What to feed newborn guppies. How and what to feed guppy fry - features of raising young animals. Do guuppies need oxygen and a filter?

Most aquarists are actively interested in breeding fish, and with the appearance of tiny fry, the question of feeding arises. Proper nutrition influences many factors in the development of newly hatched babies and the condition of adult fish. Feeding fry is significantly different from feeding juveniles of a larger variety, so let's figure it out.

These fish are considered quite unpretentious, agile and common in many aquariums. When a female guppy spawned in a home pond, then small fry, almost immediately after birth they begin to swim and look for food.

The most important period in the life of guppy fry is the first week of their life. If during this period they are kept at a comfortable temperature and fed correctly, then the young will be able to please good growth and active life.

If guppy fish do not eat properly in the first weeks of life, then they will lag behind in development and will not be as beautiful and healthy.

Immediately after the female spawns, experienced aquarists recommend planting her in another container. This is required so that the adult does not eat its offspring, which are 3-4 mm in size. It is believed that this is not typical for female guppies, but such cases occur often.

Based on all of the above, young fry must survive and find their own food.

Diet and nutritional features

Baby guppies eat completely differently than adult fish. Large individuals eat once a day, and their young require food up to 6 times a day. During 1 feeding, they must eat all the food served to them, otherwise it will settle to the bottom of the aquarium and form a lot of nitrogen, which poses a danger to the life of the fish. In this regard, it is recommended to change the water daily and take it from the container where the parents of the baby guppies live.

Baby guppies are able to eat the same food as mom and dad, but it is very large for them, so it is customary to crush it and grind it into powder with your fingers. This method is used by many fish owners, but in the early stages of their life it is better to use specially prepared plant, live and commercial products.

Baby guppies, even at the first stages of life, require a lot of food and frequent meals. Also, in order to provide the fish with a warm and comfortable atmosphere, many aquarists leave the lights on for 2-3 days and feed them every 3-4 hours. This allows the fry to get stronger, adapt to the new space and grow a little.

Food options for fry

1. Natural food of plant or protein origin. Often it is grown by aquarists themselves.
2. Products for initial feeding of fry. They are sold at any pet store.

Scientists have not yet determined which complementary feeding option is the best, but for such small fish, a good nutritional balance and avoidance of overfeeding are important.

Commercial feed

Retail chains regularly provide starter feed for fry, so purchasing them is not difficult. The most popular of them are dry mixtures and solutions from the German manufacturer Tetra.

Tetra BioMin

Lure Tetra BioMin Popular with aquarists. It is a dense paste specially designed for the smallest viviparous fish.

It includes:

• fish and beef liver (carefully ground to a powder consistency);
• Artemia;
• egg yolk;
• mosquito larvae;
• sprouted wheat flour.

The complementary food is in a tube, and to give it to the fish you should:

1. Dip the neck into water.
2. Make 1 small press.
3. After this, the food will separate from the tube and gradually dissolve in the water.
4. The fry will absorb water along with the paste, receiving nutrients.

Tetra MicroMin

Lure Tetra MicroMin– contains the most necessary useful elements for baby guppies. This complementary feeding option is made in the form of a dry powder. It is great for the smallest babies up to 10mm in size.

It includes:

• vitamins to stimulate the brightness of the color of fish - D, A;
• vitamin T, intended for active growth;
• calcium, carotene and other elements.

This mixture is absolutely safe for fish, because during production it undergoes a special ultraviolet treatment, which allows the food to be disinfected.

GBL

Lure GBL– contains all the necessary nutrients for the smallest aquatic inhabitants. Contains mineral supplements and proteins.

Sera

Feed Sera provides quality food products for baby guppies (German production). When choosing these products, you can select food separately for newly hatched and older pets. This mixture forms a film enriched beneficial microorganisms, which the fry can absorb as needed.

Feeding guppy fry with spirulina:

Natural feed

According to experienced owners of home ponds, it is also necessary to give the fry natural food in crushed form. This is due to the fish approaching natural conditions life.

It is recommended to feed the smallest guppies, but after 1 week their diet can be diversified by adding microworms, brine shrimp, rotifers, cyclops and small bloodworms. Initially, aquarium owners purchase these products from pet stores, but after some time, they get the hang of it.

