Guppy breeding

[BandE]

Hello all!! We are fairly new to this forum but we have gotten alot of advice and help so far. Thanks for the great welcome! We are interested in breeding guppies, and dont have any ideas about it. We have a 10 G tank cycling now to use strictly for this purpose. It has a filter, heater, pump, gravel, live plants, and a hood at the moment. So, where do we begin:
1. What should the male to female ratio be, and how do you tell the difference?
2. What should the tank parameters be?
3. Do we need any special foods or chemicals?
4. How long will it take them to breed and have fry with ideal conditions?
5. Do we need any other supplies?
6. Can any other fish be in the tank?
7. Do we need fry grass?

Any other info that we are not thinking about would be appreciated?
Thanks for all your help!

Brian & Erin

 

[cation]

1. M/F ratio works best at about 3 females to every male. This way none of your ladies get too worn out! Males are usually smaller than females, with more colorful, longer tails. They also have a modified anal fin known as a gonopodium. The female usually has a visible darkish region by her anal fin known as the gravid spot - this is where the eggs develop when she is pregnant.

2. Water parameters: Guppies thrive in constant temperatures of 74-82 degrees F. They like a pH of around 7.0, but will tolerate pH levels of 6.5-8.0. They don't mind a bit of aquarium salt, but do fine without it, too.

3. High quality flakes are important. You can supplement with most anything - mine love peas, brine shrimp, daphnea, catfish pellets, algae tabs...all sorts of things.

Also, as few chemicals as possible will get you better quality fry. Water conditioner is a must, and you might want to have some Melefix on hand just in case, but try not to add unnessecary chemicals.

4. Most guppies will drop fry every 28-32 days. YMMV.

5. A heavily planted tank, and growout tanks if you want to make a production of it. Alternately, a tank to move the female into before she drops, or a breeder net.

6. Sure. Cories are great with guppies, as are many other fish. If you can seperate the babies, you won't lose too many, but if you start getting other fish you'll want to check if they will eat your fry or not if you want to leave the fry in the main tank.

7. It's a great idea if you are going to keep the fry in the main tank.


Hope that helps!

 

[Doggfather]

not really about the guppies, it's already been answered, but whos "we" ae you foing it with a friend, or as maybe a business?

 

[BandE]

"We" are Brian and Erin...hence the "BandE" username. You can read some info on us in the Newbie section if you like

 

[snowyangel]

1. What should the male to female ratio be, and how do you tell the difference?
2. What should the tank parameters be?
3. Do we need any special foods or chemicals?
4. How long will it take them to breed and have fry with ideal conditions?
5. Do we need any other supplies?
6. Can any other fish be in the tank?
7. Do we need fry grass?

Thanks for all your help!

Brian & Erin

1. I would reccomend 3:1, the more females the less stress there will be on them. those males can get quite pushy and horny
2. Ph around 7(as said above), but guppies do bad in soft water, so above 7 is better. My guppies are kept at 77F temp, sometimes 78-79 if i want to help one of females give birth. As for salt, I add very mild dosages, but most of the time I dont use it unless im treating a disease.
3. No special chemicals except de-chlorinator. As for foods, guppies will eat a variety of foods. Mine eat everything i give them: tubifex worms, bloodworms, brine shrimp pellets(meant for the cories but gups are such piggies) and just reg flakes.
4. For pregnancy duration, I've had females give birth in 26 days, while another didnt have babies for 3 months while I owned her (yes there was males with her the whole time) . But i would say the average is 28 days for pregnancy.
5. If you want to breed them, java moss is perfect for fry to run to if the mother has them in the community tank(guppies will eat their fry along with many other fish)so a breeder trap/net is very handy also. I put my females in breeder traps and it saves you time from trying to save the lil' guys in the tank. Also, since females have been known to have over 30 fry, another tank of atleast 5 gallons would come in handy.
6. Yes, refer to my signature and you'll see a variety of fish that get along fine with my guppies. But im sure there's tons more
7. I guess i sort of answered this question above, that is if your talking about moss. I keep moss in every tank/bowl i own, i love it. I would def' reccommened it because its good for fry to hide in and its a good food source because there's little bacteria attached that fry can eat(i always see my fry nibbling on it). But its up to you really...

 

[Doggfather]

We" are Brian and Erin...hence the "BandE" username. You can read some info on us in the Newbie section if you like

thanks for clearing it up!!!