Lately there has been quite a few posts on Guppy breeding and things, and after reading and answering lots of the same questions and problem I though of making a post about all the detailed information on Guppy Breeding.

These are not in order...

Gravid Spot



To find out if your female guppy is pregnant of not you must check for her gravid spot. Her gravid spot will grow large and darken as the fertilized eggs develop. Closer to the delivery time the spot will nearly be black. Some people say that they can even see the the developing babies within the gravid spot, but I haven't seen this before.

Delivery Time

Often when delivery time is near the feamle will be having difficulties swimming due the the weight of the developing babies. I don't really notice this problem but it should be a thing you watch on a daily basis.
The female will try to find a hiding place, normally behind the plants in the tank or sometimes they would hang out near the heater (like mine do). They just want to be left alone at delivery time and don't want to be bothered especially by the frisky males.
The noticeable thing my females do which I spot is that they don't eat, this is my indication that the females will be delivering soon. If you watch them daily at feeding times you should be able to notice which fish isn't eating. Although some females take in the food, which appears that they are eating but keep watching to be certain that they don't spit the food back out.

Breeding Tank/Net





The next thing you should have is a breeding tank... or net set up in your main aquarium. Actually I recommend that you should have two, one for the female giving birth and the other one for the fry. Some breeding tanks come with a divider section to seperate the birthing female from her fry, but the fry don't always stay in the section they're ment to which will lead to the female eating the fry after she has delivered the last baby. So, if your able to, seperate the fry from the female and seperate the female from the other fish in your tank.
When placing any female in a breeding box make sure you release back into the main tank if she hasn't delivered within 24 hours. Keeping any fish confind in small quarters for greater than 2 days won't help the fish. So, understand that female guppies need to exercise to assist in the maturation of the fry. If you believe the female is too large to release and fear for her safetly, place her near the heater (you may even want to raise the temperature a bit to help the maturation process of the babies and the help the feamle deliver). But again, don't leave her in the breeding net for any long time period.
*After delivery you should reduce the temperature back to what it was before you increased it*

Delivery Date

*I find this to be a very good idea* Mark the date of delivery on a calendar, and after 25 days you should start rechecking your female for signs of delivering fry once again. Depending on the tank temperature the female guppy can repoduce every 25-90 days. Generally the higher the temperature the faster the females eggs mature.

Hints on fast breeding

If you want to breed your female guppies quickly you should have:

1. Your tanks temperature around 25-27C
2. A heavily planted tank
3. Gentle/Calm Compainions with your guppies so that it is a stress-free aquarium
4. More female guppies then males... like 2 females to 1 male

If you have the above requirements your guppies should be delivering fry every 25 days.

A bit on Guppy Fry now
These chapters are much shorter than the otehr ones... please excuse that.

Raising the Fry

Ok, if you decide to raise the guppy fry you should consider to set up a few tanks to let the fry grow in... I don't usually do this but it is better if you want more of your fry to survive into adulthood.

Fry Tanks

Start any tank immediatly before the fry are born so the tank can cycle before the fish are added. Fry are very hardy fish... but sometimes a un-cycled tank can kill them.
The fry tank can be a simple tank meaning all you'll need to provide it filteration, heating and lighting. I don't think you'll need any gravel or plants in the tank either because it will be much easier to clean without it all. As the fry mature and are seperated, I then place some gravel and plants. You'll need to cover any suction devices with a material to stop the fry from being sucked into it, like for example the filteration. I suggest that you should find some fine netting or something to cover it up. I don't suggest using nylon pantyhose because it will interfere with the filteration process.

Feeding Fry

You'll need to feed the fry a few times per day. If possible for the first four weeks feed them as often as time allows... Some people feed their fry 5 times a day... so around that many times will be ok because through the first 4 wekks of the fry's life they go into building their body and muscle tone.
You can feed your fry some grind up Tropical flake food... but it would be great if you're able to hatch some brine shrimp to feed your fry a couple times a week. The baby brine shrimp provides a great source of nutrition to enhance the fry's colouration.
Don't use colour enhancing flakes As the flakes don't provide any correct vitamins the fry needs to have to grow properly.

Sexually Developing...

At the end of the first four weeks, the fry begin to sexually develop into a male or female guppies. At the age of 6 weeks, they will become sexually active... so between weeks 4-6 you might want to consider seperating them into female groups and male groups.

Seperating

To seperate your guppies take one fish out at a time and place it in a small container with the water from the tank. With a magnifying glass look for either the males gonopodium or the females gravid spot.
Mix ups to happen so don't be worried as the fish can be selected out and put into the correct group.
It's just a bit less to worry about with what you'll be doing with the fry of all the young females...

Culling

Between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 months, you'll need to decide to put some of the fry you have to sleep due to deformities. This procedure is called culling. Most fish stores will take the culled fry of your hands, but just don't expect anything in return because they a doing you a favour.

Adulthood

At six months of age the guppy fry and considered adults! So congradulations

HTH