I added three pairs of red cobra guppies to my 29-gallon tank in May 2023. The original fish are gone, but lots of their offspring have survived and gone on to produce offspring of their own. The newest batch of babies is likely the fourth or fifth generation.

The blurry photos are the best I was able to get. Sorry. No pics of the babies either. They refuse to stop for a picture!

The male offspring still look much like the first males. The cobra pattern isn’t as prevalent and the tails aren’t quite as big, but the red color persists. I expected they’d revert back to the wild type by now.

The capacity of the tank is about 18 adult guppies. Every few months, I surrender a dozen or so to keep the adult population in check. I’d like to be selective, but end up surrendering whatever I can catch.

Historically, two females get much larger than the others. These big mommas are baby machines. They produce more than the rest can eat. Once the babies are 2 or 3 days old, they’re big enough to come out of hiding.

There are now at least six big momma guppies. Last week, they started spitting out ungodly numbers of offspring. Every morning, clouds of tiny newborns dart into the plants when I turn on the light.

The guppy tank I’ve wanted since childhood is everything I hoped it would be. Well, not quite. In my dreams, the capacity is more like 100 adults.

Even with about a fifth of that, I’m happy with my guppies and surprised they still resemble their red cobra ancestors. As always, thanks for stopping by.