Guppy Fish – The Care, Feeding and

Breeding of Guppies
June 21, 2014 by Robert Brand 22 Comments

Guppy Stats
Minimum Tank Size: 5 Gallons (10 Gallons Recommended)
Care Level: Easy
Water Conditions: PH 6.5-8.5 and Medium hard to Hard
Temperature: 65-80°F (18-27°C)
Maximum Size: 2.5 inches (6.5 centimeters)

Introduction

The guppy (Poecilia reticulate) is easily one of the most popular fish in the aquarium
hobby, and with their long flowing tails and striking colors, are arguably one of the most
attractive.

The male guppy has been selectively breed for hundreds of generations, resulting in a
huge array of tail fin variations and colors. The female guppy on the other hand, looks
far more natural and normally only have a small tinge of color in their tails.

Guppies were originally found north of the Amazon river in South America and also on
several Caribbean islands, but now can be found throughout the world due to escapes
and releases into the wild.

The guppy is one of the smallest live-bearing fish, with the females growing to about 2
½ inches, and the males being slightly smaller. Nearly all of the guppies in the fish trade
are commercially bred, and wild caught guppies are exceeding rare. Because of this,
they can adapt to a wide variety of water types, but prefer the water to be on the hard
side with a pH in 6.5-8.0 range.

Housing

Guppies are a generally peaceful fish, and will do well in most community tanks. If a
person plans a non-breeding tank, a few male guppies can live quite happily in a 10
gallon (37 litre) tank. Though this number should be limited to three or four to avoid the
males fighting with one another.

If you decide to add some females into the mix, then it starts to get a bit trickier. For
each male guppy, there should be at least two or three females. It’s not an exaggeration
to say that the male guppy is always in “the mood”, and if there is only one female
available for a male to mate with,  the constant harassment may eventually kill the
female. In the wild, female guppies will even choose to be near predators, rather than
endure the constant mating attempts of male guppies.

Something else to consider when adding females, is that the guppy is also known by the
name “million fish”. And this isn’t just an affectionate nickname – it has been earned by
hordes of guppies who overran fish tanks and eco-systems alike. So when some
females are added to an aquarium containing males, large numbers of baby guppies will
quickly be produced. Unless there is a plan to deal with all of the fry, or a large hungry
fish present (not for the faint of heart), then you should reconsider keeping males and
females in tank together.

When it comes to choosing filtration, guppies don’t have any special needs, and thanks
to their small size won’t put much strain on a tanks bio-filtration. Any quality HOB (Hang
on Back) filter or sponge filter will keep the water in pristine condition. With that being
said, if you plan on breeding guppies, then the equation changes pretty quickly. In that
case, you should choose a filter that exceeds what is required for the tank, and choose
one based on a heavily stocked future tank.

I would strongly recommend choosing an Aquaclear Power Filter  for a guppy tank. This
filter combines excellent filtration with a durable design, and it will keep your tank
sparkling clear for years to come. You can also read the Aquarium Tidings Aquaclear
Filter Review here.

Feeding

Guppies are easy to feed, and will readily accept almost any food that is offered to
them. They should be fed a high quality flake food daily, and it can be supplemented
with frozen daphnia, brine shrimp and blood worms. Guppies seem to especially love
frozen bloodworms, and you will often see them swimming around with what looks like a
giant blood worm cigar in their mouths. I personally feed them Hikari Fancy Guppy ,
which I consider to be one of the best foods on the market.

Like most other live-bearers, they will also benefit from some vegetable matter in their
diet. Small medallions of zucchini, cucumbers and any flake or pellet for herbivore fish
will be greedily eaten. You will often seem them picking at any algae in the tank, though
they won’t actually do much in the way of cleaning it off a surface.

Breeding

When it comes to breeding guppies, it’s as easy as just adding water. As previously
stated, the fish tank should have a minimum of 2 to 3 females per male guppy in the
tank. Since the guppy is a live-bearer, the females that are purchased from the store
may already be pregnant. So if someone is looking to breed a specific variety, it’s
important to ensure that any females purchased come from a female only tank.

As a live-bearer fish, the female guppy carries her eggs internally, and will give birth to
highly developed babies about a month after being impregnated. The easiest way to tell
if the female is pregnant, is to look for a dark gravid spot near it’s anal fin, and an
enlarged belly.

The addition of live plants to the tank greatly helps with breeding guppies. It gives the
pregnant guppy a place to hide when it goes into labor, and once the babies are born,
they will also instinctively hide in the plants. Some of the best plants to add are Java
Moss, Water Wisteria, Hornwort  and Duckweed. These all give the baby guppies
excellent hiding places and have the added benefit of improving the water quality.

Since the fry are born with such small mouths, they should be fed fry specific food for
the first few weeks. They can be fed newly hatched brine shrimp, microworms, or any of
the commercial fry foods (I recommend New Life Spectrum Small Fry Starter Formula  
or Hikari First Bites ). If you decide to go the baby brine shrimp route, you can find a
brine shrimp hatchery at Amazon.com here.

Filed Under: Tropical FishTagged With: breeding, care, feeding, guppy