YOUR PETS Guppy trio are ‘such survivors’

Pets: Sam, Merry and Pippin. Owner: Jordan Evans, 25, a retail worker from Adamsdown, Cardiff. Breed: Guppy fish. Ages: 18 months old. Owner’s story: “They are all descended from fish I bought about three years ago. I bought three males and three females when I first got the tank.

“They bred and bred and I ended up with about 40.

“Unfortunately about six months ago the fish got quite ill and died.

“It was a problem with the filter when I was away. These three were the only ones that survived.

“I renamed them as three of the hobbits from Lord of the Rings because they are such survivors. I don’t normally name my fish but I felt the deserved it.

“Obviously as fish there are limits to what they can do.

“Merry does like pulling up the plants in the tank. I come down in the morning and they are all floating around.

“They seem to do two things: eat and mate. They are prolific breeders and unlike most tropical fish are livebearers, meaning they don’t lay eggs.

“This means they can go from one pair to hundreds in a very short space of time.

“I give them standard flake food most of the time but do give them things like bloodworms which they go nuts for. Most people find keeping dead worms in the house a bit disgusting but they are frozen so it is not too bad.

“The real trick is not to overfeed them. Any food left can rot quickly and is very bad for them.

“They all seem to get on pretty well. They are a really sociable fish and can easily be kept in a community tank.

“The only problem is because they have quite wavy tales other fish can mistake it for food and may nip at them. They are always happy to see you, but that is because you come bearing food.

“It sound pathetic but because they survived when so many didn’t, I find myself especially attached to them. They are like Bruce Willis in Die Hard.”