When do guppies have their babies?

The guppy introduces itself

• The original range of the guppy includes the tropical waters in the northern part of the South American continent. It is also represented on some Caribbean islands, for example on Trinidad, Barbados and Guyana. However, as a result of humans, it has now spread as a neozoon in many parts of the world - even in Germany.
• Guppies show a clear sexual dimorphism (male and female animals are outwardly clearly different from each other). Females are around five centimeters long and significantly larger than the slimmer males, which are no more than two to two and a half centimeters long. On the other hand, males impress with their large caudal fin, which is also brightly colored. Today there is an infinitely great abundance of colors and shapes through breeding. Females, on the other hand, have an inconspicuous brown color.
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• For laypeople a rather inconspicuous, but extremely important distinguishing feature for breeding is the so-called gonopodium in male guppies, which is important for reproduction.

The housing requirements of the guppy

• Guppies are so popular ornamental fish because they are relatively undemanding fish that get along well with almost any warm water aquarium. They are quite compatible fish, so they can be kept together with other fish of the same size in a community tank. Even so, there are a few things you need to do to keep your guppies comfortable.
• Guppies tolerate a wide range of water temperature fluctuations. They can cope with temperatures between 16 and 30 ° C. Ideally, however, the temperature should be at least 24 ° C and not exceed 26 ° C.


Fish for a 60 liter aquarium - you should pay attention to this

Aquariums are always a nice eye-catcher. For the setup, however, there are several ...

• The pH of the water should be between 6.8 and 8.0, i.e. in the neutral to slightly basic range. They are therefore unsuitable for acidic blackwater pools.
• Guppies are schooling fish that are best kept in groups, with more females than males. The rule of thumb is a ratio of one male to five females.
• The males in particular, with their huge tail fins, are not particularly good swimmers. Therefore, guppies feel particularly comfortable when the aquarium offers numerous hiding places and places with dense vegetation.
• Guppies are given almost any form of food, provided it is not too big for them. Frozen food (e.g. B. red mosquito larvae, Artemia, Daphnia etc). But feeding with commercially available flake food is also possible. The flakes just shouldn't be too big. Live food is also eaten with pleasure and the menu is also supplemented by plant-based food. It is therefore best to feed in a varied way and, as always in the aquarium hobby, only as much as your fish can eat within a few minutes.

Guppy breeding

Breeding is very easy. The reproduction is simple, quick and in large numbers, it is not for nothing that guppies and their relatives are also called fish of the millions. Nevertheless, you should find some pointers for breeding guppies here.

The breeding biology of the guppy

• The guppy belongs to the subfamily Poeciliinae (viviparous toothcarps). This means that, in contrast to the majority of fish species, internal fertilization of the spawn takes place and the young are born alive (ovoviviparia).
• Male guppies have a mating organ, the gonopodium, a special transformation of the spermatic duct and anal fin. It already develops in the young fish. During mating, the male brings the gonopodium close to the sexual opening of the female and can anchor himself there with a kind of hook. Then it hands over the seed. This remains fertile over a very long period of time and can be stored by the female so that several litters can be fertilized with one seed packet.
• Guppies are sexually mature at an early age, males around three months and females even a little earlier. After a gestation period of between 25 and 35 days, the female gives birth to up to 40 young.

When do the females have the babies? - indications of pregnancy

1. The first clue for determining the time of pregnancy is of course the mating. By observing guppies mating and including the approximate length of gestation in your calculation, you can determine the approximate time. However, since one sperm packet can fertilize several litters, this method is only an unsafe means.
2. You can tell when a female guppy will have her babies by the fact that she is getting fatter. It literally gets a “pregnancy belly” and can sometimes even look so round that you might think it would burst.
3. Another indication of when the time has come is a pregnancy mark, which only forms when the birth of the young is only a few days away.

Raising the young

• If the birth is imminent, then you should put the pregnant female in a separate spawning pool. Such tanks are also available in the form of boxes that can be hung in the normal aquarium. As soon as the offspring are born, put the female back in the aquarium, as guppies tend to eat their own babies.
• If you do not have a separate spawning pool or do not want to buy one, the females give birth in the normal pool without any problems. In this case, however, make sure that the young can hide sufficiently in dense vegetation, and expect greater losses!
• You can feed the offspring as soon as they are born. Offer particularly fine flake food (powdered food) and smaller types of frozen food such as Artemia.
• When the young are big enough that the adults no longer consider them prey, you can put them in the main tank.

Professional breeding

Sometimes you might want to try your hand at being a professional breeder. In such cases, it is advisable to follow some additional rules:

The aim of breeding is to breed special characteristics. This can be, for example, a special shape of the caudal fin or a particularly bright color. However, it is important that you proceed selectively.

1. You need to make sure that a female will only mate with one specific male. For this reason, male and female animals are kept in separate tanks in such cases. For you, this means that you have to separate your offspring by gender before they reach sexual maturity. Otherwise, unwanted pairings can occur. In particular in the groups of females you must therefore check with great regularity whether not perhaps but a male was overlooked or a male only later turns out to be clearly male.
2. Put males and females together for mating only, and then separate them again. It is also advisable to use separate spawning tanks for each female-male pair so that you can always clearly distinguish the offspring from other offspring. A simple lettering of the basin with a pen makes it easier for you here.
3. When rearing, proceed as usual, except that you separate the offspring by sex as soon as possible.

Even today, new forms of cultivation often arise through the principle of “trial and error”. You should therefore be willing to experiment when choosing the parent animals, but you should acquire a certain amount of genetic knowledge by studying appropriate reading material.

Guppy breeding - easier than expected

So, as you can see, the guppy is really not difficult to breed, which makes it an excellent entry-level fish. You will quickly get the hang of it and have a lot of fun with these colorful, robust and easy-care fish.