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Guppy question- 2gallon?

23 15:10:00

Question
Hello,
I have recently setup a 2 gallon tank with undergravel filter, light, and the such.
and have 2 male guppies in the 2gal from a batch of fry in another ten gallon of mine.
I know it is bad in a tank that small but it was all I could really do to seperate the males from the females in my original guppy tank for now.
I will get them in a more adequate sized aquarium
as soon as I can. My original ten gallon is already overstocked and I had to move the males out as I said before to keep from the females having more, and more fry.

I filled up the 2gallon with water from the original tank and added 2 cupfuls of gravel from my also established 55gallon.

Could you please tell me how I should maintain a tank this size?

How large of water changes?
How often?

Thank you for your time and help,
sincerely,
Susan~

Answer
Hi Susan;

The best regimen with any new tank is to replace 25% of the water twice a week. Using the 'seasoned' gravel from the older established tank is the best thing to do. It will help it get the initial cycling done, but it will still go through a break-in period. After the break-in is over (takes 6 weeks or so) you can make changes of 25% every week to two weeks. Vacuum the gravel too. Just don't vacuum the gravel before the break-in is over. It disturbs the beneficial bacteria too much.

Keep in mind that female guppies can store the sperm from the males for 6 months or so. This means you will continue to get babies for awhile. (sorry, I know that's bad news)

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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