The most common homemade guppy food is egg yolk and dairy products.

Egg yolk feeding

Manufacturing process:

1. The egg is hard boiled;
2. Wipes on the most fine grater and pours it into a glass of water;
3. The contents of the glass are thoroughly mixed until smooth, and then this mixture is added to the aquarium using a pipette.

Dairy feed

To prepare this complementary food, you need to hold a glass of milk in a water bath until all the liquid has evaporated from it, leaving white powder. Next, we collect it, and the food is ready for consumption.

It is worth noting that foods made from eggs and milk are not complete, so they should be used together with other nutrients.

Live food

Breeding live food at home is a common phenomenon. Chief Representative This complementary food is a microworm consisting of pure protein, which is ideally absorbed by guppy fish.

To breed this worm successfully, a little preparation is required. Water should be mixed with cornmeal(until a thick consistency), add about 1/4 teaspoon of yeast and leave the mixture for a couple of hours.

Next you need to get the worm itself. To do this, you need to explore wet places in nature, find a small, white microworm there and put it into a prepared container with a pre-prepared mixture.

The microworm reproduces very quickly, so after a few days, it can already be given to the fry.

You will need

• - nursery with fry;
• - an aquarium with adult fish;
• - net for aquarium fish;
• - a bag for transporting fish or another transparent and durable one.

Instructions

Finally, the long-awaited moment has come for the baby guppies to move into a common aquarium. And, until the new fry appear, you can forget about the double work of cleaning the aquarium and accessories.

The moment of transplantation occurs when the likelihood of babies being eaten by adults disappears. Usually the fry are transplanted 2-4 months after birth. Until this time, the fry live in a small nursery aquarium. Keeping fry separately helps not only to preserve the offspring, but also to improve health. After all, the fry do not need to hide and run away from other fish, thereby conserving energy. The energy saved in this way goes towards the development and growth of the fry.

The aquarium should have enough shelter and vegetation so that if something happens, the kids can easily hide from danger and wait it out. The fry can successfully hide in the foliage of long-stemmed, small-leaved plants. Lush vegetation is necessary not only for fry. The bushy tail of males attracts the attention of other fish and they can easily bite it, which leads to illness and even death of the fish.

Baby guppies react acutely to changes in temperature. Therefore, make sure that the temperature in the nursery and the general aquarium is the same. Optimal temperature for healthy growth fry are exposed to temperatures of 22-24 °C, although they tolerate temperature increases up to 30 °C. At temperatures above 26°C, the fry develop faster.

Fill a special bag for transporting fish with water from the nursery, carefully catch all the guppy fry in it with a special net and dip this bag into the general aquarium. After 10-15 minutes, when the fry have calmed down, pour out some water from the bag and take the missing amount from the aquarium. Repeat the procedure a couple of times, and then carefully immerse the bag in the water and turn it over, thus allowing the fry to swim out of the bag into the aquarium.

Before transplanting, you can add water from the future aquarium to the nursery for greater comfort during adaptation. Another factor for successful adaptation is the presence of fry in a common aquarium without other fish. Before replanting, you can carry out a general cleaning of the future aquarium. Before moving in, start the guppy fry for several hours according to the scheme described above, reducing the number of water additions to one or two times. This will allow them to adapt to an unfamiliar environment.

Please note

Guppy fry are very mobile; when caught, they can jump out of the net.

Guppy is a freshwater fish that belongs to the Petsiliev family. It is considered quite unpretentious, as well as the most popular of all aquarium fish. It should be noted that every breeder should have an idea of ​​how to determine if a female guppy is pregnant. This knowledge will help to timely create certain conditions for a female expecting offspring.

Instructions

As a rule, a guppy's pregnancy is determined by the shape of its abdomen. The fact is that the female bearing offspring has a rounded, voluminous abdomen, which immediately before birth becomes slightly rectangular shape. Sometimes fry can be observed through the gaps, and closer to labor activity guppies develop a dark birthmark localized on the abdomen. It is necessary to take into account that the shape of the fish’s head during this period begins to appear graceful due to the voluminous belly. In addition, a pregnant female is distinguished by a peaceful and calm behavior.

