Taking care of newborn Guppy Fry (Baby Guppies) & feeding - What are their needs?

Guppy fry care

Tank

The fry tank can be a simple tank, and you will need to provide filtration, lighting and a minimum temperature of 24°C. As the fry mature and are separated(see later), place them in larger tanks for quicker growth.

Feeding

Feed them 5 times a day during the first four weeks. Grind any big food to powder before feeding the fry. This period of their lives go into building body and muscle tone. So, foods with high percentage protein are better. Baby brine shrimp are a great source of nutrition and enhance fry coloration.

Lighting

With the aquarium lamps on all the time, the fry will be more active and grow quicker. A 25 watt bulb is sufficient.

Sexing

At the end of the first four weeks, the fry begin to sexually develop into male or female guppies. At the age of 6 weeks, they become sexually active. So, between weeks 4 and 6, separate the fry into female, male groupings. Do this by taking one fish out at a time and placing in a small container with water from the tank and with a magnifying glass look for either the gonopodium or the gravid spot. More often it is better to see the gravid spot of a female.

Deformations

Between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 months, you’ll need to consider putting some of the fry to sleep or transfer them to a separate tank, due to deformities in some of the fry. This is a procedure called culling which means to take out the bad fish.

At six months of age the guppies are considered adults. Now, you can bring them their partners!