Guppy Breeding setup

[subramn]

Hello

I just setup a 55 gallon tank and want to add few guppies for breeding. are there are recommended guidelines like food, how many guppies and what size i should buy and how long it takes ?

[T.H. Fishkeeping]

lots and lots of hiding spaces is best. also make sure that you have a good ratio of males to females. about 1 male for every 2 to 3 females. but really any flake will do for food. guppys really are not picky

[Wesley]

Guppies pretty much breed themselves really. Just feed them flakefood. Keep some floating plants so that the fry have a place to hide.

[subramn]

thanks for reply, what size of guppy should i buy

[Alesha]

Any size guppy will eventually mate, as long as there are males and females. Even with a tank that size, you only want to start with a FEW. In less than a year's time, I had 14 guppies turn into 500+. That is not an exaggeration:  when we moved them from one tank to another, we counted every one! 😲

Good luck! 👍😀

[ange]

Guppies are very low maintenance if you want them to breed. Just make sure that the food is a size that the fry will eat if you're trying to maximize their survival rates. Hikari Fancy Guppy or a crushed up flake food are great for fry. The ones that I linked are sold my Aquarium Co-Op but there are likely an abundance of local options as well.

The more guppies you have, the less the ratio of males/females matter. For smaller groups of guppies 2F:1M is recommended.

[Jollypop4321]

IVe found that using live foods for the baby fry as they grow, give off slightly larger guppies, and more vibrant colors.  I  Breed the indigo blue, Blue dragons.

currently feeding micro worms, baby brine shrimp and quality flake food.  I’ve tried feeding them blood worms many times but they are repelled by them

even the adult guppies will go for these foods.   
 

Also as stated lots of bidding places such as java moss, guppy grass, and so forth is important so the young are not eaten by the parents

Personally I keep males and females separate and fry go into their own grow out tank, but can be placed back into adult tanks once they are large enough.  

 

[subramn]

@Jollypop4321 can you recommend where i can buy - micro worms, baby brine shrimp. guppy grass

 

 

[KBOzzie59]

12 minutes ago, subramn said:

@Jollypop4321 can you recommend where i can buy - micro worms, baby brine shrimp. guppy grass

 

 

You will want to hatch your baby brine, or find it frozen near you, but I like watching the fry chase and gobble the live stuff (not much of a chase really).

[Jollypop4321]

5 hours ago, KBOzzie59 said:

You will want to hatch your baby brine, or find it frozen near you, but I like watching the fry chase and gobble the live stuff (not much of a chase really).

 

5 hours ago, KBOzzie59 said:

You will want to hatch your baby brine, or find it frozen near you, but I like watching the fry chase and gobble the live stuff (not much of a chase really).

 

5 hours ago, KBOzzie59 said:

You will want to hatch your baby brine, or find it frozen near you, but I like watching the fry chase and gobble the live stuff (not much of a chase really).

 

6 hours ago, subramn said:

@Jollypop4321 can you recommend where i can buy - micro worms, baby brine shrimp. guppy grass

 

 

Baby brine shrimp eggs can be found here at the co op. I just purchased the ziss Artemis blender and setting up tonight.  It’s a bit spendy.   If you can’t afford it now look on YouTube for a diy instructions.  It’s very easy and inexpensive to set up.  And the result is well worth the efforts imo. I was just looking for a more permanent solution since I am hatching bbs all the time

the micro worm culture I got on eBay.   It was very cheap when you consider you have it forever.  Cory did a video on this and that’s how I got into it.  Instant mashed potatoes and all. Lol.  

And is totally sustainable over the long term.   No need to repurchase the culture.   And keeping them alive is so easy you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner

The whole Shabang cost about $25.00

this includes the culture instant mashed potatoes and a bit of yeast.  

The guppies love both these foods even though they are tiny

today I received my order from the co op   In that order I received bug bites and Extreme krill flakes   We'll see how the fish go for it tomorrow
 

As for plants I usually get them on eBay.  But the shippping methods done by amateurs during this COVID thing is not good and the plants are far gone and or dead before I receive them. 

In the order today from the co op I received two Anubis that were very well packed, quickly received and the plants are so perfect they look plastic
Im thrilled with my order

You don’t have to do all this at once.   Take small steps as you feel comfortable and you will have much success.   

 

 

 

[Marc]

I don't think you need anything special but places the babies can hide on the substrate. My two guppy females just had babies in a 55 gallon community tank and I must have over 40 fry now. They eat crushed flakes and other stuff on the substrate. The ember tetras, neon tetras, betta, sword tails, and guppy parents all pretty much ignore them at this point. If they make it past day two they know how to hide.

It will take about one month for them to give live birth dependent on temp and stress levels.

What other species do you have in the tank?

Oh and playing some Barry White for them doesn't hurt. 

[subramn]

@Marc Thanks. i have only guppies and they are 2-4 months old.

 

 

[Phinny]

@ange at what point does the male:female ratio not matter so much? I have a group of juvenile guppies (5 males: 4 females) that I'm hoping will colony breed. Do you think I need to improve the ratio in favor of more females? If so, by how much?

[PedroPete]

I think your colony will work out fine. But, if you notice aggression / females not bulking up and putting on weight - and f you aren't line breeding* - you could consider adding 1-2 more females (also depends on size of tank / filtration). That would increase gene pool and make for some cool varieties of "mutt guppies."