Often, before throwing fry, the back of the guppies' belly becomes dark. If there are only fish of this family in the aquarium, and there are also many shelters in the form of stones, snags and algae, then the female does not need to be removed. However, if there are other fish in the aquarium, the guppy bearing offspring must be removed for the period of throwing, and then released back. It is important to remember that the fry must be kept in a separate container.

When placing a pregnant female, you need to take into account that she is capable of eating her fry. Thus, it is advisable to take care in advance of purchasing plants with which they can hide from the mother, who is temporarily next to the offspring. The number of fry born to a female directly depends on her age. A young fish can produce up to ten offspring, while an old one can produce hundreds of fry. In order for the offspring to have beautiful colors and develop quickly, they should be fed a variety of foods three times a day.

Basically, a guppy's pregnancy lasts forty days. During the first week after birth, the fry live in a nursery. Then they are transplanted into the most spacious containers. Already in a month you can notice distinctive features, allowing you to determine the sex of the fry. In females, a birthmark appears near the anus. At three months, males change the so-called anal fin into a gonopodium. It should be taken into account that in order to prevent the reproduction of guppies, it is advisable to timely distribute young offspring by gender and be sure to keep them separately. In winter, it is necessary to maintain the water temperature, which should be eighteen degrees Celsius. Such actions will not only help avoid unnecessary spawning, but will also allow the female to take a break from labor.

Guppy is a widespread fish with beautiful colors. There are hardly any more popular aquarium inhabitants, because one of the main advantages of these freshwater animals is their unpretentiousness. In addition, they are not picky eaters and can withstand several days of hunger strike.

What to feed guuppies

These small fish need to throw food at least three times per day, ideally every 3-4 hours. Some people believe that guppy food needs to be fed a lot at a time, but you shouldn’t pamper them with large portions. Overeating is extremely dangerous! Fractional meals will have a much better effect on health and offspring. The following recommendations will help you decide on a feeding method:

Store feed

Use specialized food for tropical fish. It is a flake that is sold in pet stores. Fish can eat it every day. The quality of food directly depends on its price, because high-quality feed contains more proteins and useful substances plant origin. Pelleted feed It's better not to even consider it. Guppies simply won't be able to eat it because small size mouth

Feeding guppies goes like this: throw in some flakes (literally a pinch) and wait for the fish to finish their meal. This usually takes about a minute.

When purchasing food, you should pay attention to the presence of natural dyes in the composition. These ingredients will not harm the fish, but guppies may change color after eating this treat. To obtain a more intense color, you can use specialized food Tetra Guppy Color.

Cereals can be purchased in advance at large quantities, but then it’s better to freeze some of them for preservation nutrients for a long time.

Live food

Main cast correct menu– living organisms. These can be brine shrimp, tubifex worms, and bloodworms. Chopped fillets of squid or river fish are also suitable. If purchasing such food becomes unavailable during the winter season, you should freeze the food in advance and defrost it as needed.

You can’t do without plant food, for example, parsley, spinach or seaweed. Any food must be pre-chopped and scalded with boiling water.

Well-cooked cereals are also suitable for feeding. It is better if it is carefully ground rolled oats or semolina. However, guppies are not averse to eating even liver sausage or low-fat hard cheese, which also needs to be well chopped. Don't forget that too much food can cause pressure inside the fish and lead to intestinal rupture.

Regardless of the variety of food, vitamins need to be added to the guppy’s diet. Solutions of vitamins A, E, D are suitable. It is enough to mix only 5 drops with food. Also useful fish oil in the amount of two to three drops per serving.

Varied diet

Pets nowadays often eat only dry food. This also applies to fish. But if for some a wide selection of treats is not important, then for guppies it matters.

It is advisable to replace flake food with live guppy food 3-4 times a week. These can be daphnia, bloodworms, copepods, and tubifex worms. The following can also be used:

• Shrimps;
• Boiled chicken breast;
• Beef heart and liver;
• Pea husks;
• Earthworms;
• Lettuce leaves.

