Contribution to "Alll you want to know about breeding guppies"

1. Environment

Aroflim: I kept guppies in cool and quiet place. In Singapore, I was not worry about guppies catching cold. They were more likely to fall sick when tank water temperature rised from the long period of exposure to afternoon sun. But I found that at cool place and lack of light, ph would go down. Ideal location for me was cool with some morning sunlight.

2. Water care

Lawrence: My water condition is very simple. 3 teaspoonful of aquarium salt and 1 capfull of Nutrafin water conditioner for 45L of water. Aged it with air pump for min of 5 days. For filtration, i used sponge and bottom filter. I always maintained the water in tip top conditioned i.e about 4 times daily siphoning out of waste and siphoning out of unfinshed food before light off. As you know, waste and left over food will bring up ammonia level thus causing water poisoning. Just need to top up with conditioned aged water by the end of week. 100% WC by the 3rd week. Note: Guppy can be with/without salt.

It's up to individual preferrence.

Angelo: I have many different setup.
With air pump and sponge:
- Daily 100% water change. No finage issue at all. Fishes very active.
- Daily ~20 to 50% water change. Occasionally finage issue.
Without air pump with sponge.
- Daily 100% water change. No finage issue at all. Fishes not as active.
- Daily ~20 to 50% water change. Encounter finage issue almost everyday.

Angelo: Direct introduce tap water into tank and then add conditioner...both will damaged the fish grill and finage.

Nev: I got 2 different setup.
Indoor -Doing 50% daily. Like very easily prone to finage problem.
Outdoor - No WC at all. heavily planted. Very active.

3. Males selection

4. Females selection

5. Pregnant female and Fry

Aroflim: I put pregnant female in round plastic tub filled with lot of floating plants and closed with a lid to prevent her from jumping out. Cut a big hole at the center of the lid for ease of feeding (she wont jump through the hole). She took about one or two days to settle down. I put the round tub next to the guppy tank so she could see other fish. Being alone was scarely I supposed. She was unlikely to jump in a round tub as she could go round.

Angelo: The duration of female keep together with male is one of the factor that determine the quantity of fry per drop. Shorter duration will have lesser fry comparing to longer duration.

6. Fry care

Itchy: (learned from Prof Lawrence, pls correct of wrong) - Not advisable to mix different broods together. Food can be daphnia and tubifex.


7. Pumping your guppy and fry

Lawrence: My ways of pumping up:
Morning - Fry & Adult : Grinded powder form dry food and normal one for fry and adult respectively. ( coz no more live food left, all finished in the night time )
Evening - fry & adult : Live boon ( daphnia ) for fry & adult. Followed by tubiworm/frozen bloodworm 2 hrs later.

Angelo: Based on the fry tiny and fast digestive system. To pump up the fry, increase the frequency of feeding not quantity per feed.
Two weeks onward, start to separate the smaller size from the rest. This way, you will be able to bring up all the fry to adult with all at almost the same size.

8. Feeding and Food nutritions

nefish: Tubi need to be chop before fed. Handling of tubi mentioned by itchy too, maybe itchy want to add on.....

9. Treatments for sick guppies

Digichris : Just to share, i don add in any medication for my fish when they are sick. I will just quarrantine the sick fish in a quarrantine tank. Quarantine tank is 100% conditioned or aged water with salt added. Wont feed the fish for 3-5 days depending on its condition. Continue for couple of weeks to see if there is any recovery of the fish. I find that by using this method, some of the sick fish will recover by its own.

Lawrence: Many years back, whenever my guppy was sick, i would apply all sort of medication. However, most of them can't it. What make guppy sick? I have been thinking to myself. Must be the water conditioned, right?. That's why i always emphasis on the importance of daily mantainance of water to minimize the sickness of fish especially this red genes. Untill now, i dun use any medication to cure sick fish. Conditioned aged water is my best medication. Talk to your fish daily. Any early sign of sickness, they will tell you. Immediate 100% WC with conditioned aged water. They will be all cure, no casualty. I reiterate again., Prevention Is Always Better Than Cure.

Nana13: 100% agreed.

10. Genetics

11. Record keeping

12. Interesting Theory

Long Kang theory - Guppies live in long kang, and long kang water flows non-stop, it is like having 100% water change at all time. This supports why Angelo does 100% water change daily. (This theory was shared by Angelo).

Pregnant females kept in higher ph water will drop more male fry.
Aroflim: I tried and was convinced. I kept ph in the range of 7.5 to 8. I used coral chip or exposed the tank/tub to partial sunlight to raise ph.

[nefish]

needless to say ....Drake, u r most welcome....r u still very busy??...hope to see u next kopi session....

welcome welcome, haven't met you too......

8. Feeding and Food nutritions

nefish: Tubi need to be chop before fed. Handling of tubi mentioned by itchy too, maybe itchy want to add on.....

Live boons,
wash clean, add a airtube(no airstone) feed boons with some green water or algae, or yeast. Keep in a cooler water Will last longer. (correct me if i'm wrong) Heard can be cultivated too.

[angelo]

Remember aroflim mentioned this to me. Do not fill the water near to the container rim. Guppy will more likely to jump or swim off.

My oberservation. Female guppy is stronger swimmer and better jumper comparing to male. So, larger and longer finage good?

[Lawrence Loh]

Water Change Routine

I don't WC frequently. WC frequently can speed up the spreading out of caudaul fin which in long term will make the caudaul fin getting tinner. Let nature takes it's course. You will appreciate the growth of the caudaul fin.

After siphoning out all waste and etc daily, i just need to top up with conditioned aged water by end of the week. By the 3rd week, it will be 100% WC which i normally carried out in the early morning and night time to ensure the conditioned aged water is of the same temperature as the tank water.

Two important things to take prior to 100% WC:
a) Ensure that the temperature of the conditioned aged water is the same as tank water .

b)The fishes which were put in another holding tank/tub should be gradually filled with conditioned aged water to about 2 times the amount of 'old' water.
Normally 1 would leave it there for about 1 hr before being transfer back to their main tank.

Any drastic change in temperature and Ph would caused the fish to be under stress followed by clamped fin and fin rod.

[KeeHuat]

Originally Posted by angelo

Remember aroflim mentioned this to me. Do not fill the water near to the container rim. Guppy will more likely to jump or swim off.

My oberservation. Female guppy is stronger swimmer and better jumper comparing to male. So, larger and longer finage good?

I have lost a few females as they jumped out from my tanks. The water level was 6cm from the top of the tank but some of my female high jumpers still managed to jump out. Now, I cover all my tanks with plastic netting, better safe than sorry. Males do not jump that high.

[angelo]

Originally Posted by KeeHuat

I have lost a few females as they jumped out from my tanks. The water level was 6cm from the top of the tank but some of my female high jumpers still managed to jump out. Now, I cover all my tanks with plastic netting, better safe than sorry. Males do not jump that high.

I like those diy covers.

[nev]

Originally Posted by KeeHuat

I have lost a few females as they jumped out from my tanks. The water level was 6cm from the top of the tank but some of my female high jumpers still managed to jump out. Now, I cover all my tanks with plastic netting, better safe than sorry. Males do not jump that high.

hmm so high? or they got shocked?

[KeeHuat]

Originally Posted by nev

hmm so high? or they got shocked?

They might have been stressed. I usually find them about 5-6 feet from their tanks somewhere on the floor when I find them missing from their tanks.

[angelo]

Is it too many males with the only female?

[KeeHuat]

Originally Posted by angelo

Is it too many males with the only female?

The females either jumped a few days after I put transferred them to another tank after they had dropped or the female was alone in a tank by itself.