Types of guppies: Male guppies: Smaller and more colorful than females, they also have dorsal fins. Female guppies: Duller in color than the males. When a female guppy is pregnant, there will be a black dot in their stomach, you can watch my YouTube video below to find out what it looks like. Baby Guppies: Guppies give birth to live fry than than laying eggs, so if your guppies breed, you will see their babies right as they are born. Mating: The male guppy extends a tube from his gonopodium and inserts it into the female guppy's genital pore. Once the male inserts the tube, he ejaculates sperm into the female guppy. The sperm mixes with one of the female guppy's egg cells to form a new cell that eventually becomes a baby. Female guppies first produce offspring at 10-20 weeks of age and they continue to reproduce until 20-34 months of age. Male guppies mature in 7 weeks or less. The total life span of guppies is typically around 2 years.
Each time the female gives birth, she is able to produce approximately 6 to 20 babies according to my own experience. The exact number usually depends on her size. To Start:
Step one: Aquarium tank Set up:
Ideally, your tank will be between 10 to 20 gallons in volume as the guppies keep growing in numbers. For best results, you should have a gallon of water per inch of fish. I have a 20-gallon tank, I started with 4 female Guppies and 2 male guppies as recommended by the sales person at the pet store.
Step two: Dechlorinate the water in the
tank.
There are two ways you can dechlorinate
your water. You can let it sit with the lid open for about a week to let the
chlorine evaporate, or you can buy a dechlorinating kit at the pet store. You
have to dechlorinate the water whenever you add water to the tank.
- Keep the water between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. This is equal to about 24-30 degrees Celsius.
- Whenever you clean the tank, change the filter.
- Add plants and decorations to your tank. Start from the bottom - add some kind of substrate to the bottom of the tank. Stones or gravel are a great option for guppies. Then, add in a lot of plants. This is very important to keep The baby guppies alive without being eaten. Lots of plants provide places for guppies to hide, as I do not have time to transfer the pregnant female guppies to a separate breeding box or other tank, and I did buy a breeding box, but I found it very inconvenient, unless you have plenty of time. I used plastic plants, and make sure to clean them first before putting them into the fish tank. You can use live plants, which help balance the pH of the tank, but they can also die or have leaves fall off them. I let the tank grow algae naturally to help the pH of the tank.
- Feed your guppies a small amount of food 2-4 times per day. Spread their feeding out throughout the day.
- Clean the tank once a week when you start, take out 25 to 40% of water and replace it. As it will be easier for the fish to adjust. After three months, once the water gets settled, algae start to grow, you just need to change water once a month. After the back of the fish tank is covered by algae, personally, I change water twice a year, and add water, change filter and clean fish tank once a month. I only clean the glass in the front and the side, and let the algae grow at the back of the fish tank to keep the water clear, to create a little natural environment.
- The other fish can eat baby guppies. Also old driftwood and live coral contain parasites that could be damaging to your fish and the tank. Do not add the other kind of fish, live coral or old driftwood to your tank.
- Ideally, your guppies should get about 8 hours of darkness per day. Too much more or less than this could cause deformities as they grow. I turn the light on at night time, as a night light, and turn it off during the day.
- If you have extra guppies, pass it to other people who want them. Also, certain pet stores will take them and give you credit if you ask.
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