A guppy helper needs the group picture first
The emergency details for guppies start with the group itself: how many adults, roughly how many males with their bright tails and how many plainer females, and which plants the fish shelter in. A neighbour cannot spot that one guppy is missing, hiding or unwell without knowing what the group normally looks like at feeding time. Helpers also need the tank's usual warm temperature and the note that guppies are active, surface-oriented fish, so a lively crowd near the top at a visit is normal, while one fish alone in a corner is the one worth reporting.
Feeding details written for fish that overeat easily
Guppy feeding instructions should give a physical measure a stranger can copy: a pinch the size of a small pea, crushed if the fish are young, once or twice a day exactly as written and no more. Guppies will swarm and beg for a second helping within minutes, and helpers need permission to walk away, because uneaten flake drifting into the plants rots quietly and fouls a small tank. State that fry food or any different food is not substituted, that no food from the kitchen goes in, and that a single missed feed is harmless for healthy adult guppies, while a doubled feed is not.
Fry: the guppy detail nobody expects
Every guppy helper needs the fry warning, because livebearing females can drop babies during your absence without anything being wrong. Tiny fry hide in floating plants and moss, appear as small dark-eyed specks, and should simply be left alone: no netting them out, no moving them to a jar, and no extra feeding beyond a little of the usual food crushed finer if you have said so. Helpers also need to know not to add any new fish, plant or ornament bought as a surprise, and not to separate males and females based on internet advice mid-emergency, since a reshuffle stresses the whole group.
Warmth, the lid and gentle water care
Guppy water details are about steadiness: the heater and filter stay on, the light timer is left alone, and top-ups use conditioned water at a similar warmth, poured in slowly. Helpers should never do a full clean, scrub the glass bare of every trace of algae, or rinse the filter media under the tap, because the guppies' safety depends on the invisible bacteria that housekeeping destroys. The lid stays shut except during feeding, since guppies are known jumpers, especially when startled by a hand or a net appearing suddenly above the tank. For a power cut, the sheet should point to the battery air pump and a towel to wrap around the tank for warmth.
Alarm signs in guppy terms, and the contact order
The guppy emergency sheet should finish with the signs that justify an immediate message: several fish gasping at the surface, a guppy lying still on the gravel while others swim, white spots, shredded or clamped tails, or water that has gone cloudy with a bad smell. Below the alarms, list you, a fish-keeping contact and the aquatic shop you use, plus where the conditioner, food and spare batteries live. Assembling the group description, feeding measure, fry warning, water rules and contacts into a KinsLe Pet Passport keeps a guppy's records together in one packet a helper can pick up and follow, rather than a trail of texts sent across several days.