Birth of guppy fry and rules for caring for them

For aquarium enthusiasts, one of the most thrilling moments is witnessing the debut of guppy fry. These little fish infuse your tank with a new degree of energy with their vivid colors and energetic movements. You’re going to have a treat while you get ready for the birth and upbringing of these cute little fish if you have a pregnant guppy.

If you’re unprepared, the birth of guppy fry can be a bit overwhelming as it typically occurs in a matter of hours. As livebearers, guppies don’t lay eggs; instead, they give birth to fry that can swim freely. The process can go more smoothly and enjoyably if you know when to expect the fry and how to prepare their environment.

The fry require special attention to survive after they are born. It’s critical to have a plan in place for feeding, shelter, and tank conditions because they are small and delicate. There are a few things you can do to make sure your guppy fry are robust and healthy, like setting up a separate nursery tank and giving them the right kind of food.

This guide will take you step-by-step through the essential procedures for getting ready for guppy fry birth and the best ways to take care of them. You can ensure that your young fish have the best start in life and develop into vibrant, healthy adults by being aware of these fundamentals.

Topic	Details
Birth of Guppy Fry	Guppies give birth to live fry, not eggs. You’ll notice the female getting plumper before birth. She’ll usually give birth to 20-30 fry at a time, though this can vary.
Signs of Imminent Birth	Look for a dark spot near the female"s belly; this is the fry"s eyes showing through. She might also become more restless and seek hiding spots.
Care for Newborn Fry	Once born, fry are very small and need fine food like powdered flakes or special fry food. Keep the tank clean and provide plenty of hiding places to protect them from adult fish.
Tank Setup	Set up a separate tank or breeding box if possible. The water should be clean, well-filtered, and kept at a stable temperature. Avoid strong currents.
Feeding	Feed fry small amounts several times a day. Overfeeding can pollute the water and harm the fish.
Growth and Development	Fry grow quickly and will start to show color and features of adult guppies within a few weeks. Continue providing a balanced diet and clean water.

Preparing conditions for a pregnant female

In guppies, a pregnancy lasts between 25 and 30 days. The fish need to be moved from the general aquarium to the breeding tank two to three days prior to the fry’s birth.

Reasons for moving expectant women:

• fry can become victims of adult fish;
• The fish needs to adapt to a new environment a few days before giving birth – if the female is transplanted immediately before childbirth, it will have stress, and the offspring will be weak and non -viable.

How to recognize when the female should be moved to the breeding tank:

• the belly becomes large and square;
• the dark spot near the anal fin increases in size.

Requirements for the aquarium where the fry are born and where the female spends several days prior to giving birth:

• volume – 20-40 l;
• water – clean and settled water is mixed with aquarium water in a ratio of 2:3;
• temperature – from +24 … +26 ° C;
• equipment – a lamp, a filter and a compressor for aeration;
• other conditions – a small amount of soil, algae with long stems.

The female slows down about a day before the offspring are born; she eats almost nothing and moves very little. She makes an effort to remain near hot-emitting devices.

How to save fry?

More plants should be added to the aquarium along with a variety of shelters to keep the young from falling prey to larger fish. This is the most crucial precaution to take.

The ideal algae for a guppy fry aquarium are:

• superficial – duckweed, Salvinia and Richia floating;
• floating in water – Curricular and densely Elodea.

Guppi’s thin, easily traumatized skin is a defining characteristic. Fryers should not be placed in the sharp edges of a sink’s snags, nor should plants with stiff leaves be planted there.

The birth of fry

The ability of the GUPPI to give birth multiple times after being fertilized once is a unique feature that makes it enjoyable for aquarists and facilitates breeding.

Birth times range from one to twenty-four hours. It is very challenging to predict with precision when the process will conclude. The mother with the fry is left for a day following childbirth. The livestock loss will be negligible if the jacket contains plants.

Numbers

The physiological traits of the female, her size and age, the quantity of births, and a variety all affect how many fry are born. Counting fry that are born in a shared aquarium can be challenging.

One female gives birth to 15 to 60 fry at a time on average. There’s a chance the fish will consume some of its young. These are uncommon occurrences that are typically accompanied by stress.

Appearance

Because guppies are viviparous fish, their young can swim and eat on their own while avoiding their larger aquarium neighbors.

