Red Cap Kohaku Guppy Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

Red Cap Kohaku Guppies are ornamental fancy guppies recognised for their vivid red head and upper-body colouration, often contrasted with a pale or white body and a patterned, colourful tail. The precise pattern varies between individuals because this is a selectively bred strain rather than a wild population with a fixed appearance.

Like other guppies, they are small, active livebearers with constantly moving fins and an inquisitive nature. Males are especially eye-catching, displaying elaborate tails and intense colour, while females are larger and generally less ornate. Their lively courtship and social behaviour make them a popular choice for freshwater aquariums.

Poecilia reticulata is naturally associated with shallow streams, drainage channels, ponds and pools in warm tropical regions. Wild populations inhabit habitats ranging from clear, gently flowing water to mineral-rich, vegetated environments, and the species is highly adaptable.

Guppies have been kept and selectively bred for generations, producing an enormous range of tail shapes, body colours and pattern types. The Red Cap Kohaku form is valued for the contrast between its bright red upper region and kohaku-style pale and red patterning, with individual quality depending on the breeding line.

The Red Cap Kohaku Guppy is a selectively bred colour variety of Poecilia reticulata, a species native to parts of northern South America, including Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and northern Brazil. Wild guppies have also become established in many tropical regions outside their original range.

A group of Red Cap Kohaku Guppies should have an aquarium of at least 40 litres, with a larger tank preferable for mixed-sex groups or a growing population. A practical minimum footprint is around 60 x 30 cm, providing swimming space as well as room for plants. Use gentle filtration, open areas for active swimming and dense cover around the sides and rear, particularly with fine-leaved plants that shelter fry. A dark, fine-grained substrate, smooth decorations and floating vegetation help display their colours while creating a natural, secure environment.

Males reach about 3.5 cm (1.4 inches), while females can grow to around 6 cm (2.4 inches). Females are substantially larger and deeper-bodied than males.

Red Cap Kohaku Guppies are omnivores that benefit from a varied diet of quality small tropical flakes, micro-pellets and suitably sized granules. Supplement their staple food with blanched vegetables or algae-based foods, along with occasional live or frozen foods such as brine shrimp, daphnia and mosquito larvae. Feed small portions once or twice daily, offering only what the fish can consume promptly. Fry require very fine foods, such as powdered flakes, specialised livebearer fry food or newly hatched brine shrimp.

Red Cap Kohaku Guppies are peaceful community fish and can be kept with similarly calm species such as platies, mollies, swordtails, peaceful tetras, rasboras, white cloud mountain minnows and small Corydoras. They should not be housed with fin-nipping or predatory fish, including tiger barbs, larger cichlids, aggressive gouramis and many larger catfish. Long-finned males may be particularly vulnerable to fin nipping, and mixed-sex groups will produce fry unless males and females are kept separately.

Red Cap Kohaku Guppies are prolific livebearers and will usually breed readily in a healthy aquarium. Males fertilise females internally, after which the female gives birth to free-swimming fry following a gestation period of roughly 21 to 30 days. A mature female may produce 20 to 60 or more young, depending on her size. Dense plants or a separate breeding area can give the fry places to hide, as adult guppies may eat them. Females can also retain sperm and produce several broods after a single mating.

Males are smaller and more colourful, with a gonopodium, a modified anal fin used for mating, and usually more elaborate tails. Females are larger, rounder and less intensely patterned, with a normal fan-shaped anal fin and a visible gravid spot when carrying developing young.