How to Tell Male and Female Guppies Apart? A Detailed Guide to Keeping Them

Guppies are also known as million fish, rainbow fish, rainbow killifish, and guppy fish. They are currently introduced as ornamental fish to countries around the world, and they are usually lively and active with a gentle temperament. For hobbyists who love keeping fish, guppies are a great choice. So how do you tell male and female guppies apart? And how should you keep them well? Here is a summary:

1. How do you tell male and female guppies apart?

1. Look at the color

Male guppies are more colorful than female guppies.

2. Look at the body shape

Female guppies are slightly plumper, while male guppies are slim and small.

3. Look at the tail

The male guppy's tail is a large fan shape, while the female guppy's tail is narrow and small, about only one third the size of the male guppy's tail.

4. Look at the patterns

Female guppies have some color only on the tail, with no patterns on the body, which is nearly transparent, while male guppies have fine patterns all over the body.

5. Look at the dorsal fin

The male guppy's dorsal fin is longer and also brightly colored. The female guppy's dorsal fin is narrow and transparent.

6. Look at the pelvic fins

The female guppy's pelvic fins are short and round. The male guppy's pelvic fins are longer and spike-shaped.

7. Look at the belly

The female guppy's belly is large and transparent, and has a dark vent. The male guppy's belly is opaque, entirely covered with patterns, and small.

The 7 points above are the introduction to how to distinguish male and female guppies.

2. How should guppies be kept?

1. Selecting fry

When selecting fry, choose those with deep colors and good body shape and raise them carefully. It is best to separate males and females at the early stage of keeping to avoid early breeding, which can also ensure the healthy growth and development of the guppies.

2. Temperature control

Try to keep the temperature stable, and the water temperature should be above 15°. Although guppies have a relatively strong tolerance for low temperatures, what harms guppies is not low temperature but temperature change. Large temperature fluctuations are more likely to harm the fish than low temperature. Therefore, if we want to keep guppies well, we must maintain the temperature well and strive for constant-temperature keeping.

3. Water quality requirements

The water source for keeping guppies can be our usual tap water, but the tap water must be drawn and then exposed to the sun or left to stand for a period of time before use, because using tap water directly will harm the fish. Therefore, preparing the water in advance by sun exposure is the basic prerequisite for keeping fish well.

4. Feeding key points

Guppies are omnivorous. Fish feed, microworms, egg yolk, and algae are all food for guppies, but guppies often fed microworms grow quickly, have deep colors, and reproduce relatively smoothly. Therefore, when conditions allow and the quality of the microworms is guaranteed, I suggest feeding guppies microworms, but for young fry in the early stage, egg yolk can be used first, and microworms can be used later. In addition, keeping guppies requires a large tank and few fish, because a larger container is beneficial for the fish's growth and the occurrence of disease.

5. Breeding methods

The fun of guppies lies in breeding. You can pair them according to your own interests to breed the variety you want. First, if you want purebred guppies, you must use purebred guppies for breeding, so that high-quality offspring can be cultivated. Second, if you want to cultivate new varieties, you also need to select good brood fish. Generally, the offspring inherit color from the maternal line and body shape from the paternal line, so these details must be grasped well. In addition, you must learn to control genes well. Genes affect inheritance and variation, recessive, dominant, crossbreeding, and so on.

The above is the introduction brought to you by the editor on the tips for how to tell male and female guppies apart and how to keep them. I hope it can help those of you who love fish.