Any food must be fresh and pre-chopped.

Tubifex worms and live daphnia should be given carefully and in small quantities. Even if they are safely recommended in a good pet store, it is important to know that tubifex contains deadly dangerous bacteria, and daphnia negatively affects the condition of the aquarium as a whole, consuming large amounts of oxygen.

How to spot overeating in guuppies

Overeating can be confused with a banal pregnancy.

These freshwater fish They have a small stomach, so strict adherence to feeding standards is important. If these standards are exceeded, the fish will overeat, which will have a bad effect on their well-being. You can define excess food like this:

1. Adult guppies become noticeably rounder and a bulge in the abdomen or chest appears.
2. A string of feces can be seen behind the fish. This means that the intestines are full.
3. The water inside the aquarium began to deteriorate much faster.

What to do if you overeat? First of all, you need to reduce either the number of feedings or reduce the caloric content of food. You can try to put the guppies on a kind of hunger strike, forgetting about them for a couple of days. Some experts note that you can feed these fish 6 days a week, and make the seventh day a fasting day.

Feeding guppies during a long trip

It happens that you have to leave not for a couple of days, but for several weeks at once. What to do in this case?

First, you need to purchase an automatic food dispenser from a pet store. It will allow you to provide food to the fish at regular intervals. It is better if he releases food 2 times a day.

Secondly, before leaving, you need to check the feed or gel dispenser. The latter of the two is less dangerous since the gel food block does not cause dangerous chemical reactions(which cannot be said with certainty about dry blocks). With any choice, you need to check how it works several days in advance over two or three days.

Thirdly, you can use the help of your neighbors. Due to inexperience, they may exceed the recommended feeding dose, so it would not be superfluous to write feeding instructions on a piece of paper first. You can also prepare one-time doses by putting a pinch of food in a small jar. For example, a package of vitamins.

In addition to the fact that to ensure the safety of newborns it is better to separate them from adults, food should also be separate. When preparing food, it is important to take into account that young guppies need protein several times higher than large ones. But the plant component is also important in its own way.

Chicken yolk is excellent for feeding young gupeshkas.

How to prepare protein food for guppy with your own hands? We include small brine shrimp and bloodworms, egg yolk, ground with water until mushy, as well as chopped beef heart.

Plant food for the fry can be seaweed, lettuce or boiled spinach.

Feeding the fry will not cause difficulties if you follow the basic recommendations:

• You should not give adult brine shrimp; the fry will not be able to eat it because their mouths are too small;
• Growing guppies spend a lot of energy, so they eat little by little about 6 times a day.;
• Over time, meals should become smaller. The fry grow for about 2 months, and by the end of this time the number of feedings should be reduced to 3-4. After 5 months, you can feed the guppies twice a day;
• Gradually increase the variety of your diet. Guppies grow differently, but it is best to move them to adults when they are the same size. As you grow, you can increase the size of the food pieces;
• Place the food directly in front of the fry so that they do not look for it, since the babies do not move around the aquarium as actively.

Before you add a new ingredient to your guppy's menu, you need to read the information about its suitability. You should not act at random and introduce unusual products without sufficient knowledge about their benefits and harm to fish. If you carefully consider keeping guppies at home, these colorful inhabitants of the aquarium will definitely delight you with healthy offspring and a bright appearance.

So, how to keep guppy fry in an aquarium? First of all, you need to decide one very important question: Are you going to keep the guppy fry in a community aquarium or will you raise them separately from other aquarium fish.

If you decide to keep guppy fry in a community aquarium, along with adult guppies and other aquarium fish, you should know some important points for keeping guppy fry in a community aquarium.

The main point is the risk that guppy fry in a community aquarium may be considered by other fish, as well as by the parents of these fry themselves, as legitimate prey and a pleasant variety in the daily diet.

In order to increase the chances of guppy fry to survive when kept in a community aquarium, the aquarist should try to completely eliminate or at least reduce the number of predatory and aggressive fish in the aquarium where it is planned to keep guppy fry. It is also important to establish good food for all the fish in such an aquarium, being well-fed, peaceful aquarium fish have less incentive to seek out and eat juvenile guppies.

