INTRODUCTION
The guppy scientifically known as Poecilia reticulata, also
known as the million-fish, is one of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish
species in the world being a small member of the Poeciliidae family. The fishes
come in all varieties, and most are pleasing to the sights.
NATURAL HISTORY
Robert John Lechmere Guppy discovered this tiny fish in Trinidad in 1866, and the fish was named Girardinus
Guppii in his honor by Dr Albert Karl Ludwig Gotthilf Gunther later that year.
Over time guppies have been given a variety of physiological names, although
Poecilia reticulata is the name currently considered being valid. Guppies are
native to Barbados, Brazil, Guyana,
Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad
and Tobago, and Venezuela. However, these wild
guppies have been introduced to many different countries on all continents,
except Antarctica. Sometimes this has occurred
accidentally, but most often as a means of mosquito control as in Bangladesh,
the hope being that the guppies would eat the mosquito larvae slowing down the
spread of malaria and dengue.
BEHAVIOUR AND ECOLOGY
Guppies are generally very peaceful and hardy as they tend
to tolerate a range of different water conditions, though poor condition of
water hampers the guppies in several ways. Guppies are livebearers, so gives
birth to live babies which are vulnerable to be eaten by other inhabitant fish
and its parents. In an aquarium, a male guppy can sometimes be aggressive
towards another male and can nip or be nipped. This happens when a tank
consists of two or more strong males that try to dominate other males in order
to fertilize all the females in the tank. This fight for dominance can
sometimes be very fatal.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE
Generally a male guppy is 1.5 inch long when adult, and
females are relatively 2.5 inch long. Male are brilliantly colorful, whereas
females are colorless. Males have a large, colorful tail. Selective breeding
has now led to various different tail shapes, such as lyre-tail, veil-tail,
sword-tail, delta-tail, pin-tail, flag-tail, round-tail and many more. Females are bigger and much fuller than
males. Females may be half-colored starting from their midst to the caudal fin
(tail). These characteristics may sometimes be deceiving. The best way to distinguish
a male is to identify its anal fin, named the gonopodium. The anal fin or
gonopodium is an elongated fin near the end of its belly. Females have a
fan-shaped anal fin, and to be more distinguishable a female has a dark spot at
its belly area. This is called a gravid spot.
SELECTING THE BEST AND HEALTHY PAIR
Choosing a fish between about a hundred of other fish can be
very difficult, confusing and perhaps will get you a rude comment from the LFS
keeper. When purchasing a male always
keep your eyes open for the following things:
1. Avoid
getting a fish with ripped or torn fins.
2. Get the
fish which looks very active and perhaps test this by tapping lightly on the
glass, an active fish will love to explore near your taps.
3. Avoid a
fish with any sort of disease like, white spot, swollen belly, pop eye, and
dropsy, twisted or bent spine. Diseased fish will probably not withhold the
stress of displacement.
4. Get the
fish with similar pattern and color on both its dorsal fin and caudal fin. This
fish will give rise to a pure strain of its base color in its offspring.
5. Keep a
sharp look for a straight and pointy gonopodium, a guppy with deformed
gonopodium can never breed.
6. Get a
medium sized male guppy, bigger guppies may reach there age limit and will not
breed due to old age.
7. Get a guppy that
keeps all its fins wide open, especially the caudal and dorsal fins.
When purchasing a female always keep your eyes open for the
following things:
1. Avoid
getting a fish with ripped or torn fins.
2. Get the
fish which looks very active and perhaps test this by tapping lightly on the
glass, an active fish will love to explore near your taps.
3. Avoid a
fish with any sort of disease like, white spot, swollen belly, pop eye, and
dropsy, twisted or bent spine. Diseased fish will probably not withhold the
stress of displacement.
4. Never get
a fish that seems to deliver babies with 24 hrs, its too stressful for the fish
to give birth in a totally different environment.
5. Remember
to get the female to be slightly larger than the male.
6. Remember
a female that has a dark gravid spot is already containing babies which may be
of another male. It may continue to give birth for 3-5 broods
7. Avoid
fish with clamped fins or fish that may have difficulty in swimming.
8. Get the
fish with a thick and smooth caudal peduncle. A female with a strong caudal
peduncle holds more babies each brood.
It sometimes may happen that everything mentioned above
might not be applicable for a single fish, at this time consider the health of
the fish rather than its ability to breed or external appearance.
BREEDING GUPPIES
When aiming to breed guppies overcrowding the tank should be
strictly prohibited. A 10 gallon tank is
best set up to hold 8-10 adult guppies, where the ratio of male and female should be 1:2 for example if there
is 3 males there should be 6 or 7
females. The tank should be heavily planted with either plastic or live plants.
Live plants are preferred but are hard to maintain and take care of. Floating
plants are most preferred as they provide very good cover for new-born fry.
Guppies naturally live in water slightly acidic water at about the pH of 6.5-7.
The temperature should be no more than 82degree F. The female can give up to 80
fries at a single delivery which may take up to 24 hrs. At an average a female
will give 5-40 fries within 4 hrs. An average gestation period should be
approximately 24-40 days.
The key to breeding guppies is patience and very keen
observation. It is very hard to tell when a female will deliver babies but a
close guess can be given. When the female is ready to give birth it will become listless and
will show shivering moves, it might also
skid and scratch on hard surfaces which can also be a sign of weak immunity, at this point the fish needs
intensive care because it is vulnerable
to disease. A little bit of prevention is much better than a lot of cures. The
gravid spot will darken as the babies come near to birth. The gravid spot is
formed by the developing fry bodies inside the female. The gravid spot is
filled with fluids that acts as the protection for the babies and also provides
food for the growing fry. At the early time of the day, the fluid gets clear
and the eyes of the babies are sometimes visible if looked closely. The fluid
darkens with time which mistakenly is said to be the eyes of the babies wholly.
