Aquarium Fish
Find and offer aquarium fish in Guatemala.
Most of the guppies, platies and mollies that need a new tank were born in somebody’s living room, because livebearers keep producing fry whether or not anyone planned it. Bettas turn up too, along with a shoal of tetras from a tank being taken down or a pair of angelfish that grew faster than expected. Fish go to keepers who can house them, never as stock with a price on it. Before choosing, think about your own water: what comes out of the tap in much of Guatemala runs moderately hard, which suits livebearers far better than soft-water fish. Tanks and filters for them, new and second-hand, are listed under aquariums.
Livebearers, shoaling fish, bettas and cichlids:
nearly every aquarium fish belongs to one of these groups, and the group tells you more about how it lives than its colour does. Livebearers, the guppy, platy, molly and swordtail, give birth to free-swimming fry; they are the easiest fish to keep and the ones most often looking for a home. Tetras, danios and rasboras are shoaling fish that only behave naturally in a group, and a single neon is a stressed fish. Bettas and gouramis gulp air from the surface, and two male bettas cannot share water. Cichlids run from the angelfish, which starts out in a community tank and outgrows it, to the Central American and African species that need a tank of their own. Corydoras work the bottom in groups, and the bristlenose ancistrus is the pleco that stays small enough for a home tank. Goldfish are cold-water fish and often do better outdoors, under pond fish. The glass, filters and heaters are bought and sold under aquariums and aquarium accessories.
Tap water, well water or a tanker truck:
the same house in Guatemala can fill its tank from very different water. Depending on the zone, the supply comes from the municipal mains, a private well or a tanker truck when the service is cut, and hardness and chlorine shift with it. Treat every refill with a water conditioner, and when a tanker has just refilled the household storage tank, change less of the aquarium than you usually would. Moderately hard water is good news for livebearers, Central American cichlids and the African cichlids of Lake Malawi, which all want hard, alkaline water. Neon and cardinal tetras, discus and most rasboras come from soft, acidic rivers; fish bred locally have usually adjusted, but a freshly imported batch can struggle in hard tap water. Purified water from a big bottled-water jug is no fix on its own, because depending on how it was treated it can lack the minerals livebearers need.
A guppy bred at home against a fish fresh off an import:
the first has already lived in water much like yours, while the second has just survived a long journey and is at its most fragile. Ask how long the fish have been with their keeper, and look at the tank they come from as well as the fish: crowding, cloudy water or a dead fish left in a corner says more than any reassurance. A bent spine, or a body that thins sharply behind the head, turns up in guppy lines bred brother to sister for colour. With livebearers, sex matters. Males carry a gonopodium, a rod-shaped fin behind the belly, and a female that has lived with males is almost certainly pregnant and can drop several broods without meeting another one. An old betta moves slowly and tears its fins even in clean water, so ask its age as well as its colour.
Passing on fry, a breeding group or a whole tank of fish:
name each fish the way keepers search for it, cobra or endler guppy, balloon molly, albino ancistrus, and say how many there are, which are male and which female, or that the juveniles cannot be sexed yet. Note what water they live in, from the tap, a well or a tanker, and what they eat. A short video in good light shows a fish far better than a photo, which usually comes out as a blur. Ask about the tank that is waiting before you agree a handover: a male betta should not go in with barbs, and a shoal should not go into a tank filled the day before, because new water has not yet grown the bacteria that clear fish waste. Skip feeding on the day of the move so they foul the bag less, and net them only once the new keeper has arrived. A breeding group travels best as several females with one male, since a lone female chased by several males wears out fast, and whoever drives in from San Lucas Sacatepéquez to start a guppy line will be glad you sorted them that way.