How to feed guppy fry and feeding features from the first minutes of life

Guppies are aquarium fish, quite unpretentious. Precisely because it is not difficult to keep them, breeders, starting with beginners, breed them in their home “reservoirs”. What else is attractive guppies? They have unusually beautiful bright colors, they are mobile, so the presence of these fish will decorate any aquarium.

Guppy – viviparous fish: formed already in the tummy of the guppy mother. They are born almost fully formed and capable of independent living. Small guppies are called fry. After birth, they are placed in a separate aquarium.

It is after birth that aquarists have an important question: what to feed fry guppies.

Guppy nutritional features

Small guppies need to be fed differently than adults. If the big ones are fed twice a day, then the kids are fed 5 to 6 times. Feed at one time give so much to eat immediately. Otherwise, it will settle to the bottom and create life-threatening conditions for the fry in the aquarium: in the water a lot of nitrogen is produced, which will lead to the death of the offspring of guppies. In addition, water changes should be daily. It should be taken only from the aquarium where dad and mom swim.

It is not necessary to say that feeding is an extremely difficult issue, since the fry are ready to eat food that is also fed to adults. The only question is the size of this food: it should be much smaller, since the mouths of guppy fry are very small. If you feed dry food, then it needs to be kneaded between your fingers so that it turns into dust.

You can choose another option: purchase a special food (Tetra MicroMin or Sera Micropan) intended for feeding fry. Both foods are balanced, so you don’t have to add anything: your fry will receive a complete nutrition in accordance with their age.

There is also substitute MicroMin, which contains all the vitamins that are required for guppies in the first days of life.

In order for the fry to grow full-fledged, they need to be fed carefully. You need to be especially attentive to them in the first week. In addition, the light must not be turned off even for a minute, otherwise the fry may die.

How to feed guppy fry at first?

How you feed your pets in the first five days will depend on their full growth and development. Don’t forget to feed them on time. Fish must find food at any time.

Better use live food:

• It can be living dust (a “ciliate shoe” is suitable, but you can feed it for three or five days).
• microworms that you have grown yourself on chopped carrots, or purchased at a pet store,
• nauplia, cortemia, rotifers (grind!).
• Dry food is also appropriate, but it should be used for feeding fry only once a week.

For the first seven days, food is given 4 to 5 times daily. In the second week, four meals a day will be enough. From now on, you can add crushed bloodworm, tubifex, nematode, but this complementary food can be given only once a week.

For busy aquarists, we recommend purchasing an automatic feeder. But this does not relieve from the obligation to monitor the cleanliness of the aquarium.

The fry eat well live food substitutes, which you can cook yourself at home: chicken yolk, scrambled eggs, yogurt and other food.

How to prepare live food substitutes?

1. clabber. Fill this product with boiling water. The casein will curdle. The resulting clot is caught with a net with small cells. The contents are thoroughly washed from the whey. You need to feed small guppies from a net. When shaken, a cloud forms on the surface with the smallest particles of food. The water in the aquarium does not deteriorate. Food is stored in the refrigerator.
2. Hard boiled chicken egg. The yolk is taken out and rubbed in a spoon. Water must be taken from the aquarium. Instead of a spoon, you can use gauze. The wrapped yolk is splashed in water. The fry eat the resulting egg dust. It should be noted that the water from such complementary foods deteriorates quickly, it will have to be changed more often.
3. You can also feed small guppies with scrambled eggs. For this, a couple of eggs are used, to which 2 teaspoons of nettle are added. It is dried and rubbed thoroughly. You can add hercules. Fall asleep in a hundred milliliters of boiling milk. The resulting mass is whipped. After cooling, you can offer fry. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator. Storage time is limited.
4. Fry living in an aquarium can be fed with dry milk. It contains a lot of useful protein. Regular milk should be evaporated in a water bath. The resulting powder is insoluble in water. Therefore, in a few hours, the fish eat it without a trace.
5. Guppies love cheese. Choose not spicy. It should not be rubbed with a grater with the smallest cells. If the cheese is processed, then it must be dried. You don’t need to add much, just one time. Excess can be detrimental to water quality.

It is advisable not to feed the fry with dry food during the first month. The thing is, you can’t fill it properly. Excess food “rots”, forming a film on the water area of ​​​​the aquarium. She doesn’t let air through. In addition, small guppies cannot swallow such rough food.

What else you need to know about feeding

Question, what to feed guppy fry, is important in the future. After two months, you can feed the tubifex, daphnia, cyclops, thread algae. Plant foods won’t hurt. From ready-made compositions, use Gordon’s mixture. From the first days you need to monitor the balance of food. If this is not done, then no quality nutrition will further help in the proper development of fry. It will not be possible to obtain a bright color, and the collapse of the tail will not meet the desired characteristics.

Need to feed guppies according to weight:

1. From birth and during the first 14 days, food is plentiful, 50-70% more weight.
2. From the 15th day to the age of two months – from 80 to 100%
3. After two months – about 30%.
4. When the guppies are divided by sex, you need to feed even less – about 15% of the weight.
5. Those fry that are left as producers should be fed with caution, significantly reducing portions: feed is only 3 to 5%.

You can transplant grown fry into a common aquarium after three months. Adult guppies will not be able to harm them.