Marine guppy?

[Vivid-Dawn]

I was at the LFS today, and there was a tiny fish, in one of the salt-water tanks. I swear it was a guppy! A bland beige color, with a pudgy belly and a dark spot at the end/bottom of it's belly... classic gravid spot. Had the shape of a guppy, the color, everything.
Now... I know you can put salt in a guppy tank, but only a little bit to improve health. This was a marine tank, which I assume would be twice - or more - the amount they're used to, even in a "salt bath"... maybe it was acclimated really well? It seemed fine, too... not lethargic, not darting around in a panick.
It was in a tank with fish that were about as big as salad plates (bigger than a tea-cup saucer, smaller than a dinner plate)... maybe it was a meal?

[fish_doc]

Most likely it was a feeder guppy. They will put them in any type of tank as long as they are going to be eaten.

[Osiris]

actually some believe they can go SW since guppies and mollies can go BW i have seen mollies in full SW before just fine, i wouldnt doubt it would be ok in SW not sure about long time effects on a guppy in that long in SW but amazing how some of these fish are..kinda wishes nemo could go FW lol

[Vivid-Dawn]

Originally Posted by fish_doc @ Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:31 pm

Most likely it was a feeder guppy. They will put them in any type of tank as long as they are going to be eaten. ****

Yeah, I figured that might be it. But I always thought feeder guppies were to feed just FW... and SW fish got...um...something else LOL

[TheOldSalt]

Yep, fish doc was spot-on about this one; that was almost certainly a feeder guppy.

HOWEVER-- Guppies can live in full-strength seawater just fine. Their native island homelands of Trinidad and Tobago are not big places, after all, and much of the fresh water there is very near the estuaries. We often see mollies in saltwater, but this is because they adapt to it very easily. Guppies take a lot longer to adapt, and do a better job of it when very young, but they can indeed live in marine water. I wouldn't really recommend it, but it's doable. I've seen some saltwater guppies, and they didn't look so hot to me. The store that had them grew them for tank-cyclers and saltwater feeders which would live a long time before beng eaten instead of dying and rotting in some inaccessible hiding place.