In addition, the general aquarium where it is planned to keep guppy fry must be provided a large number small shelters, in such shelters the guppy fry will be able to hide from larger aquarium fish. The best way out there will be a large number of long-stemmed, small-leaved plants such as Elodea. The same elodea does not even need to be rooted; the elodea floating at the surface of the water creates an excellent shelter for guppy fry, especially if the elodea is presented in large numbers. In this case, food for the guppy fry (in a general aquarium it is better to feed the fry separately, but at the same time as the other fish) can be thrown right into the elodea thickets, where it will be difficult for large fish to reach and at the same time will be right in front of the fry’s nose guppy These are the nuances that you need to know in order to keep guppy fry in a community aquarium.

Having talked about how to keep guppy fry in a common aquarium, let’s move on to keeping guppy fry in a separate one special aquarium for fry. Such an aquarium is often called a “piggyback” or “baby tank”. To keep guppy fry, we need an aquarium of 20-40 liters; in this regard, an aquarium of 30 liters is optimal.

Decorations and soil in such an aquarium will only make it more difficult to care for, so decorations and soil in an aquarium are undesirable for guppy fry.

Also, such an aquarium will require aeration and filtration. With the recommended planting densities of guppy fry in the aquarium below, a simple sponge filter connected to a compressor will be suitable as a filter. To maintain the temperature, you will most likely need a heater, and to provide daylight, a lamp can be recommended in this case fluorescent lamps, they are more economical and generate much less heat.

Depending on how many guppy fry are planned to be kept in the aquarium, suitable equipment for such an aquarium is selected, as well as a regime for caring for the aquarium, the frequency and volume of water changes in it are planned.

Ideally, at the first stage (raising guppy fry to teenagers and sorting them by gender), in a 30-liter aquarium it is better to keep no more than 2-3 tags of guppy fry, which do not differ much in size. Cannibalism is not observed when keeping guppy fry of different ages, but too much variation in age is still undesirable.

Based on the number of guppy fry recommended above in a 30-liter aquarium, the optimal care regimen for just such an aquarium is then proposed. It is better to change the water in it daily at least 20% per change, preferably 30-40%. Siphoning the bottom should also be done daily; it is most convenient to do it during water changes. It is better to wash the filter sponge at least once a week, possibly more often, depending on how quickly it becomes clogged.

In this case, it would be appropriate to recall that the aquarium filter and aeration should work around the clock without turning off, and the filter sponge itself should be carefully washed in water taken from the aquarium (but not in the aquarium itself, and the water used to wash the sponge should be returned to do not fill the aquarium, but pour it into the sewer), this is how we preserve most of beneficial bacteria contained in the aquarium filter sponge, the site emphasizes. Water for changes in the aquarium should be left to settle for 12-24 hours, if the water poor quality, then longer, or use a water filter, preferably a carbon one, without any flavoring or aromatic additives; reverse osmosis filters have their own specifics when preparing water for an aquarium.

Guppy fry need to be fed 3-5 times a day, the calculation should be such that the fry can find food in the aquarium at any time.

In the first two or three days, it is advisable to make the daylight hours as long as possible, then gradually, over the course of 3-4 months, reduce it to standard. This condition not critical, but allows you to increase the rate of growth and development when keeping fry and adolescent guppies.

The optimal temperature for keeping fry in the first 3-4 weeks will be 28 degrees Celsius. Then the temperature can be gradually reduced to 26 degrees, and after 3-4 months to 24 degrees. Such temperature regime is not critical, however, the increased temperature allows for higher growth rates of fry and adolescent guppies in the first days, weeks and months of maintenance.

It is best to feed guppy fry in the first 2-3 weeks with brine shrimp with an incubation period of no more than 6-8 hours - this brine shrimp has the highest nutritional value and is optimal for raising fry and adolescent guppies. At 3-4 weeks, you can begin to include bloodworms, tubifex and other food and additives typical for adult guppies in the food for the fry, but the main thing is not to forget to grind the food, otherwise the fry may not swallow it.

Nutritional recommendations are also not of critical importance; guppy fry can be fed with regular dry crushed food for adult fish, but guppy fry will grow and develop much slower on such food.