Characteristics of appearance:

• length — from 2 to 4 mm;
• color — absent, bodies are transparent;
• eyes — large, black.

Growth

The maintenance conditions have a significant impact on the growth and development rate of guppy fry. Particularly crucial factors are the aquarium’s volume and water quality. Guppies’ growth rate is also influenced by their diet and lighting.

How do guppies grow?

• during the first week, the fry almost double in length, growing to 5-7 mm;
• after the second week, the length of the fry increases to 20 mm;
• Guppies grow up completely in 4-5 months.

The length of an adult female is 50–60 mm, while that of a male is 20–40 mm.

How to distinguish males from females?

Guppies exhibit their first sexual traits as soon as two weeks after birth. As fry grow, they are sorted. Some people can start having babies as early as one month old. Sorting has made it possible to avoid unintended and early pregnancies.

The containers used for males and females are distinct. Learning to differentiate between the fry based on sex is crucial for keeping them apart. Water from the aquarium where the grown fry were housed prior to relocation must be added to the container containing them.

• males are more slender and at the age of two weeks they already begin to show bright colors;
• in females, the abdomen protrudes more strongly, and there is a small dark spot near the anal fin;
• in males, the lower fin is elongated and folded, located near the anus.

Male guppies’ lower fin eventually develops into a gonopodium, which makes it easy for aquarists to identify the sex.

Separating males and females into separate aquariums has two advantages: it makes maintenance easier and is better for the health of the next generation.

Freshly born guppy fry add a vibrant splash of color to your aquarium, but you must take special care to ensure their survival. This post will walk you through the thrilling process of guppy birth and provide helpful advice for raising the small fry, covering everything from creating a secure environment to giving them the proper food and attention. You can encourage the growth and vibrant adult fish development of your guppy fry by taking the appropriate steps.

Care in the first days

Guppies need special care during their first two to three days of life. Although taking care of the fish is not hard, it is essential for their wellbeing.

Characteristics of newborn care:

• Water. In order for the fry to feel good and not get sick, the water in the aquarium must be renewed daily. Approximately 30% of the total volume is subject to replacement. Add clean water that has been settled for 2-3 days.
• Temperature. During the first two weeks of life, it is maintained at +28 ° C, after a week it is lowered to +26 ° C, after another week – to +24 ° C.
• Lighting. In the first 6 days, the lamps are not turned off, and then the backlight is turned on for 12 hours a day.
• Food. In the first days, the fry are fed 4 to 5 times a day. Give a small amount of food. The main thing is that the fry are always well-fed, and their bellies are rounded. The food is varied, but crushed so that the babies can swallow it.
  The first 5 days, the fry are given "live dust", microworms, phytoplankton and dry food. The guppy diet may also include Artemia larvae and boiled egg yolks.

Every time they are fed, the food that the fry did not finish must be taken out of the aquarium. It is not necessary for the food to constantly float on the water’s surface.

Age over 2 weeks

Even though their coloring is still developing, fully grown guppies can already be identified as males by their brighter, more attractive markings.

The fry are given new instructions after two weeks and up to two months of age:

• Feeding. Instead of 4-5 times, the fry are fed only 2 times a day. You need to give as much food as the fish eat it. The remains must be collected from the surface, otherwise the aquarium will quickly become dirty.
  feed young guppies every day, but once a week they arrange a fasting day – to clean the digestive fish system.
• Illumination. The duration of illumination is reduced from 12 hours to 8-10 hours per day.
• Temperature. It can be lowered to +18°C. This is usually done in winter to prevent fertilization.

The young guppies have been raised in a separate aquarium and are only introduced to larger fish once they reach a size of 2.5–3 cm. The breeding process is then managed; the most brilliant and attractive males are chosen, and by mating them with females, guppies are produced that have inherited their parents’ good looks.

Fish stop growing when they reach the age of three months. However, the males start to exhibit color intensely after this time. The guppies’ coloring intensifies, becoming rich and vivid, and their fins take on a luxurious sheen.

Unlike men, females essentially only grow in size instead of changing color. Their scales only take on specific tones, such as olive, blue, or yellowish. When circumstances are right, young guppies breed every month.

How and what to feed guppy fry?

