How fast do guppies multiply

New posts. Search forums. Thread starter arowanaking Start date Aug 20, JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. MFK Member. Jul 25, 0 0 Louisiana. Guppies breeding behavior is characterized by a courtship period, which culminates with the male fertilizing the female.

Usually, the male guppy displays his suitability by maintaining a courtship dance, called sigmoid display, in which the fish flexes into an S-shape and vibrates rapidly. Male guppies use this display to show off their color to potential mates, with the brightest and the male with the most impressive body patterns been considered as the best mating partner by female guppies.

While the females will prefer the male fish with vivid colors, they also go for large males than the smaller ones for mating partners. The females are also more attracted to the male with more orange spots on the flank. The reason for this preference is mostly premised on the idea that brighter colors and large overall body size are an indication of physical fitness and sexual maturity. Consequently, male guppies evolve to have more ornamentation across generations than females, especially in the wild.

If the conditions in your aquarium are right for mating, your male guppy will try to approach a female after the sigmoid display with a goal to mate. Even so, the female fish rarely remains still for the activity and will dart away then a chase ensues. However, you will notice your female showing a preference for a particular male if you have more than one in your tank. This is because female guppies generally choose the male to mate with, though the female guppy can still mate with more than one male.

When the female guppy is ready to mate, she will let a male extend his gonopodium towards her anal vent and deliver packets of sperm. This process is quick taking less than a second, you may not think much of it if you have not bred guppies before. After fertilization, your female guppy will either get pregnant or store the sperm in her ovaries for use at a later date. If she does get pregnant, your guppy will exhibit some physical changes throughout the gestation period.

That said, it can be challenging to tell if she is pregnant in the first few days, but gradually, clear signs will start to show. A gravid patch, also called a gravid spot, is a dark spotting under the tail of a female guppy fish towards the backside of her stomach. Usually, it is triangular in shape but is only perfectly visible in a pregnant guppy. Away from the gavid spot, the fish will also grow larger looking stockier than usual with the stomach taking an almost square shape, though this sign will sometimes fail to appear until the latter stages of the gestation period.

The female will also have an arched back and appear to be pushing, and may even have some difficulty swimming. The eyes are mostly concentrated around the gravid patch causing the spot to look almost black.

Other common signs that your female guppy is pregnant include:. The average gestation period period of pregnancy is usually anywhere from 20 days, but the pregnancy can last up to 32 days depending on the condition of your fish and the health of the fish.

On average, guppies give birth to between 20 and 30 young, though some will have even Generally, the larger the female, the bigger the brood. This combination of frequent mating and super-foetation means female guppies are more or less constantly pregnant as soon as they reach maturity.

Once a female guppy is 2 or 3 months old, she tends to start giving birth. A female guppy under optimal conditions can give birth every 30 days -- and each batch of fry can range from 20 to 50 baby guppies. This combination of maturing rapidly, birthing live young and almost constant reproduction means guppies reproduce very rapidly. When breeding guppies, the biggest concern is the parents. Adult guppies eat baby guppies although, in a densely planted aquarium, at least some of the babies will avoid predation.

The scientific name Poecilia reticulata was given to the species by an excited enthusiast named Wilhelm Peters in when he received his first Venezuelan shipment of guppies. During the reign of the British Empire, guppies were purposely released into the tropics to eat mosquito larvae in an effort to reduce the high risk of malaria.

Unfortunately, this was ineffective, and the guppies often upset the local ecosystem. At a later date, the mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki was released instead.

It was no more effective at controlling mosquitoes but was much more aggressive and has driven many native species almost to the point of extinction. Physical Traits of Guppies Wild guppies have little or no resemblance to their fancy captive-bred counterparts. The wild guppy strain is very small and quite dull in color. Females of this wild species tend to be brown or gray, with little or no coloring in the fin areas.

The skin of these females is covered with black pigment cells called melanophores, which enable the wild guppies to rapidly change colors to avoid predators. While lying near a light sandy bottom, the guppy is able to quickly blend in with its surrounding environment. If the same fish were to move over an area of dark rocks, it would disperse black pigment to the cells to darken its color. Males display various coloration patterns.

Among captive bred strains, many lines have females with colored fins and partially colored bodies. Guppies are bred for color, body size, and fin shape. Colors vary from strain to strain and include various types of solids and pastels. Tails come in a wide range of shapes and sizes including the lyretail split-tail , the delta fan shaped , thin ribbon shaped , swords single and double , and round. Hormones were once popular to artificially enhance the colors of guppies, but this often renders them sterile and is known to have caused changes in the secondary sex characteristics of the aquarists administering the drugs.

Few if any breeders use hormones today. Proper Aquarium Conditions It comes as no surprise to anyone who has ever had the pleasure of owning guppies that they are able to live in a wide variety of water conditions, including fresh and salt water.

Despite the fact that guppies are very forgiving of fluctuating water parameters, they should receive the finest conditions we can offer. Guppies should never be kept in small jars or bowls. Always choose the largest aquarium that your finances will allow. The pH can be kept between 7. Guppies like having a handy hiding place or two, so you can make them very happy by building small openings with rocks, and then add a few spots of dense foliage accompanied by natural-looking gravel.

Guppy Breeding Providing good water conditions, proper filtration, and a natural-looking environment will reward the hobbyist with years of enjoyable fishkeeping and spawning activity. Even when left on their own, guppies breed very rapidly.