Koi Red Ribbon Butterfly Ear Guppy Care Guide - Setup, Diet & Breeding

Koi Red Ribbon Butterfly Ear Guppies are brightly patterned fancy guppies prized for their ornamental colour combination and flowing fins. Males typically show a pale or white body with red and orange koi-like markings, a broad butterfly-patterned tail and contrasting red ribbon-like extensions from the lower fin area. The exact pattern varies between individuals and breeding lines, making each fish slightly different.

Poecilia reticulata is native to northern South America, including parts of Venezuela, Guyana and northern Brazil, as well as Trinidad and nearby Caribbean areas. The Koi Red Ribbon Butterfly Ear form is a selectively bred ornamental strain developed in captivity rather than a naturally occurring wild variety.

A group of Koi Red Ribbon Butterfly Ear Guppies should have at least a 40-litre aquarium, with a tank measuring around 60 cm long by 30 cm wide or larger preferred for active swimming and stable water conditions. Use gentle filtration, a secure lid and open swimming space alongside dense plants, floating cover and smooth decorations. A fine gravel or sand substrate is suitable, and live plants help provide shelter for females and fry without taking away from the swimming area.

Males usually reach about 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in), while females can grow to approximately 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in). Females are generally longer and deeper-bodied than males.

Offer a varied omnivorous diet of quality tropical flake or micro-pellets supplemented with small frozen or live foods such as baby brine shrimp, daphnia and mosquito larvae. Spirulina-based foods and finely chopped vegetables can provide useful plant matter. Feed small portions once or twice daily, removing uneaten food to protect water quality.

These peaceful, active livebearers can be kept with similarly sized community fish such as small tetras, rasboras, danios, peaceful Corydoras, kuhli loaches, platies and other gentle livebearers. Avoid large, predatory or highly aggressive fish, as well as notorious fin-nippers such as tiger barbs. Males may court females persistently, so mixed groups should contain more females than males, commonly at least two females per male.

Koi Red Ribbon Butterfly Ear Guppies are prolific livebearers and usually breed readily in a mature aquarium. After mating, the female gives birth to around 20–60 free-swimming fry after a gestation of roughly 21–30 days, although brood size varies with her age and size. Dense plants such as Java moss provide cover for newborns, while a separate breeding or nursery tank can improve fry survival because adults may eat them. Feed the young finely powdered flake food, baby brine shrimp or suitable fry food.

Males are smaller and more vividly coloured, with an elongated gonopodium, ornate tails and flowing ribbon-like fins. Females are larger and plumper, usually less intensely patterned, and have a visible gravid spot near the abdomen when carrying developing fry.