Hatched guppy fry can already eat because they have a mouth. But because it’s so tiny, all they can eat is food that has been crushed. Fry just eat what fits in their mouths; they have no idea how to chew food.

Food that has been ground up so finely—almost to a dust—is fed to fry. You ought to abide by the rules and feeding schedule. Similar to starvation, overeating is bad for guppies’ health.

Feeding regime

The age of the fry determines how often they are fed, and as they get older, they get fed less and less. The aquarist should have a feeding schedule in front of him that takes the fish’s age into consideration and must be strictly followed in order to make caring for growing fish easier.

Feeding schedule for fry guppy:

• first 7 days — once every 4 hours;
• 2nd and 3rd week — once every 6 hours;
• after the third week — every 8 hours.

Natural food

The food that guppy fry eat in the wild is the best. or pretty near to it. It is advised to feed them as much live food as you can because fish grow when they eat protein-rich food.

Items to offer guppy fry:

• worms;
• larvae;
• protozoa.

Aquarists refer to ciliates and other microorganisms as "live dust." They measure 0.15-0.25 mm in size. This kind of food is appropriate for young fryers.

Food for fry can be grown at home by any aquarist.

How to cut food for frying:

1. Pour some of the water from the aquarium into a glass jar and place it closer to the window.
2. After 3-4 days, the water will "bloom" – small algae or phytoplankton will appear.
3. Pour food into a syringe and release it into a container where small guppies are growing.

Adult guppies are fed brine shrimp larvae and nauplii. These foods are high in calories and served gradually, almost like a delicacy. Fish that are obese are threatened by ruttering larvae. Guppies adore micro-shows and nematodes in addition to larvae.

They add bloodworms, a tube, and other larvae to the natural feeds given by the young GUPPI after a month.

Purchased feed

Not every aquarist is prepared to cultivate live food. Not only is this a problematic job, but it’s also unpleasant. Industrial feed facilitates escape from the predicament.

Special ready-made foods are available for GUPPI, with the following brands being particularly well-liked:

• JBL – food created specifically for vigorous fish.
• Tetra Biomin – pasty feed, which differs in convenient use. A tube with paste is lowered into the water and squeezed out the desired portion.
• Tetra Mikromin – powdered nutrition, which includes all the elements necessary for the fry of the GUPPI. These feed are treated with UV radiation-with the aim of disinfecting.

How to replace live food?

The digestive system of a guppy does not absorb anything as live food, and industrial foods cannot ever fully replace them. Regular animal products are used in place of worms, larvae, and other protein "delicacies" if providing them to the fish is not feasible.

Guppies can be fed the following in place of larvae and other live food:

• Yolks. Boil an egg hard, peel and remove the yolk. Mash it, diluting it in aquarium water. Put the mashed mass in a piece of gauze, tie it in a knot and squeeze the mass into the aquarium. Keep in mind that such food can quickly spoil and pollute the water.
• Dry milk. Fry love it very much and eat it instantly. This product has a high nutritional value, but it is not recommended to give it to fish often.
• Sour milk. Guppies happily eat lumps of fermented milk product, which decomposes rather slowly in water.
  The product is first poured with boiling water so that the casein coagulates like cottage cheese. The lump is thrown away into a sieve and drain the liquid. The remaining mass is wrapped in gauze and immersed in the aquarium.

The following video teaches you how to prepare food for fries:

Launching into a common aquarium

Once they reach a certain size, grown fry are added to a standard aquarium that also contains adult guppies and possibly other fish that are compatible with this species. The fry must grow to such a size that neighbors cannot eat them before they can be launched.

The fry’s age is not as important. At two weeks old, some fry grow to a size where adult fish cannot eat them, while others hardly grow at all during this period. Undersized or small guppies should never be put in a regular aquarium because they will just end up getting eaten there.

Requirements for introducing fry to a standard aquarium:

• their body length is 15 mm;
• in the aquarium – plants and other shelters;
• neighbors – no aggressive and predatory fish.

Plan ahead when transferring the fry to the main aquarium by gradually lowering the hatchery’s water temperature to a level that more closely resembles the large aquarium’s temperature.

Growing

When it comes to caring for fry, the location of their upbringing affects the fish’s health and survival prospects. It is possible to raise guppies alongside adult fish or apart from them.

