Product Details

Elephant Ear Magenta Grass Tail Guppy – Poecilia reticulata

The Elephant Ear Magenta Grass Tail Guppy is a highly decorative freshwater livebearer with oversized pectoral fins, vivid magenta colouration and a finely patterned grass-style tail. This selectively bred fancy guppy strain is ideal for peaceful community aquariums, planted displays and colourful livebearer setups. It is active, easy to feed and well suited to aquarists who can provide clean, stable, mineral-rich water.

Key Identification:

Common Name: Elephant Ear Magenta Grass Tail Guppy
Other Names: Dumbo Ear Magenta Guppy, Magenta Grass Tail Guppy, Elephant Ear Guppy, Dumbo Guppy, Fancy Guppy
Scientific Name: Poecilia reticulata
Strain / Form: Elephant Ear / Magenta Grass Tail fancy strain
Fish Type: Livebearer
Water Type: Freshwater

Natural Range & Habitat:

Poecilia reticulata originates from freshwater and slightly brackish habitats in northern South America and nearby Caribbean regions, where wild guppies occur in streams, ditches, ponds, pools and vegetated waterways.

The Elephant Ear Magenta Grass Tail Guppy is a captive-bred aquarium strain rather than a wild colour form. In the aquarium, it does best in a planted setup with open swimming space, gentle filtration, floating plants and stable water conditions.

Appearance & Adult Size:

This strain is known for its enlarged pectoral fins, often called “elephant ear” or “dumbo ear” fins, which create a broad, flowing look as the fish swims. The body and fins may show magenta, pink, purple, red, blue, silver or iridescent tones, with a grass-style tail pattern made up of fine speckling or intricate markings.

Adults usually reach around 3–5 cm, with males generally smaller, slimmer and more colourful than females. Fin size, magenta intensity, tail pattern, body colour and ear-fin shape can vary naturally between individuals.

Aquarium Suitability:

This is a good choice for peaceful freshwater community aquariums, livebearer setups and planted displays. Guppies are active and social fish, but fancy long-finned strains should be protected from fin-nipping or aggressive tank mates.

Elephant Ear Guppies are best kept in clean, stable water with gentle to moderate flow. Their larger pectoral fins can make them less suitable for rough current or boisterous fish communities.

Recommended Aquarium Size:

A practical minimum is 45 litres for a small male group, with 60 litres or more preferred for mixed-sex groups or community aquariums.

Keep in groups. Male-only groups are popular for display aquariums, while mixed groups should have more females than males to reduce persistent male attention. Dense planting gives females and fry useful cover.

Water Conditions:

Temperature: 22–26°C
pH: 7.0–8.2
Hardness: Moderately hard to hard water preferred
Additional Notes: Guppies do best in stable, mineral-rich water. Avoid very soft acidic conditions, sudden temperature changes and poor water quality. Regular small water changes are recommended, especially in heavily stocked livebearer aquariums.

Temperament & Tank Mates:

Aquarium Category: Community Fish

Elephant Ear Magenta Grass Tail Guppies are peaceful, lively and social. They are best kept with gentle community fish that will not nip their fins or outcompete them at feeding time.

Suitable tank mates include platies, mollies, small peaceful rasboras, peaceful tetras, corydoras, bristlenose plecos, otocinclus and peaceful snails. Avoid tiger barbs, serpae tetras, large gourami, bettas with caution, cichlids, puffers, large predatory fish and any fin-nipping species.

Feeding:

Elephant Ear Magenta Grass Tail Guppies are omnivorous and easy to feed. Offer quality tropical flakes, micro pellets and livebearer foods as the staple diet.

Supplement with spirulina flakes, algae-based foods, daphnia, brineshrimp, bloodworm, mosquito larvae and finely crushed frozen foods. A varied diet helps maintain colour, condition, breeding health and fin quality.

Behaviour in the Aquarium:

This is an active mid-to-upper level swimmer that spends much of its time exploring open areas, feeding eagerly and interacting with other guppies. Males may display their colours and fins to females or rival males.

Guppies are livebearers, meaning females give birth to free-swimming fry rather than laying eggs. In planted aquariums, some fry may survive among moss, floating plants and dense cover, although adults and tank mates may eat young fry.

Care Notes:

Maintain stable water quality and avoid sharp décor that could damage the enlarged pectoral fins or tail. Gentle filtration is recommended, with enough movement to keep the water clean but not so much that the fish struggle to swim comfortably.

If breeding is not desired, consider a male-only group. Females can store sperm and may continue producing fry even after being separated from males. Different guppy strains can interbreed, so keep strains separate if maintaining the Elephant Ear Magenta Grass Tail line is important.

Recommended For:

Beginner to intermediate freshwater aquarists

Availability:

Common to occasional / Captive-bred fancy strain

Image Disclaimer:

All images are a visual representation of the fish you will receive, made to be as accurate as possible. Natural variation in size, magenta colour intensity, grass tail pattern, elephant ear fin shape, body tone, sex and markings can occur between individual fish.