Guppy fry should be sorted and placed by sex as soon as it can be determined. It is also desirable (but not critical) to sort and place fry and juvenile guppies by size, avoiding too much variation in this parameter between fish kept together (this also has a beneficial effect on the speed of development and growth of fry and juvenile guppies).

The main distinguishing sexual characteristic of male guppies is early age- the lower fin, located next to the anus of the fish, begins to gradually lengthen and curl. This fin gradually curls into a thin tube - the gonopodium - this is the main sexual characteristic of the male guppy.

After the formation of the gonopodium, when guppy fry of different sexes are kept together, pregnancy of young females can be expected. To prevent such pregnancies, the fry are seated as soon as possible.

In addition, raising fry and juvenile guppies separately stimulates their growth and development, since when kept separately, the fish's energy is not wasted on flirting and chasing.

After separating by gender, the number of guppies in nursery aquariums (the density of fish in the aquarium) must be reduced in accordance with the increased size of the fry (now more likely to be teenagers). However, by this time, teenage guppies can already be released into a community aquarium; by this time, adult guppies will not perceive them as prey, but we must keep in mind that the rate of development in a community aquarium will decrease somewhat, but this will not cause harm to the fish.

And for a snack some important points: guppy fry are very active and mobile fish, if the fry are lethargic and move little (except when they have to hide from older fish in a common aquarium, and even in the first few hours after birth), problems with the quality of water in the aquarium are possible.

If guppy fry do not eat during feeding, there may be problems with the water quality in the aquarium; a healthy guppy fry is a fry with a round belly and a rabid appetite.

More than 90% of problems with guppy fry are related to the quality of water in the aquarium and/or insufficient cleaning of the aquarium itself: siphoning the bottom, changing water, cleaning the filter.

Guppy fry begin to color differently and in at different ages, depends on the specific breed of guppy.

A mark from one female guppy can contain fry from different males, and a female fertilized once can give birth several times. A pregnant female guppy may not look pregnant at all, may not lose weight after giving birth, and may spawn fry within a few days.

The female guppy marks her fry approximately every 30 days. Give or take a few days. The number of fry in a tag can be from several to one and a half hundred, usually 10-30.

For the first few hours after birth, guppy fry may lie on the bottom and practically not move.

Guppy fry with a yolk sac are underdeveloped fry resulting from the premature birth of a female guppy, most often premature birth in female guppies occurs due to a sharp and massive water change or transplantation of guppies into a newly started aquarium (all the water there is fresh), whether premature fry will survive or not depends on the specific case, but the mortality rate among them is very high.

This article outlined the bulk of information that may be required when raising guppy fry (almost everything written above is also true for platies).

I hope this article helped answer the question of how to keep guppy fry in an aquarium.

Many novice aquarists are interested in raising guppy fry. You should start caring for the babies of one of the most popular fish even before they are born.

Preparation

A pregnant female guppy on the eve of giving birth must be isolated from other fish. Further specific measures will help keep future offspring safe and sound.

Before giving birth, the female's belly becomes large and appears black spot at the anal fin.

1. It is necessary to prepare a separate container with a volume of 20 - 40 liters for depositing a pregnant female, fill it with clean, settled water and that which was in the general aquarium in a ratio of 2:3.
2. Prepare the lighting element, water filter and compressor for aeration.
3. Place some soil at the bottom of the jigging aquarium and fix algae in it, preferably with tall stems and leaves.

Birth of fry

So, " kindergarten"Ready for keeping kids. To give birth, the female needs to create optimal conditions: the water temperature should be 26 - 28 degrees (in the first two weeks), aeration and lighting should be maintained constantly.

Guppies are viviparous fish. The babies are born and immediately rush to the bottom or into the thickets of vegetation. The instinct of self-preservation forces them to do this. Otherwise, the Guppy fry risk being eaten by their own mother. Maternal instinct is not inherent in this species of fish.

A primiparous female can give birth to at least 20 fry. In the future, their number can reach 180 pieces. Although newborns are only 3 - 5 mm in size, caring for baby guppies is very easy.