In a common aquarium

If the female guppy’s pregnancy was unexpectedly overlooked, the birth occurs in the shared aquarium. Newborn fry are in grave danger in this area. Adult fish have the ability to swallow them at any time.

The aquarist might not respond to the issue at all if he has no interest in breeding guppies. If not, steps are taken to assist the fry in surviving in an adverse environment.

How to keep fry alive in a typical aquarium:

• plant plants floating on the surface of the water and in its thickness;
• gradually heat the water to +26°C;
• replace the water in the aquarium every 3-4 days by 30-40%;
• increase aeration and filtration;
• add crushed food directly to the places where the plants are located.

The fry will be far stronger and more resilient than their fellow tribe members raised in breeding tanks if they are raised among adult guppies.

Finely ground adult fish food is fed to fry in a standard aquarium. Feed with plant food, yogurt, and dry milk.

The two biggest drawbacks of raising fry next to mature fish are the increased danger of being eaten and the difficulty of preserving the breed’s purity.

In a breeding tank

With a capacity of two to five liters, spawning tanks are a distinct section within a shared aquarium. They can be handmade from a plastic bottle or purchased from a pet supply store.

There are breeding tanks composed of nets and mesh fabric. However, adults can easily bite growing guppy fry through the fabric, so this is not a recommended option.

Benefits of raising fry in a spawning tank include:

• place it near a heat source or near a sprayer;
• transfer the female to the spawning tank 2-3 days before giving birth, since the water in it is the same as in the aquarium, the fish will not experience any stress;
• after giving birth, transfer the female back to the aquarium, and keep the fry isolated;
• gradually raise the water temperature to +26°C;
• feed the fry, remove any leftover food and feces;
• after two weeks, separate the males from the females;
• release the females from the breeding tank only after reaching sexual maturity – at 4-5 months, males a month later.

The biggest benefit of raising fries this way is that there’s no chance of getting eaten by big fish. A disadvantage is that it is impossible to provide the fry with the ideal environment in a separate area.

In a separate aquarium

In a separate aquarium, fry raising is the most dependable option. The babies are safe and have every chance of growing up in this environment. Nothing threatens them. The fish in a typical aquarium will not be able to swallow the fry, but the hatchery won’t shrink their territory, so this solution is also advantageous there.

Fry conditions in an aquarium:

• Temperature. Optimum value — +28°C. Every month it is reduced by 1°C.
• Water hardness — up to 10 °Ж.
• Water acidity pH — up to 8.
• Equipment — sprayer and compressor (for ventilation), filter and siphon (to maintain cleanliness).
• Capacity — from 20 l.
• Lighting — fluorescent and LED lamps.
• Plants — on the surface.
• Soil — not required. It complicates cleaning the aquarium.

Buying an automatic feeder with a timer is advised for feeding fry in a separate aquarium.

A delightful window into the life cycle of your aquarium, guppy fry are an exciting addition to any tank. It’s rewarding to watch these little fish grow from babies to lively adults. A few crucial actions that can make all the difference are necessary to ensure their survival and healthy development. Your guppy fry will flourish and liven up your aquatic habitat if given the right care.

First and foremost, it’s important to provide your guppy fry with a suitable environment. They require a separate breeding tank or a protected area of the main tank from larger fish that might consider them food. Ensure that the water is perfectly clean, well-filtered, and at the ideal pH and temperature. To maintain stability in the environment and lessen stress on the developing fry, regular water changes are necessary.

Another crucial component of fry care is feeding. Because guppy fry have small mouths, feed them food that is suitable for their size, such as specially formulated fry food or finely crushed flakes. Give them little meals several times a day to make sure they are receiving enough nutrients for healthy development. When they get bigger, you can progressively add bigger foods over time.

Additionally, it’s critical to monitor the social dynamics of your growing guppy fry. Although guppies are gregarious fish, stress and health issues can arise from overcrowding. As they get older, be ready to manage their space or stop them from acting aggressively by separating them if needed.

You can ensure the success and well-being of your guppy fry by providing them with a nutritious diet, monitoring their surroundings, and addressing their social situations. By following these guidelines, you’ll not only get to see them flourish but also improve the health of your aquatic community.

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