A female guppy ready to drop her litters, when looked at a front view or a rear
view will have box-like shape that is the gravid spot gets bigger and squared
with the grown babies.
Guppies needs a very peaceful surroundings to give birth, it
can abort or hold its delivery for 20mins to until it dies. This is a commonly
faced problem that a guppy dies when it is very near to giving birth. This is
caused mainly by an unfriendly surrounding and that leads to stress. Your guppy
needs to be completely stress-free, if it is required to give healthy growing
babies.
Guppies are not very good parents as they tend to feast on
their own babies, it is a healthy and tasty meal for them, but for us; a
nightmare! How will you save the babies? Move the female which will give birth
in a breeding trap as said in various sites? I personally would not do so; a
guppy at the state of giving birth is already too much stressed, I would never
like to give it more stress by moving it into a smaller place. What I do is
move all other fish into another tank trying not to disturb the mother female.
I try to stand-by and remove the babies into a new tank as soon as they are
moving and jolting around dodging its hungry mother.
There are several breeding techniques but I would like to
discuss about Selective Breeding only. Now the hardest part and I mean it, is
selective breeding. This is a technique that breeders use to obtain a new
strain and healthier babies. A female purchased from a LFS of Bangladesh are
already having babies of a male which you are unable to identify. A female can
store the male’s sperm for about 4 consecutive broods. This is called
superfetation. To obtain the fries of a selected male, it is necessary for the
male to fertilize the eggs inside the female just after it has dropped a brood
of litters. A touch of the gonopodium on the female’s vent while it is
stationary is all that is needed.
This breeding technique is best adapted after having
successful experience in keeping guppies, and growing the babies into adults.
Crossing between different heredity can provide fries that are much stronger
and healthier, but sometimes also with fries that are fragile and need
intensive care to grow them. This breeding technique is used to obtain
distinctive patterns and color strains, which can be a matter of time, hard
work and experience.
CARING FOR THE FRY
Once you have successfully retrieved baby guppies, you are
required to straighten up and be a regular feeder. The first 4-5 weeks of a
guppy fry is very crucial period. At this time the food is utilized in
developing the muscles and internal organs of the fish. The maximum energy,
after 1 month of growth, is used to develop the reproductive organs and the
fins. The guppies will start to show off its color now. The guppies sexually mature in 2-3 months
depending on many factors, which includes the water conditions, feedings, and
also the genetics and heredity of the particular guppy.
Growth
A new-born baby is about 5-6mm long, at its 1st week it will
grow to 6-7mm long, if the babies are not stunted and are fed well. On the 2nd
week it will grow to 8mm and within 4 weeks or a month the fry should be
1-1.2cm long. Within 6 months the guppies will reach its size limit to 1.5 inch
in males and 2.5 inch in females.
Feedings
There are many food accepted by the baby guppies, but what I feed is dissolved
yolk of a hard boiled egg for the first
week, 8 to 10 times a day with big meals in the morning and at night. Take as much yolk required (never
overfeed, or spoil the water) and dissolve it in a little amount of tank water
in a cup, feed the paste with a dropper. A varied meal is always welcomed by
the fries. My guppies willingly accept
powder milk, crushed wheat, and a pinch of Maida (however do not make it the
basic food), this are fed to baby fishes at hatcheries. I would like to ask you
to make a schedule with 2 dry feedings, 4 liquid feedings and 2 can be newly-hatched
baby brine shrimp that is only if u can provide with.
These feedings can be
continued to maximum 6 months, it is best to change the diet and
feed the adolescent guppies with flakes,
live tubifex worms and frozen food,
which is continued for the rest of the life of the guppies.
Water Changes
Regular water change is like a religion we fish-keepers
follow blindly. This helps spur growth in baby guppies. I suggest changing 10%
water everyday and 25% once a week. Please remember to use aged, anti-chlorinated
tap water.
Tank Temperature and Lighting
Temperature is a major factor in a guppy’s life. Guppies
tend to grow much faster in higher temperature like 80degree F, as the higher
metabolism rate causes more hunger and thus growth. But a disadvantage is that
higher temperature decreases the life span of a guppy. Though the guppies grow
slowly at low temperature like 72-74degree F, but they tend to live longer.
Lighting is also a major factor. Low or dimmed lighting can
cause a deformity on the guppies, such as bent spines or stunted growth. I
successfully use minimum 14 hrs to maximum 18 hrs of lighting per day. The
wattage is not a crucial matter to worry about.
Filtrations
Almost all filters do well with guppies but filtration is
best managed according to the tank size and the amount of babies in it, along
with water changes.
Culling
I personally do not do this inhumane practice. But
separating deformed fries and caring for them as well can be rewarding too.
CONCLUSION
I have been
enthusiastic about fish but found myself greatly indulged in caring, breeding
and rearing on guppies. This article is based on my experience and knowledge
from the last two years working solely on guppies. I am still working with
guppies and successfully nurturing their fries. There have been many failures
and mishaps all due to inexperience and also weak informative support. This is
what I believe, “Be a fish to know a fish”, to understand your pet better you
need to think and feel the way it thinks and feel.
