Are you Prepared?

If you keep an aquarium and would like to breed guppies then first a little research is needed to learn more about this species of tropical fish. It's better to be knowledgeable on the subject of guppies so that you can avoid problems later on. There are many books on the subject of tropical fish keeping and you should be able to find plenty of information on guppies.

The male guppy is easy to distinguish from the female because of his coloring, he is far more vivid and has big fins. However, the female is usually bigger in size with a thicker body mass but has a smaller tail and is lighter in coloring.

The guppy can often be quite a difficult fish to breed and this tropical fish is also a live bearer, this means that the fry are swimming as soon as they are hatched and the mother guppy can have up to 60 fry during each hatching. If you keep other tropical fish in the tank with your guppies then the newly hatched fry can be quickly eaten by them and therefore you will need to quarantine them. Remember though, that even the guppy adults will eat the guppy fry and this is the reason they can be a difficult fish to breed.

You will need to a plan if you want to continue raising the guppy fry as large aquariums of fish will have a feast on the fry guppies. Quarantine all male and female guppies separately unless you want them to reproduce again. Sometimes you will notice aggression among the males, but it will rarely cause death.

You should also remember that female guppies can sometimes be pregnant with fry when you first purchase them so look out for a bloated stomach and be ready to quarantine.

Guppies can survive quite happily on any fish food such as vitamin enriched tropical fish flakes and pellets etc. You can give them a various foods that can be obtained at the tropical fish supplies store, to keep them in good condition and for their coloration, also try giving them live foods once in a while because it will increase their level of activity and overall general health.

To start the breeding process, consider getting a 5 to 10 gallon aquarium for a ratio of one male to two to three females, if you want more, then you will need to increase the size of the tank accordingly. Make sure you change the water frequently to prevent nitrates accumulating. One tablespoon of aquarium salt should be added for every ten-gallons of water because Guppies thrive in water that has had a little salt added.

You can also add some floating ornamental plants. The other thing you might consider using is a heavy "spawning mop" which is composed of a dark green colored yarn because it will give the fry a good hiding place. It will help to protect them from being eaten by the other more mature fish in the tank until you have had the chance to transfer the mature Guppies into the quarantine tank. It will be a lot easier to catch the mature fish than to try and capture the numerous tiny Guppy fry.