can guppies live in a goldfish bowl or do they need an air pump?
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
Guppies are rather hearty little guys, but as a fany guppy breeder just startng out I learned there is a limit to the heartyness! If you put your little guys in a goldfish bowl they will swin for about 3 hours then pretty much lay on the bottom till they die… goldfish shouldn’t really be kept in a goldfish bowl…. they live like 10 times longer with a filter or even an airpump helps!
From personal experience, guppies don’t need an air pump. When my daughter was in the hospital, I bought her a tank of guppies at Target. The tank was about 4 inches square with a top and it had 2 guppies in it. They survived very well, until one of the guppies had babies and they got over croweded, so I had to move them to another tank.
