Features of guppy breeding

Guppies are bright, unpretentious fish. They can be easily bred at home, this can be done both in a general aquarium and in a separate spawning tank. Fish are viviparous, fry are born fully formed. It is easy to grow young animals, even a novice aquarist can handle them.

The guppy is characterized by sexual dimorphism. Determining the sex of a fish is easy; this can be done by focusing on 5 signs.

1. Color... Males are much more colorful, their body and tail shimmer with all kinds of colors. Females look more modest, the abdomen is weakly colored, and some species are completely colorless.
2. Body size. Females are larger and "pot-bellied". The body of males is more elongated and slender.
3. Tail. Males have gorgeous tails: long, flowing, with unusual patterns or patterns. The tail of the female is small, often rounded and poorly colored. It may have only a couple of colored specks or not at all.
4. Dorsal... When the male swims, his dorsal fin flutters beautifully, it is long and brightly colored. In the female, it is rounded, pale or with a light pattern.
5. Anal fin... In the male, in the anal fin region, there is a gonopodium - the sexual organ of fish. It has an elongated narrow shape. Females do not have it, but a dark spot can be found in the lower abdomen.

As is clear from the description of the differences, males look much more impressive in the aquarium. But breeders recommend keeping an equal number of males and females in one reservoir.

Breeding guppies is possible in a shared aquarium without human intervention. They are very prolific and reproduce well on their own. If this does not happen, then the following reasons are possible:

• same-sex flock;
• too cold water (less than + 22 ° С);
• overcrowded aquarium (less than 1 liter of water per fish);
• severe pollution of the aquatic environment.

Another reason is the owner's carelessness. There are times when guppies spawn successfully, but large fish eat fry. This happens when there are no hiding places in the aquarium. Therefore, for the survival of offspring, the "water world" is planted with dense algae, and grottoes with narrow depressions are chosen as decoration.

And even such arrangement of the aquarium does not guarantee the safety of babies, therefore, if fry are found, they should be deposited in a separate container. The same is done with a pregnant female, if the fish has a rounded belly, and a dark spot has formed in the anal canal area, just before childbirth, she is provided with a separate reservoir.

There are many varieties of guppies, among themselves they differ mainly in the color and shape of the fins. These aquarium fish are striking in a variety of colors: blue, red, green, yellow, orange, black and leopard. Most often, with random and chaotic reproduction of guppies, individuals with the most beautiful and rare color degenerate. Therefore, to maintain the purity of the species or during breeding work, males and females are kept separately. And in an equipped spawning grounds, the best representatives of the species are crossed among themselves.

In order for the fry to be healthy and beautiful, they responsibly approach the choice of "parents", paying attention to the following features:

• proportionality of the body;
• an even back without a hump;
• long fins;
• powerful tail base;
• bright color without defects;
• active behavior;
• age from 4 months.

It is necessary to select only those individuals for which the last spawning was at least 2 months ago.

Guppies are unpretentious, so they can be bred even in a 3-liter jar. But they will be more comfortable in a small aquarium, equipped in accordance with the following recommendations:

• 70% of the water should be taken from the general aquarium, in which the fish were kept, and 30% - from clean, settled water;
• aeration of water and additional lighting is desirable;
• to stimulate spawning, the water temperature is gradually raised to + 29 ° C.

The most important indicator to monitor is the water temperature. Guppies are thermophilic, so if it's cool in the spawning grounds, you need to use a heater. It is placed inside the tank and allows you to heat the water to the desired value. First, the male is launched into the prepared spawning ground, and then the female. This is necessary in order to reduce the dominant behavior of the female.

If the male is actively circling around the female, this is the first sign that spawning has begun. The couple rush around the entire aquarium, and at this moment an important process takes place: the male, with the help of the gonopodia, fertilizes the eggs, which are in the female's belly. As soon as the “mating dance” is completed, the fish can be placed in the aquariums in which they were originally kept. The female should not be left alone in the spawning grounds, the pregnancy of the guppy is quite long - almost a month, and the fish may get bored alone.

After 22 days after fertilization, the female is closely observed. With the approaching birth, her behavior changes:

• the fish refuses food;
• becomes agitated;
• hides in thickets and other shelters.

This behavior suggests that babies should appear during the day, so the female is placed in a separate container. The bottom of the otzadnik is preliminarily covered with Javanese moss or small-leaved floating plants are placed. This is necessary in order for the fry to have shelter: guppies often have cases of cannibalism. The water temperature should not be lower than in the general aquarium.

At one time, an individual can give birth from 15 to 100 fry. Fertility depends on age: the older the individual, the more offspring it can bring... Childbirth lasts about 40 minutes. At their end, the female is removed: hungry and tired, she can eat the young.

As soon as the babies appear, they immediately begin to swim in search of shelters. In the early days, children are fed live dust. Using a pipette, the solution with microscopic organisms is dripped directly into the aquarium. This food is ideal for newly hatched fry, it perfectly stimulates the growth of fish and does not litter the aquarium. Further, other feeds are included in the diet:

• dry specialized flakes for fry;
• brine shrimp nauplii;
• cyclops;
• daphnia.

In the first week, food is given 6 times a day in microscopic portions, then the feeding is increased up to 3 times a day. In addition, babies are provided with good aeration and lighting; for 7 days, the lamp does not turn off almost around the clock. The water temperature should be within + 26-30 ° С. Such conditions contribute to the rapid growth of young animals, and after 2 weeks they can be placed in a common aquarium.

See a video below with tips for keeping and breeding guppies.