Poecilia reticulata
The Lyretail Guppy is one of many color variations of Poecilia reticulata guppy. The hardiness of these fish as well as the fact that it matures quickly makes it an excellent fish for beginning hobbyists. The male Lyretail Guppy has a silver, green and red body with a yellow and white delta tail. The pattern of colors within the tail gives it a split, or lyretail appearance.
The Lyretail Guppy requires a tank with at least 20 gallons of water, and is very tolerant of changing tank conditions. Plants should be hardy varieties such as Java Fern and Java Moss that can handle the increased hardness in the tank. Other peaceful fish would make good tank mates.
The females in this pair are of an assorted variety; however, you can differentiate the males and females easily. The males are smaller in size, have brighter coloration, along with a bigger tail fin, and pointed anal fin. The females are larger in size with a duller coloration, have a rounded anal fin, as well as a pregnancy patch on the lower portion of the body. Ideally, the environment should have a covering of floating ferns and a breeding box to protect the fry. Adults may eat the fry if left to fend for themselves without the breeding box. The fry should be fed brine shrimp, micro food and pulverized flakes.
The Lyretail Guppy is an omnivore and requires both algae-based foods as well as meaty foods. An algae-based flake food, along with freeze-dried bloodworms, and brine shrimp will provide guppies with the proper nutrition.