Guppy's Home   Guppies need space Guppies are very active fishes. A lot of people who keep guppies for the first time, think that a fish bowl of 1 - 2 gallon (5 -10 l) will be sufficient, but this is not true. They need a lot of space. A 5 gallon (20 l) tank is the minimum. Never keep a guppy alone. They are very social fish and live in group: you should hold at least one male and two females. If you want to hold them in a community tank, don't keep them together with aggressive fin-nipping fish like bettas or barbs. Guppies need water Guppies live in medium to hard water and they prefer a slightly alkaline  pH. Water hardness depends on the amount of calcium carbonate in the water. You can find cheap instruments (like pH paper) to control the pH in your local fish store. Tap water is the ideal solution for your guppy's home. Do not use rain water, it may contain unhealthy substances. Salt may be added to the water but this is not necessary, guppies live well without salt. Tap water may contain small amounts of heavy metals: cupper, iron, zinc and lead are four enemies for your lovely guppies. They can destroy their slime coat. Other disliked substances in the water are chlorine and chloramine. Chlorine can be removed easily: let the tap water stand during one night and the chlorine will evaporate. Chloramine (and chlorine as well) can be removed by water conditioners. Often these conditioners also bind the heavy metals in the water. You can find these water conditioners in your fish store. They are not very expensive since you need only a few droplets per liter/gallon water.  Be careful not to change the water conditions of your guppies at once. It will cause them a lot of stress and shorten their life-span.  Guppies need warm water The ideal water temperature for your guppy's home is described in the guppy's identity card. The use of a heater is advisable but not really necessary. Be careful to use a good heater (yes, spend some more money) and do not use it in a small bowl, you don't want your guppies cooked, though.  If you don't use a heater, your guppy's home should be placed in a warm room without large temperature changes. So be careful during cold nights!   Guppies need clean water You should change 20-50 % of the water once a week. Make sure that the water you add is conditioned to the water in the aquarium, as changes in temperature (or pH) cause a lot of stress for your guppies. Set up a water-changing schedule.  If you use an inside box filter, you should clean the filter when the filter floss gets brownish. Power filters have to be cleaned once a week.