Need help with baby guppies...

[Mikyla]

My guppy just had babies and I have no idea how to keep them alive. I have never kept my own fish before and I've only had these guppies about a week, she was pregnant when I bought her. I have a list of questions that I'm hoping somebody can answer for me!

1. How much and how often do the babies need to be fed?
2. How fast do they grow?
3. When can I put them in with the adult fish?
4. How do you tell the males and females apart?
5. Can babies that have been born a few days apart be put together?

Also:
1. Do the females always eat their babies?
2. The babies are in a small container hanging in the side of the tank, with some small holes in it for the water. The mom is swimming up and down and around the babies tank really fast. Is that normal? Should the babies be left with her?

 

[Harlock]

My guppy just had babies and I have no idea how to keep them alive. I have never kept my own fish before and I've only had these guppies about a week, she was pregnant when I bought her. I have a list of questions that I'm hoping somebody can answer for me!

1. How much and how often do the babies need to be fed?
2. How fast do they grow?
3. When can I put them in with the adult fish?
4. How do you tell the males and females apart?
5. Can babies that have been born a few days apart be put together?

Also:
1. Do the females always eat their babies?
2. The babies are in a small container hanging in the side of the tank, with some small holes in it for the water. The mom is swimming up and down and around the babies tank really fast. Is that normal? Should the babies be left with her?

1A) 2-4 times a day. Just feed a very small amount of ground up flake food. Using the end of a toothpick as a sort of spoon is a good way to do it, as a pinch is far too much.
2) Depends on feedings, tank conditions... too many variables. They grow fast at first and then slow down.
3A) The fry need to be bigger than the largest fishs' mouth(s). if it's only guppies, then when they are a 1/4 to 5/8 inches long, depending on how big your adults are.
4A) As fry it is near impossible. They need a little more time to grow and then you can distinguish them by body shape, finnage and coloration.
5A) Sure!

1B) No, not always, it depends on things like how well fed the adults are, how fast the fry are... again, lots of variables.
2B) She may be trying to figure out how to get to them for a snack. Livebearers usually are not the caring parents cichlids are. I wouldn't put her back.

Now, my turn. What do you plan to do with the babies after they mature?

 

[Mikyla]

I haven't decided what to do with all the babies yet. I want to keep some of them but if I get too many I'm not sure what I'll do...maybe take them to a pet store or friends

 

[MacCap75]

Oh the joys of baby guppies!

I've had my 5.5 gallon tank set up for almost two years now and I grew tired of capturing and spying my baby guppies. They soon overpopulated my tank (I had 4 pregnant females most of the time) that I started letting them swim free in the tank. A sort of survival of the fittest type of thing. So far so good, the strongest ones survived and they continue to reproduce on a regular basis. Yours probably will too. Did you get to see the birth at all? It's pretty amazing, they kind of fold out, fall to the bottom then start to swim a few minutes later.

I was careful not to overfeed the fish as the water becomes stagnant quickly. Since they are so tiny, they are able to feed on microscopic media in the water. Are you wondering why guppies eat their babies? In the wild, they are mosquito fish, meaning that they help control the mosquito population by eating the larvae (which hatch in open bodies of water). The fry resemble the mosquito larvae so it's just a natural instinct to try to eat them.

I know more about baby guppies than most pet stores so feel free to ask any questions if you like. I'm not an expert, but I read up a lot.

 

[Mikyla]

I don't know if you looked at the picture I posted of the babies, but does it look like there is too much food in there with them??

 

[Harlock]

I don't know if you looked at the picture I posted of the babies, but does it look like there is too much food in there with them??

Yes, if those large things are flakes of food. You can feed them flake food, but I should have been more specific. Get some flakes. Put it in a Ziploc baggie. Crush the flakes into a fine powder. Just keep on crushing it. Once it is a fine powder, use the toothpick method to drop them some food. It needs to be small enough to fit into teeny tiny mouths. If you feel you are unable to do this, they do sell both Liquid and powdered fry food at fish stores. I would avoid the liquid as it is easy to overfeed and prone to pollute your tank.

 

[Ems]

You can also use food designed for fry.
I usually use it for the first week.
Its called liquifry.
Flake food works too, but I like variation.