|| Beginners Guide to Guppies ||

[DeepSeaFishin]

|| For those of you getting into the fish hobby, Guppies are for you. The reason is these fish are very simple to breed and are user-friendly. They make great beginner fish and they also are fun to watch. ||

Guppy: The most common beginner fish, Guppies are very fun to have. Males may grow long, elegant fins, and females as well. To breed guppies, you need a take of at least 10 gallons and place 1 male to every 3 females. Placing 1 male to every 2 females can be done, but this creates a higher stress levels for the females and tends to make their broods small and of lesser quality. The reason is the male guppy will only be bothering 2 females, so the more females the more the male has to manage which in turn, creates a lower stress level. So the bottom line is, always have several females to one male. This also doesnt mean you have to put strictly guppies in your tank, Guppies mix with other peacful fish and make a great addition to a community tank.

Sexing: Males have a gonopodium, Usually are more colorful (See Below for Pictures)

Food: Flakes, Freeze-Dried worms, Brine shrimp, Click Here for more info on live foods.

Ph: 6.5 - 8.5

Temp: 75-79 F

Breeding Signs & Tips:

- Leave a cluster of floating plants near the surface for fry to hide in.
- (Optional) Do not move the female into another tank before she gives birth.
- Be gentle, when scooping & moving the fry its easy to hurt them.

When the male is courting a female, he bends into a C shape and shakes back and forth. He will also try and get next to her to mate. After fertilization, females will get fat and plump and also will have a distinct Gravid Spot near her anal. She will also hide under plants and etc. This gravid spot is a black dot which actually is the fry growing inside her. Do Not Move Her! Let her give birth into the main tank and scoop the fry up with a net. Many people choose to move pregnant guppies but this actually increases the stress on her and thus may cause her to abort pregnancy. Usually she will give birth about every month. However, some guppies give birth differently, hey every fish isn't the same.

Rearing Fry: Keep fry in a seperate tank or in a breeder net. A seperate tank around 5-10 gallons is preferred. Feed them finely crushed flakes and baby brine shrimp 3 times a day. Make sure to keep the fry tank temperature around the same as your main tank. After about 3+ months seperate the male and female fry ( See Below for Sexing ) so they do not breed with each other and thus creating in-bred fry. After they are sexually mature, you can back off the feeding to once a day.


|| How to sex a guppy ||

Female on top, male is on the bottom. Notice his gonopodium.

|| Pregnant Female Guppy ||

Notice her gravid spot

If I'm wrong anywhere, please, correct me.

Hope this helps!

Tom

 

[Annastasia]

Very nice article DSF. However, I have to nit-pick a few things. Sorry!

First of all, Guppies aren't exactly what I would call 'hardy' fish anymore. They are so inbred, they have gotten very weak and their immune system isn't very good anymore. Also, since males have huge tails in proportion to body size, it can sometimes be very hard for them to swim, and get food. Along with other needs, sometimes you need to have very little current, especially with delta Guppies, because it can just rip their tails to shreds...so I wouldn't call them 'hardy beginner fish', unless you are talking about feeder Guppies...not the fancy Guppies.

To breed guppies, you need a take of at least 5-10 gallons and place 1 male to every 3 females. If you have a 5 gallon tank, usually you can place a male and 4-5 other females in with him.

It's better to have a tank of at least 10 gallons for them...this gives the females more room to get away, and you can be sure you aren't overstocking. 5 Gallons are really to small to be good breeding tanks. Female Guppies can get to 2", so you'd be overstocking if you went by the inch per gallon rule too....

Keep fry in a seperate tank or in a breeder net. A seperate tank around 2 gallons is preferred.

Hmmm. I'd say at least 5 gallons if you really want to raise them. Remember, if you have 5 female Guppies, you can have a couple hundred fry a month, if you save them all. 2 Gallons isn't going to cut it to raise all these fry to 3 months old...not to mention the other fry that come in every month.


And lastly, let me stress how important it is to have homes ready for all these fry. Your Guppy can have up to 100 fry each month. Though less is more common, it is possible. Your tanks can become very overstocked in a matter of months, especially if you have a lot of females. You could be up to 500 fry in 4 months. All these babies need places to go.

Don't mean to sound negative or anything...just adding a few things. Though it really is a nice article.

 

[Alix]

this arciticle is good for me cuz im going to start having guppys in september when i get a 10gal. what kinda plants would you recomend?

 

[DeepSeaFishin]

Thankyou anna for your reply, im editing the article as I speak ...

Water Sprite are good plants, even the fake version is good...

 

[Annastasia]

Java Moss is very good too. Basically, any thick plant that has little places for fry to hide in, is great.

thankyou anna for your reply, im editing the article as I speak

You're welcome. I'm not saying I'm right, it's just my opinion. I think if you fixed the spelling mistakes, and added a little on to the "Food section" (Like Frozen or Live foods...) and modify the p.H so it's about 6.5 - 8.5 or around there, It could possibly be a nice pinned article. It's very good for beginners, because it answers a lot of questions they usually ask.

 

[aquatic-Bizkut]

good article, im liking the idea, i would love to breed my tiger barbs, but its kinda rough, i will have some guppies soon along with my tetras, and neons, plus some silver hatchets, .... i also have some breeding grass already to go..... so that would be awsome to have some guppie fry......great thread bump!