Do Guppies Like to Play in Current?

Guppies don’t like to play in current because in the natural world they live in moderately calm water with mild water currents.

If you try to create strong currents in your aquarium, it will make your guppy fish exhausted because they will be forced to swim in strong currents.

The water volume in the fish tank is negligible as compared to lakes, rivers or streams where guppies live in the wild. A moderate current in such a big water volume is negligible for guppies but the same generated in a fish tank can make a huge impact on guppies’ lifestyle and take them in stress.

A stressed fish will lose its immunity quickly and attract one or many diseases. If these diseases are contagious then slowly the entire tank becomes infected.

Equipment that can produce strong water currents in fish tank

There are a few types of equipment’s in your fish tank that you must look for if they are producing too much strong currents. If you find that the current being produced are too much for guppies then you must adjust their intake or outlet forces. If the equipment does not have facility of such adjustments then it’s better to completely replace them for good.

1) Filtration systems

Filters in an aquarium suck in water that passes through a biological media where the harmful elements in the water get converted into beneficial ones and the purified water is again dropped in the tank.

The intake and release of water can produce water currents in the tank. While picking up the filter you must check it’s capacity and install the right one. A big filter for a smaller tank is bound to produce stronger current resulting in heavy water movements in the tank.

2) Power heads

Power heads are equipment that are intentionally installed in the aquarium to encourage agitation of water surface area. This is the area where exchange of beneficial gases takes place. Oxygen from the surrounding atmosphere enters the water at the top levels. Fish survive on this dissolved oxygen and release carbon dioxide.

Same like filters, power heads can produce strong currents and must be installed on the required capacity but not more.

3) Air pumps

Just like power heads, air pumps are used to force air into the fish tank through rubber tubing. Generally air pumps sit outside of the tank and force air inside the tank using a rubber tube. An air stone is attached at the end of the rubber tube in the fish tank that releases the forced air in a bubble format. These bubbles rise to the top of the tank and agitate the water surface encouraging exchange of oxygen in the water column.

While picking up air pump, you must not pick a pump with too much force and must have an adjustable knob to control flow of air in the fish tank.

Why strong currents must be avoided in a guppy fish tank?

1. The first reason is strong current will make a tiny guppy fish lethargic because he will quickly get tired while trying to swim against the flow of the water current. A fish that gets tired will try to avoid the water current area in the tank and will find a relatively soft spot where water is comparatively static. This will send him in stress quickly and a stressed fish will attract disease even quickly.
2. Water currents can flow away food that you drop in the tank making guppies difficult to chase the food particles. If they fail to get enough food every day, they will start losing immunity and get sick.
3. In smaller tank, fish that are strong and bigger in size will quickly get adjusted to strong g water currents, but smaller and tiny fish like guppy will struggle to stay or swim in the entire tank area. This will force them to sit in a corner or at the bottom of the tank.
4. In a fish tank with strong current guppies will be forced to swim only in the direction of the current. But when they try to swim against the current, it will be a great struggle for them making them lethargic.

How much water current is enough for guppies?

In the wild, guppies live in lakes, ponds, slowly moving rivers where water current in only moderate. In a fish tank where water volume is negligible as compared to rivers and lakes, strong currents are definitely not recommended.

The only amount of water current is enough for guppies from which they can easily get out or get into it whenever they want to. If they find a food particle in the water current then a particular guppy may enter the current to eat it and once caught in mouth can easily get out of it.

Guppies are tiny fish with delicate bodies and strong currents of water will make them struggle to maintain position in the fish tank. This whole struggling can quickly make them exhausted and lose energy for swimming.

Effects of strong currents on guppy fish

Generating strong water currents and expecting guppies to a play in it can be dangerous in many ways. Guppies are tiny fish and love to be in slow moving water. In the wild guppies live in lakes, ponds, slow moving rivers and are quite happy with this setup.

1. If strong water currents are purposefully generated in the tank, firstly guppies will try to avoid them.
2. They will try find a spot a in the tank where currents are minimum.
3. This is like putting them in a jail. Already a fish tank is like a jail to them with extremely confined space as compared to the wild conditions where they are used to live happily for years.
4. Once they find a safe spot they will more and more force themselves to live there because of fear.
5. In strong currents guppies will get exhausted quickly and avoid moving against water currents because it will require lots of physical energy. To avoid losing this energy it is better for them to stay safe and stay at one place where they can save energy for swimming and other activities.
6. They will continue to stay in this safe spot hoping that the strong water currents will fade away and once again they will be able to swim freely in the entire tank.
7. In waiting for thins to settle down to normal the guppies will slowly start to develop stress as they will be in constant fear of “flowing away” in the strong water current.
8. As stress gets build up they will start losing immunity every day.
9. Loss of immunity will give rise to lethargy and anxiety in fish. You can visibly identify stress in fish using various behavior methods such as
   • • Fading color
     • Slow movements
     • Not moving at all from one place
     • Occupying a corner of the tank
     • Sitting at the bottom of the tank
     • Loss of appetite
     • Staying at top of the tank
10. If these signs and behavior patterns are continued, then fish can get sick because if he doesn’t eat, he won’t get the required nutrition’s to live healthy.
11. In strong current it will be difficult for him to find food as well. Chasing behind food as it is dropped in the tank will be a big exercise that can make him tired very quickly. Based on the size of the guppies it will be difficult for him to keep up with the “food finding routine” everyday if this starts to happen every day.

Precautions to be taken to avoid strong water currents in a fish tank

As mentioned above there are a few types of equipment in an aquarium that are likely to produce strong water current.

1. The first precaution you must take is while buying these new, you must check the capacity and water volume they are designed to handle. Strong equipment for a smaller water volume will definitely produce stronger water currents.
2. Every equipment you buy that produces either water or air currents must have adjustable knobs for adjusting flows so that currents can be controlled as required.
3. You must have a replacement of the equipment ready with you in case the original one malfunctions or becomes faulty for any reason. Most electronic equipment’s are sensitive and are bound to fail some time or the other.

The life and health of fish is highly dependent on the habitat you produce in the aquarium and such electronic equipment such as filters, air pumps etc. play a major role in keeping the purity of water intact.