A guppy tank can change while its owner is away in a way a goldfish or shrimp tank rarely does: it can gain residents. Guppies are livebearers, females can arrive already carrying fry, and a first-time carer who has not been warned may panic at specks darting in the plants or, worse, try to rescue and rearrange everything. Your handover should therefore cover the count and sex mix, very small feedings, the plants and cover that protect fry, and the group-level changes that deserve a call.
Count the guppies and explain the sex mix
Write down how many guppies you keep, how many are male and how many female, and any colour pattern that identifies an individual you care about. Explain in one plain sentence that females give birth to free-swimming young rather than laying eggs, and point out any female who already looks broad and heavy, because she is the most likely source of surprise fry. Tell the carer the tank may look more crowded by the end of the week and that this is expected, not a problem to solve. If you keep a separate rearing setup and genuinely move fry, describe that routine exactly; if you let the main tank handle it, say so just as clearly so nobody improvises a transfer.
Small feeds for small mouths, given little and often
Guppy feeding notes should translate your routine into a physical measure. State the food you use, whether you crumble flakes or use a fine fry-suitable food for young fish, and the amount shown as a photo or a marked scoop rather than a vague pinch. Give the times you feed and warn that guppies rush the surface and look frantic whether they need food or not, so the measure, not the performance, decides the portion. Ask the carer to watch that food reaches shy fish at the edges and that nothing drifts uneaten into the plants to decay. Where you include a vegetable-based feed on certain days, list the days so variety does not become daily extras.
Plants, cover, and leaving fry exactly where they are
Describe the planted corners, floating cover, or breeding grass where fry shelter, and instruct the carer not to prune, replant, or net fish to get a clearer view while you are away. Explain that healthy fry instinctively keep to cover and that chasing them with a net harms more young guppies than leaving them hidden ever will. Note your lighting hours so the tank keeps its day and night rhythm, your heater setting as read on the thermometer, and the modest water change you would normally do, with conditioner measured for that volume. A carer who understands the plants are infrastructure, not decoration, will disturb the guppy tank far less.
Group changes that should reach you the same day
Give the sitter baselines first: your guppies normally swim at every level, feed eagerly, and the males display to the females through the day. Then name the shifts to report: several fish hanging at the surface or hiding together, fins clamped tight against the body in more than one fish, a sudden loss of the group's usual colour and motion, or a female labouring with visible difficulty among otherwise calm tankmates. Provide your number and a backup, and repeat the standing rule that nothing gets added to the water without your say-so. A short daily headcount note from the carer is reasonable to ask for with guppies, precisely because the numbers move.
A written guppy brief turns the liveliest small tank into a calm assignment for a newcomer. Saving the sex mix, feeding measure, and leave-the-fry rule in KinsLe's Care Pass gives your carer those instructions in a temporary view they can recheck each visit, rather than trusting memory from a doorstep chat.