Here's another take on breeding guppies.
Breeding guppies really is just as simple as most people say it is but if you really want to be serious about it there are a few considerations.
Tank requirements: You need to have two tanks at least 10 gallons in size. The first one should be cycled and all settled ready for your new guppies. The second should be filled with water and have a sponge filter running. It should also gave a heater and lots of hiding places for the babies. Set up both tanks and keep the temperature in both about 74-78 F, guppies will do well in that range. pH, hardness and other water conditions are not very important to guppies. They tolerant a very wide range of parameters.
Feeding: For the adults you need to feed a good basic flake food as well as the occasional treat of frozen foods. Buy a couple of them to swap between, blood wroms, mosquito larvae, brine shrimp are all good. For the babies you need baby brine shrimo to feed for the first few days and some cruches flake to start mixing in after that. Yes, you can just crush the flake you use for the adults.
The Fish: Get 1 male for every 2-3 females. No need to get many, after all you expect to breed plenty! Most you find at pet stores will already be pregnant so if you are really serious about getting just the right color you will need to by from a serious breeder or be prepared to work at it a while.
The mating: Just put them together and they will do the rest.
Once the female is very gravid (pregnant) move her to the empty tank and leave her there until she has the babies. Once she has them you can more her back to the main tank. Feed the babies fairly often, 4-5 times a day isn't too often and change 40 - 50% of the tank water every 2-3 days. The larger the babies get the more often you will have to change water until the babies are adults.
Raising the babies: Feed the babies fairly often, 4-5 times a day isn't too often and change 40 - 50% of the tank water every 2-3 days. The larger the babies get the more often you will have to change water until the babies are adults. Install a tank divider in the baby tank as soon as possible and once you can tell males from females start to seperate them. Most serious breeders end up using two tanks, so you might want to plan on that in the future. Seperate them as soon as possible! Also do not give up on the water changes! They are critical for proper growth! I cannot stress this enough!
Culling: Culling is removing undesirable fish from your stock. Remove any deformed fish you see as soon as you see them. It's not uncommon to have a few deformed fish. Humanely kill these as you certainly don't want them breeding. Once the babies are nearly grown you will be able to pick out the best looking male and best lookig females. This is where color choice comes in. You will most likely have fish of two or three different colors. Return you original fish and the extra babies to the pet store or donate them to another fish keeper, to a school, whatever. Place your best male and three best females in the now empty main tank. and let them do what come naturally. Then you will start the whole process over.
While you are raising the babies, you will have babies from one of the other females too if not both of them. You will have to choose, set up another tank for them or leave them with the adults to do as well as they can. Your call. As you can see, you could end up with tanks all over the house in no time at all, so be aware you can't keep them all! LOL
After a few generations you will need to add fresh breeding stock to your line. Try to find a really good looking male that fits your colors and breed him to some of your females for fresh genes in the line. Doing this every so often will improve your fish and prevent problems from too much inbreeding. Inbreeding fixes traits in the line, both good traits and bad traits, so bring in new stock from time to time.
If you really fall in love with guppy breeding you will really want to be a member of the IFGA (International Fancy Guppy Association). They can teach you so much more than this basic over view and the members are a great source of really superior breeding stock. You can find their website online.
Hope this helps a little and good luck with your breeding efforts!
2007-02-12 10:31:56
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answer #1
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answered by magicman116 7
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The easiest is to go to the store and get what they call breeding grass it is usually a round plastic piece with all like brush bristles hanging down from it. You just put this in the tank and let it float when the young ones are born they go up inside of it and the larger fish can't get at them. A piece of foam over your filter is also a good idea as it will keep the filter from sucking up any of the young ones. You may even want to put 2-3 of the breeding grass in the tank depending on how big. !0 gallon tank one is fine 20-30 would suggest at least 2 if not 3.
2007-02-12 10:38:05
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answer #2
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answered by ratslaya 2
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I have a few guidelines I follow. I move my females about 30 days after her last birthing. It's usually been about 35 days...apparently it takes the guys a few dates to seduce her properly.
Another one that works for me is the shape of her tummy. My females always look fat for awhile, but a few days before, their stomachs look a bit more lumpy than usual.
I've also noticed that my females tend to have a tiny pale protrusion by their anus the day before delivering the fry. It might be a birthing canal.
You can also look at how she is acting in the tank. If she's off by herself, chasing off other fish, listless, or resting on the bottom or in plants, then thats a good sign something is going to happen in a few days.
As for the using plants in the community tank...I've tried it with no success. My adult guppies seem to hunt down the fry like they are some kind of delicacy. They will even wriggle into the breeding grass to pick them out! How sad!
2007-02-12 12:09:28
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answer #3
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answered by larsor4 5
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I do not believe that you should move a pregnant guppy to a breeding tank. It stressed the female guppy out and she risks a miscarridge and losing all the fry and dying.
Guppies prefer to give birth where they are comfortable, in plants, or somewhere hiding.
The best things you could do are
a) leave everybody alone, as long as you have lots of plants, some fry will live
b) scoop out the fry and put them in breeding tank once they are born
If you are not around when the babies are born, even in the breeding tank mom will eat them all anyways. The fry will have a better chance of surviving in the tank if there is plants to hide in.
I prefer to use method a. It puts the least amount of stress on the fish, and basically nature takes its course.
Good luck
2007-02-12 10:29:56
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answer #4
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answered by allyalexmch 6
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When you move a guppy thats pregnant, you have to wait until it gets fat. If you think that it is fat enough you could move it to a new bowl or tank. When you see that the guppy is done giving brth to her babies you have to take them out so she won't eat them. Also whenever you put your guppy in and don't feed it, if you do the babies will start eating and they are not supposed to be.
2007-02-16 09:19:31
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answer #5
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answered by -CLC♥ 3
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Below is a link to an article I wrote about guppy breeding. It thouroghly describes how I breed my guppies.
2007-02-12 10:28:51
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answer #6
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answered by fish guy 5
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When the female becomes fat, & the dark "Gravid" spot is seen near the anus. The problem with moving pregnant livebearers is that they may suffer stress & abort the young. If you put in plenty of Cambomba plants, these will float on the surface & provide the fry with ample hiding places from predating parents.
2007-02-12 11:02:05
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answer #7
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answered by ispooky2 2
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If you see or think that she is pregnant then you should put her in the breeding tank. Dont take the risk of the babies getting eaten.
2007-02-12 10:31:11
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answer #8
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answered by lilgman424 2
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keep the guppie in a netted area until she gives birth
2007-02-12 10:32:09
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answer #9
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answered by chellebell93 2
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here is a best anwser to help you out about the guppies ect.. at the susanmast@snipsnsnailsmysterysnails.com
she can help you out . its a website where somebody can answer all youre questions and willin gave you good answers that you can find and learn about .
2007-02-12 11:19:52
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answer #10
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answered by sk 3
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