 

*If you are trying for all of your guppies to come out looking the same - one line, like Black Moscow or Dumbo Red Mosaic - I would decrease number of breeders to just the best looking adults (maybe 1 pair).

[PineSong]

On 10/14/2020 at 3:52 PM, Alesha said:

Any size guppy will eventually mate, as long as there are males and females. Even with a tank that size, you only want to start with a FEW. In less than a year's time, I had 14 guppies turn into 500+. That is not an exaggeration:  when we moved them from one tank to another, we counted every one! 😲

Good luck! 👍😀

Not to derail the thread, but if there is a journal or photos of this journey to 500 guppies, I'd love to see it--and what did you do once you got to 500? 

[Alesha]

On 11/14/2021 at 5:49 PM, PineSong said:

Not to derail the thread, but if there is a journal or photos of this journey to 500 guppies, I'd love to see it--and what did you do once you got to 500? 

Hi PineSong, 

Sorry it's taken me a while to get to your question. I'm not able to be online here much these days.

I didn't keep a journal with the guppies. I just fed them and tried to keep the water parameters good. I have very hard city water here, but the water was fairly stable once it cycled.

I got the fish from a local breeder in our area. There fish are available online. It's Imperial Tropicals in Lakeland, FL. Their fish are really big and super healthy.

These fish were in 1 10-gallon and 1-20 gallon tank. They had HOB filters, heaters and lights.  Most of the plants were fake.

We eventually moved them 2 a 55-gallon, with sponge filters and HOB filter, light and heater. They didn't do well in this tank. It was dirted and had gravel and crushed coral, with live plants, and the snails went a little (a LOT) nuts. The parameters never settled and I ended up treating with Levamisole for wasting disease. The treatment killed my cycle and I've never gotten it back. We've given away most of the guppies that survived the treatment. Although, we still have a 5-gallon tank full of babies that are now grown and having their own babies of the original 14. We're planning a drop-off trip to a local fish store to finally get rid of all of them. It's just too overwhelming to keep them all when my tank won't hold a cycle.

I've attached a pic of the 55-gallon, right after we moved them over. 

I hope this helps,

Alesha

[lefty o]

On 11/18/2021 at 10:18 AM, Alesha said:

Hi PineSong, 

Sorry it's taken me a while to get to your question. I'm not able to be online here much these days.

I didn't keep a journal with the guppies. I just fed them and tried to keep the water parameters good. I have very hard city water here, but the water was fairly stable once it cycled.

I got the fish from a local breeder in our area. There fish are available online. It's Imperial Tropicals in Lakeland, FL. Their fish are really big and super healthy.

These fish were in 1 10-gallon and 1-20 gallon tank. They had HOB filters, heaters and lights.  Most of the plants were fake.

We eventually moved them 2 a 55-gallon, with sponge filters and HOB filter, light and heater. They didn't do well in this tank. It was dirted and had gravel and crushed coral, with live plants, and the snails went a little (a LOT) nuts. The parameters never settled and I ended up treating with Levamisole for wasting disease. The treatment killed my cycle and I've never gotten it back. We've given away most of the guppies that survived the treatment. Although, we still have a 5-gallon tank full of babies that are now grown and having their own babies of the original 14. We're planning a drop-off trip to a local fish store to finally get rid of all of them. It's just too overwhelming to keep them all when my tank won't hold a cycle.

I've attached a pic of the 55-gallon, right after we moved them over. 

I hope this helps,

Alesha

you might have like 3 too many guppies in that tank.🤣

[KaitieG]

Yeah...I have had no issue with getting guppies to fill up a big tank--I like the variety that mutt guppies offer, but to each his own.  We finally got angelfish to take care of the growing population issues, but they did actually end up settling themselves into at least quasi-equillibrium before the angelfish.  To give an idea, here are my 10 original guppies and then what the tank looked like about 6 months later.  Everyone was eating partially crushed flakes with no special feeding schedule or anything fancy.

[Guppysnail]

A few things about guppies….

first I believe they are born pregnant (not really but sure seems that way)

second if not born pregnant 2 guppies in the same zip code will have babies 🤣

Third guppies are pigs and eat everything and anything including pecking your finger while working with plants  They are so helpful  

ok seriously though. Pick a few colors you like one male to 2-3 females.  I would start with 2 boys 6 girls. In a month or less if they are prego when purchased each girl will drop 20 or so fry EVERY MONTH. This goes exponential once fry mature. Guppies do not eat as many fry as they need to to self regulate the population. You want the ones born in your tank. You do not want it stocked with bought guppies. Bought guppies are not even half as healthy as the ones born to your tank will be. By 3rd and 4th generation they will be strong robust healthy and hardy. For fry I start with hikari first bites and north fin fry and crushed flake. 
Best of luck. I love my guppies. From 1 boy 4 girls they have a 29 a 20long and 2-10 gallons bursting at the seams. I haul them by the tank full to an lfs every 2-3 months. They are really easy great fish. Hardness to the water is essential for livebearers as the fry take so much from mom. They like to be warm I keep them between 77-78 degrees. Hope that helps. Looking forward to pictures of your thriving guppy tank. 😁

[PineSong]

@Alesha, that is an amazing tank photo. I can't decide whether to be envious or very very afraid.