How to Keep Guppies? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Scientific Breeding Techniques
As the most common species among tropical fish, guppies are a type of fish that is very easy to keep. Therefore, in recent years, guppy breeding in our country has become increasingly popular. However, being easy to keep does not mean there is no need to understand how to keep them; after all, fish are still quite fragile.
So how do you scientifically feed guppies? What breeding tips are there? Follow along with this article to learn more.
Guppy Breeding Techniques
1. Water temperature.
As we all know, to keep fish you must first keep the water, and keeping the water is the key and the foundation of keeping fish. So what are the water temperature requirements for guppies? Guppies have fairly strong adaptability, so their requirements for water are not very high. They can usually live in water at 18-24°C. Under normal circumstances, indoor room temperature can meet their water temperature requirements, but in winter it is still best to use a heater, and it is best to keep the water temperature at around 22°C. It does not matter if it is slightly higher, as this will promote the guppies' activity level and can also strengthen their bodily functions and resistance.
2. Bait.
When it comes to guppy bait, it can be roughly divided into two types: one is artificial feed sold on the market, and the other is live bait. There are many types of artificial feed sold on the market, divided into three kinds: flake feed, pellet feed, and frozen feed. However, this kind of feed involves safety issues, so when it comes to bait, it is best to recommend choosing live bait first. Next is brine shrimp (nauplii)! It should be specially noted here that hatching brine shrimp eggs does not require much time or many procedures, but after hatching, they should be fed as soon as possible, otherwise their nutritional value will be slightly reduced. However, if there is extra hatched brine shrimp, you can freeze it, and the next time you want to feed it, you only need to thaw it before use.
3. Feeding.
For feeding newborn guppy fry, it is not recommended to put in too much bait, to avoid polluting the water quality when the small fish cannot finish eating it. Usually, before the sex of the guppies can be distinguished, try to feed high-protein foods as much as possible, but after the male and female fish can be kept separately, remember not to let the male fish eat too much high-protein food. The female fish can be fed as much as possible, so that the female fish's body shape becomes rounder. But guppy keepers should be reminded that if the feeding amount increases, the frequency of water changes should also increase, to avoid the water quality deteriorating too quickly, causing disease growth and harming the guppies. For adult guppies, they will like every kind of feed very much, but do not feed the same feed for a long time, to avoid causing single and unbalanced nutrition that affects the growth rate of the guppies. In addition, you should often feed some live bait to strengthen the nutrition of the guppies.
Guppy Breeding Steps
1. Choosing the fish tank: Because guppies are small fish, the fish tank does not need to be too large, but if the number being kept is relatively large, you can also choose a larger fish tank.
2. Choosing filtration: Note that it is not advisable to use a water suction device with too much power for filtration, as it is easy for it to suck the small fish into the filter equipment. In addition, during the guppies' breeding period, a mesh isolation net should be installed to prevent the fry from being sucked in.
3. Aquascaping: A planted tank paired with brightly colored guppies can be said to be a perfect match. There are not many restrictions on the substrate sand, as long as it is not too alkaline.
4. Water quality: As the saying goes, to keep fish you must first keep the water. Guppies are not very demanding about water quality; soft water with a pH between 6 and 7 is fine. For small-scale home keeping, tap water is fine (ps but the chlorine in tap water must be properly treated; it can be left to stand for a few days before use).
5. Water temperature: Guppies are a type of small tropical fish, so there are certain requirements for water temperature. The water temperature needs to be between 20 and 30°C. The most suitable temperature is around 26°C, and during the breeding period the temperature should be slightly higher.
6. Bait: Guppies are small fish, and the bait generally uses artificial feed. If feeding live bait, you can choose water fleas and small-particle brine shrimp egg bait. The feeding frequency is generally regular, about 2 to 3 times a day.
7. Breeding: Another characteristic of guppies is their strong reproductive capacity. Indeed, a pair of guppies can breed 15-30 or even more fry. After the female fish gives birth to the small fish, the adult fish and the fry need to be managed separately. This prevents the adult fish from eating the fry.
8. Care of fry: For feeding, you can choose egg yolk water. That is, take the egg yolk of an egg and fully stir it after dissolving it in water. Wait for the fry to grow. Feed different bait according to their body size. The water quality for the fry must be guaranteed to be good to prevent bacteria from infecting the fry and causing death.
Equipment for Keeping Guppies
1. Fish tank
2. Filtration equipment (water conditioner) = water for keeping
3. Insulation equipment
4. Feed (live bait, artificial feed)
5. Healthy guppies
What is the best and safest live bait for feeding guppies?
The best live bait is first choice tubifex worms.
On one hand, tubifex worms have very high nutritional value and can survive for a long time, and they will encourage the guppies to eat, thereby strengthening the growth speed of the guppies;
On the other hand, tubifex worms can also be used as medicated bait. First feed the medicine to the tubifex worms to make them a medicinal carrier, and then give them to the guppies to eat; the effect is quite good.
So tubifex worms should be the most perfect feed, but there is one point that guppy keepers must pay special attention to: because tubifex worms live in the wild, although aquarium shops will sterilize and disinfect them, it is unavoidable that some parasites remain in their bodies, so guppy keepers had best treat them before feeding.
Above, we have introduced the breeding techniques for guppies as well as a series of breeding content. In order to let everyone keep guppies reasonably, be sure to follow the guppies' habits and feed them scientifically. We hope this article is helpful to those of you keeping guppies.