Guppies have various colours and are very easy to care for. If you want to add unique colour to your aquarium, you must learn to breed fish and care for the fry until they mature. You will have an aquarium filled with colour. Don't worry, the process is simple and won't cost much. Continue reading below.

Choose the guppies you want to breed

Remember the number of guppies you want to breed, the colour of each fish, and their tail's shape. If you choose two fish with the same colour pattern to breed, the fry will also have that colour pattern.

You must choose one male and two or three female guppies to breed. When there is a 1:1 ratio, the male often becomes aggressive, chasing the female around the tank. In a 1:3 ratio, the male's attention is split between three females, making the breeding process less stressful for the female.

24K FULL GOLD / GOLDEN DRAGON GUPPY

The size of the tank is suitable for keeping guppies

HB WHITE GERMAN TUXEDO GUPPY

You must decide on the tank size when setting up a dedicated spawner. The aquarium size you choose will depend on your long-term goals. The bigger tank is always better.

A 10-gallon (45-litre) aquarium would be perfect for a pair or trio. The 10-gallon aquarium is large enough to house a handful of fish but small enough that they don't take up too much space.

Is there substrate or no substrate in the tank?

Once you have chosen your spawn tank, the next decision is whether we should use the substrate or leave the bottom of the tank empty. There are pros and cons to both options.

Empty tank

Leaving the bottom of your aquarium empty could be not beautiful, but it makes maintenance much easier. Without gravel or sand, we can quickly suck any waste out of the bottom with a hose. Removing fish droppings helps keep your aquarium water in clean condition.

Without gravel or sand, we can quickly suck any waste out of the bottom with a hose.

Gravel or sand

gravel or sand

You will agree that using gravel or sand in the spawn tank will make your tank look much better. It gives a natural feel that aquarists often find more appealing. Having stones has some benefits, but they are not usually optional.

Filters, heaters and lights for the Guppy breeding tank

Filters

Filtration in a guppies aquarium is essential. Before choosing a filter, remember that anything too strong will draw the fry in. You will need a gentle filter; otherwise, the fry could get sucked into the filter and killed. If you find the filter too strong, cover the filter opening with a thin cloth. The bundled part of the filter will gently filter the water and protect the fry from being sucked in.

Our first filter choice for a guppies aquarium is always the sponge filter. We recommend choosing a sponge filter for the spawning tank. The sponge filter, powered by an air pump, is cheap, easy to operate and offers gentleness with efficient filtration.

Light

Lighting is only essential to your guppies tank if you have growing plants. Give your guppies the light they need for day and night awareness without needing expensive specialized lights.

Heater

Aquarium heaters are a must in guppies aquariums. Temperature plays a vital role in the healthy growth of guppies. If the water temperature fluctuates, your female guppies may abandon their young before birth. Heaters only need to be small if you're using a 10-gallon aquarium.

Before releasing guppies into the spawning tank:

1. Purchase food with higher nutritional value to promote healthy spawning.
2. Adjust the tank temperature to suit your fish's needs.
3. Set the temperature to around 77℉-80℉ while the female and male are in the tank together.

You also need to know more about the right temperature for a guppies tank and recognize the problems that arise when the temperature changes with the weather. Read the article "Guppy Water Temperature - All Things About Temp For Your Guppy's Tank."

Decorate and grow plants in a guppies aquarium

You can reduce the number of fry being eaten by adding as many hiding places as possible. It doesn't matter what you use to create the hidden space. We like to use a large bunch of Java Moss. Java moss or spawning moss provides an excellent hiding place for guppies. Java Moss fills about half of our 10-gallon aquarium. It allows the baby guppies to hide right inside it to keep the adults away.

Java moss or spawning moss provides an excellent hiding place for guppies.

Guppies have how many babies in one birth

You can see them repeatedly swimming in the same spot, a common sign that they are about to give birth. It is scarce for a guppy to spawn less than 20 fries. If you are lucky, you can get 50 or more fries after just one birth. However, this is very unlikely to happen. Expect an average of 30 to 40 fries.

Remove the female from the spawning tank after the fry is born

Guppies are born fully prepared to survive. Also, as noted, the mother guppies can sometimes eat their young. If you can't be there when the female gives birth, provide the fry with plenty of aquatic plants to hide in.

KOI RED EAR GENE GUPPY

Place guppies in the spawning tank

At this point, all you can do is wait for your guppies to spawn. Put the male back into the regular tank when you notice your female is pregnant. You can tell if a female is pregnant by looking at the dark spots on her belly. This stain is called a gravid stain. All females will develop this during pregnancy, but it becomes more pronounced once the eggs have been fertilized.

Know when your fish is about to give birth

Usually, the gestation period will last from 26 to 31 days. When your female guppies are ready to give birth, their belly will be huge, and their pregnancy site will be dark black.

Guppies give birth to live babies, not eggs. You will have to monitor your pregnant female closely to be present when she gives birth, and you will need to remove her from the tank soon after; otherwise, it may eat its offspring.

Keep the tank clean and at a stable temperature

The fry must live in a tank with a temperature of about 78℉. Keep your tank at this temperature until the fry is fully grown. The tank will also need to be cleaned regularly. Clean the tank carefully every time it gets too dirty, and change 40% of the water every few days to keep the water clean.

THERMOMETER GLASS

Maintain and care for the guppies aquarium

Keep in mind that a guppies aquarium will require a maintenance process. You must change the water sufficiently each week to prevent nitrate levels from building up. In guppies, we charge 30% to 50% of the water weekly, depending on the fish we have.

Once you have baby guppies, you must feed them the proper diet. Feeding them often is much better than having one big meal daily. We gently squeeze the scales before adding food to the tank and add a small pinch of flakes 3 or 4 times a day. Baby guppies will also eat freshly hatched brine shrimp and frozen cyclops.

Regularly test the water quality in your aquarium with a water test kit. We have an accurate water test kit that many customers trust for aquariums. Check it HERE.

Regularly test the water quality in your aquarium with a water test kit.

Feed the fry the right kind of food. Guppies eat brine shrimp, micro-worms or detritus to maximize their growth potential. They should be fed twice a day. Guppies enjoy both meat and vegetables. It would be best if you fed guppies with vegetables and standard flakes. Remember that fry is tiny, and if you put too much food in the tank, the excess food will cause water to rot, making the fry sick or even killing them.

Take steps to ensure that your fry is healthy. This means discarding any dead fry. The dead fry will float to the top of the tank, making it easy to pick them up. Keep track of how many fries die. If you notice many fries dead, you must find out what kills them. Change the water and switch to another type of food. Any accumulated waste is harmful to the guppies' health.

Guppies enjoy both meat and vegetables. It would be best if you fed guppies with vegetables and standard flakes.

Transfer the fry to a normal tank when they are large enough. When the fry reaches the right size, about a month and a half to two months old, they will be ready to feed themselves. You can put them in a normal tank with the fish in your community tank, but be aware that they are not aggressive and do not eat guppies. With guppies, you can also make a fantastic gift and give it to your friends and relatives.