How big do guppies get?

vampie

vampie

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Oct 25, 2006
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Never thought I'd ask such a newbie question, but...

I saw some female guppies at the LFS today, and they were about 3" to 3.5". Having never really been a fan of guppies, it was kinda surprising since the ones I usually see are probably 1.5" at best. Do guppies usually get that big?
 
I had HUGE female guppies! At least 3 inches, but they were getting pretty old. I think that when they are that big it is getting toward the end of their lives. I retired my girls and let them finish out their days single with no more kids. LOL I don't know if they appreciated that or not.
 
Yeah, there are a few strains with females that will get about 3 - 3.5".

Some of the breeders out there are specifically going for giant gupps.
 
It's possible they were some other livebearer species that had gotten mixed in with the guppies. Gambusia affinis look very much like large, plain guppies.
 
So, are these 3"+ guppies normal, or of certain strains?

The ones I saw have the same tails as the ones often sold as "Spanish Dancers". There were a few with different colors (green, yellow), but the pattern was basically the same.
 
They're not quite as common as the 2" ones, but I know of a good number of folks on another forum that have them.
 
My mother used to narrate to me how her family loves fish and they had guppies at 3 inches size and swordtails at almost 6-7 inches size. They were bred in large ponds. I have a friend who has a 7-inch female swordtail. I dunno if it's still alive until today as I lost contact with him a few years ago. It's amazing how large most fish get when most of the time, you see them quite small. I believe mass productions and lack of proper planning has really stalled the quality of the fish leading to slightly smaller specimens. I see what another forum member meant. Most fish nowadays are smaller than they used to be.
 
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