Every living thing is accustomed to a particular environment.
So the first and foremost thing which needs to be done is to create a replica of the usual habitat where the Guppy Fish belongs.
This is important to maintain and increase their lifespan and also to keep your Guppy Fish happy.
Now how can you do these?
a) Maintain the Nitrogen Cycle.
Every living thing excretes the waste from their body.
Now if I tell you that will you live in that place where you have excreted your unwanted waste. A Big NO!
It is similar in the case of a Guppy fish too.
Guppy fish excretes the unwanted waste from its body. These get accumulated in the aquarium and create an uneasy or unsuitable environment for them.
Here is where the nitrogen cycle comes in handy. It helps to remove this unwanted waste and to create a non-toxic environment for the Guppy Fish to live.
Try to maintain this cycle every other day. Also, you can buy the aquarium test kits to check the ammonia (toxic), nitrites (Toxic) and nitrate (Non-toxic) levels for your aquarium.
b) What should be the tank size?
Guppies are smaller in size. Males are smaller than females. Males range from 0.6 to 1.4 inches and females range from 1.2 to 2.4 inches.
The tank size of 5 Gallons is more than enough if you have three or four guppies in your aquarium.
Guppies like to live as a group and each Guppy should be given at least 1 Gallon of space.
c) Maintain a healthy environment.
Lighting, Filtration, Plants, Decorations and substrate are useful to create a better living environment for the Guppy Fish.
Lighting: Guppy Fish prefer natural day/ night lighting with full spectrum. If your room has a window where the Guppy Fish lives, it would be sufficient to provide ample lighting.
FYI: Artificial Lighting can also be used by keeping your light ON for 12 hours per day.
Caution: Exposure to direct sunlight is not advisable.
Filtration: Filtration is useful to keep the water clean. You can even buy a filter that contains less load. For example, for a Tank size of 5 Gallon, the filter needs to circulate at 25 Gallons per hour.
Plants and Decoration: Decorating your tank with plants can be a good idea as Guppies love them.
Plants like ferns, java moss, watersprite are live plants that grow quickly and create hiding places for the Guppy Fish.
Artificial Plants can also be used but not advisable to do so as sharply pointed plants can cause harm.
Substrate: This is something important as it forms a closer looking environment for the Guppy Fish.
Generally, sand is used as a substrate. It’s also very easy to replace. Substrates like gravel, larger rocks and crushed coral can also be used.