighting in the aquarium, you may add some in the tank. However, it would be ardently best if you remembered that the lighting in the guppy tank is optional, and it has genuinely nothing to do with the fish health.
Nonetheless, if you want, you can fix a few small lights in the aquarium for decorative purposes. But we would suggest you ensure that the lights don’t increase the tank water temperature. So, it would be best if you ardently used LED lights.
The Bottom Line
We, now ardently and sincerely aspire that you have a clear idea of how many guppies in a 10-gallon tank is suitable.
So, as the discussion revealed, you can easily keep four to seven guppies in a ten-gallon water tank. Also, for two male guppies, ideally, there should be one female guppy in the tank. Since females are larger, you can keep only four females at the maximum in the tank.
Also, if you breed the guppies in the tank, you can keep the newborn babies in a new tank or sell them to make a slight profit. Last but not least, maintain the aquarium properly, including substrates, plants, filtration systems and the right water parameters.
So, when are you bringing the lovely guppies for your fish tank?