If everything happened as it should, the birth was not premature, the babies should not be visible yolk sac. If it is present, then the fish were born too early and will not be viable.

First days

This is what a newborn baby gummy looks like.

1. Feeding. In the first few days, babies should be given food 4–5 times a day in small portions. It is important that they have a rounded abdomen; the fry should always be full.
2. What to feed. The diet of Guppy fry is as follows: a special store-bought mixture, Artemia larvae or the yolk of a boiled egg mixed with water. The main thing is that the food must be sufficiently crushed, otherwise the fish will not be able to swallow it.
3. Feed volume. After the fry have eaten, the remains must be carefully removed from the aquarium. The food should not be constantly on the surface of the water.
4. Temperature regime for guppies. For the first 14 days it is maintained around 28 degrees, after a week it can be reduced to 26, after the next - to 24
5. Composition of water. For the comfort of the fish, it will be very useful to replace the water daily, by about a third, with a new portion (previously settled for 2 - 3 days)

In this way, you can raise Guppy fry in a jar, in a separate aquarium or any other container.

Over 2 weeks of age

As they grow up, they begin to acquire colors.

After 14 days and up to 2 one month old the following actions are carried out:

• 2 meals a day. You can start tracking your sex characteristics
• It is important to ensure that the Guppy fry eat all the food and collect leftovers if necessary (to keep the aquarium clean)
• The duration of the illumination period can be reduced to 8 – 10 hours per day
• Food should be given daily, but a 24-hour break should be taken every week. During this period it will be cleared digestive system fish, so their health will be excellent
• After 4 – 5 weeks, you can add crushed bloodworms or tubifex to Guppy’s food

From " kindergarten» Grown-up babies can be released into a community aquarium when they reach a size of 2.5 - 3 cm.

Usually the fry become “mature” after 3 months. If birth control or selection is carried out, before entering the " adult life“Females and males should be separated.

You can lower the water temperature in the aquarium to 18 degrees (in winter), this will avoid fertilization. Female Guppies will benefit from a break from childbirth to restore strength and health.

The process of breeding and selection can be continued to be controlled: in the future, the brightest males can be selected, placed with females and beautiful offspring obtained.

Sex differences

The photo highlights the genital organ of male guppies - gonopodium.

Male guppy fish acquire their first difference early - they develop an anal fin - the gonopodium. It extends along the body and resembles a tube, functioning as a genital organ. Growing up, male Guppy fry turn into different colors.

Their growth stops after 3 months, but color changes begin to appear. It becomes brighter and juicier. The fins and tails also begin to quickly color and take on a lush shape.

Female Guppies usually only grow in size. They develop a round abdomen with dark spot at the anal fin - the eggs will be located there in the future. Females acquire their own color, subtle, with various shades: yellow, blue, olive.

If you create favorable conditions, then Guppies will breed every month. Females often bear offspring several times after one fertilization.

Community aquarium

To grow gupeshkas in a general aquarium, you can use special aquariums.

It happens that childbirth occurs uncontrollably. A female Guppy brings fry in a community aquarium. Then natural selection comes into force, many fry die. The slowest and weakest ones will be eaten by adult fish, the fastest ones will be able to survive. If there is no goal to specifically breed Guppy fish, then this option is acceptable.

If it is necessary to transplant the fry, you need to catch them from general aquarium using a glass and deposit separately. Proper care will continue to be taken for everyone who can be saved.

Guppy diseases

Signs of various types of diseases in Guppy:

• Guppies won't eat for several days
• Tails stick together (or shrink horizontally)
• Fins are split or split
• The body was deformed, the color became dull
• The fish are behaving strangely: “rubbing” against rocks and algae, losing coordination

In these and other cases, a number of measures are required to cure Guppy: replacing food, changing water composition parameters, or adding special medications to the aquarium.

Conclusion

Guppy – best option for the aquarist taking his “first steps”. The fish are unpretentious, there is nothing difficult in caring for them. This applies to both adults and fry.

Even if the Guppies are not specifically monitored and spontaneous reproduction is allowed, this problem will be solved by itself by means of biocenosis and natural selection inside the aquarium.