How do I breed Guppies?

Question

I have like 6 of them in a 10 gallon tank and I have my heater set to 80. I feed them plenty and they still won't mate. Three of them are male and the other three are female. Help?

Answer 1

How long have you had them? It takes 21-28 days for the fry to be born, so if you've had them for less time than that, you'll have to be patient :)

Also, the first few guppy litters can be very small, only 10 or so fry, sometimes less, and these can easily be gobbled up by their hungry parents. Even with larger litters than that, the adults can consume the fry in a few hours.

Anyway, just give them time. When I had some guppies it took like 5 months before I noticed them having babies. Just be sure to provide lots of plants for the babies to hide in.

Also, I'd suggest ditching one of the males for another female. You should have a 1:2 male:female ratio.

Answer 2

Stick them in your tank, wait a month and there ya go... as long as you have a male and a female, they are both healthy and happy will soon have guppy grandbabies that are called fry. They say the best is to do a trio, 1 female to every 2 males.

But keep in mind they can drop anywhere from 1- 100 at a time... 100 is a bit high but it can happen. The female can also get pg 6 times off one semnantion so if you 40 fry a drop (birth) then you can have 240 fry. And just keep on going from there. In 6 months you can have 240 fry off of one female guppy so I hope you have a place that you can take the fry or a friend (many friends) who would like some.

You are going to want some place for the fry to hide. Like plants (plastic is fine) or hollow log anything they can get into. I have about 10 plants in my tank (29 gallon) all different sizes from small to ex large. I also have a 1 1/2 gallon tank that I use too. Because a female guppy after she gives birth will be VERY hungry and she will eat the fry. My fry tank is called a grow out tank. Just got it at walmart for 30$ and it comes with everything you need. And you really should not put rocks in it, the fry really don't need it and it helps with clean up.

I breed and raise guppies. I have been at it for a year at one point I had over 300 in 3 tanks. But I had to move so now I am down to 4 guppies 2 male 2 female and about 60 fry. I am on my way. LOL

Go to www.guppylog.com read around, ask questions we are more then happy to help.

Answer 3

Add water... its just about that easy.

Provide a few hiding places for the babies. Often times guppy moms are stupid & eat their babies as soon as they spit out. Breeding mats are good. Fake foxtail plants are also good. Be sure to wrap your filter inlet with a sponge or nylon media bag. Most guppy babies will get sucked in to the filter the first day or two they're alive unless you use a breeding net / cage thingy.

Each female should spit out babies about every 26 days like clockwork. The older they get the more they spit out. They should be ready to reproduce at about 3-4 months of age.

Also, adding a tablespoon of sea-salt or aquarium salt can help. Guppies do like a little salt and it helps reduce stress.

Sometimes they will not breed if you're using cheap food. Sometimes some freeze dried brine shrimp or cheapo shrimp pellets will condition the females to breed more redially. They're kinda like humans, where they go on an eating binge to produce healthier babies.

Answer 4

While high temps may speed things up. Guppy aren't horribly fond of high temps like betta. I'd dial the temp to the 74-78F range. Also test your ammonia, and nitrate levels?

Also check your water hardness. (pH doesn't matter.) If you have soft water you'll need to do something to harden it, or add salt. If you only want to raise guppy, and their molly/platy/swordtail cousins. Throw in about 1 teaspoon per gallon. Go slow with only 1 teaspoon a day dissolved in a cup of tank water.

One thing that concerns me is the "feed them plenty". Over feeding is a really bad thing to do. You should feed them once a day only what they can eat in a 1 minute or 2. Also a day of fasting is helpful. (Not good for growing fry, but good for adults.) The food should be a algae flake or veggy flake, and freeze dried brine shrimp. (I'd say blood worms or brine shrimp, but brine shrimp is a good food for fry if you break it up.)

If you don't want to buy a veggi flake you could use zucchini, or cumber slices. (My molly seem to like to like broccoli slices I feed my plecos, but it's a bit hard for them.) Punch a hole in and run some string through, and hang in the tank. The guppy prefer it soggy so give them 2-3 days.

Answer 5

The problem is that there are too many in that tank for breeding. If you want to create the best conditions for breeding, you need to have 3 guppies in a 10 gallon tank(1 male, 2 females). It is very important to have 2 females for every male.

Your temp is perfect.

Answer 6

guppies breed more than any other fish, wait it out and soon enough youll have too many for your tank. theres no way to make a fish want to mate with another.

Answer 7

its just too simple, if you have male and female guppies in same tank then its just impossible to stop them breeding..

they give birth twice in a month.

Answer 8

Ok, you might be stressing them out by having an equal number of males and females. Try getting a couple more females, always better more females.
How long have you been trying? It will happen, believe me. I work in a pet store, and it happens all the time. Just be patient.
Do you have lots of plants in there for the babies to hide in?

Answer 9

They will. Give them time. I never had a guppie that didn't. Pretty soon your 6 will be 70!

Answer 10

Pour some vodka into the tank, should free up their inhibitions, turn the lights down low & play some Barry White. If that doesn't work I don't know what will!