View Full Version : How to grow bigger guppies
Whenever I get visitors they always comment on how big my guppies are compared to theirs or the pet shops This is my method from experience not necessarily the only way.
1.Split males and females as soon as they distinguishable. Guppy males are sex maniacs. Splitting them up gives them more time to focus on something else like food. Even after they are a few months old splitting the sexes helps.
2. Feed good quality food in good proportions several times a day. Feed a variety of flake food , pellets, granules, frozen and live food. I serve high protein foods during the day and veggie based foods at night like spirulina tabs, algae wafers etc. The food has lots of vitamins and other good stuff. If the food is of good quality you can even getaway from using live/frozen food. Monitor feeding so you never overfeed. My Ancistrus clean up anything that reaches the bottom. Also watch out for too fat males. Remember you aiming for big fish not obese fish
3. My water is kept at an even 26 degrees Centigrade and lots of gravel vacuuming water changes. Higher water temperatures means a faster metabolism and growth rates but a shorter life span. I age my water for a few days with anti-chlorine/ chloramines and do a minimum 40% water change twice a week .Water changes is depending on your stocking levels and filtration system. Try not to suck up any of your fish. My guppies are so use to the gravel vacuuming that get sucked up every now and then. Bare bottom tanks are faster easier to clean.
I use the bubble test and my nose to judge the water quality. The quicker the bubble burst on the water surface the better. Salt ,low ph water and high humidity will result in a longer lasting bubbles. A Line of small bubbles on the edge of the water is a sign of poor water quality.
Based on the nappy principle, If it smells bad it needs a change. With experience you will be able to judge the different smells.
4.I use a internal canister filter and a sponge filter. After a while the sponge filter grows some nice treats for everyone to nibble on. Although having plants in a tank is not essential but they help.
5.Good genetics helps. Fish that have a stunted growth , sick, or abnormal growths makes a bad start or a no start.
6.Love your fish. Treat them well and take great care of them.
I have grown my Guppies and Platies to 50mm+ and Swords to about 60mm+ in a few months. Occasionally you see these jumbo sized guppies in the pet shops .Now you can do it as well.
I am by no means a "Guppy expert" and know all the answers relating to these wonderful creatures. Hope you find this small peace helpful and informative.
Thanks for shareing your tips.
Dirk Bellstedt
14-05-2010, 21:29
Well done Khalid,
Correct feeding and water quality are just as important to guppies as they are to other fish and you obviously have got it just right, well done.
I have been told by the guppy boffins that the most crucial phase in a guppy's life are the first week after birth. The eventual size of the fish is decided by what happens in the first week. If you feed lots of freshly hatched bs then the fishes grow to be really large and for growing out champion fishes in Europe this is the general strategy.
However, you are obviously doing it just right, congratulations.
Kind regards,
Dirk
Well done Khalid,...
congratulations.
Dirk
Thanks for the kind words Prof
Thanks for shareing your tips.
anytime
I've seen some really huge females, they can have huge broods. Definitely useful for anyone breeding or even keeping Guppies, as I have in the past.
I'm quite a fan of the "nose test" too!
"nose test", please explain as I'm not familiar with this
"nose test"
If the water stinks (bad rotten smell) your water needs a change.
Also a good idea is to scout for dead fish and plants with a filter clean.
The above test can also be used to smell out for Chlorine in new water, soap on hands etc
and wont cost you an arm or leg :)
lowracer
18-05-2010, 21:28
nice post
SalmonAfrica
19-05-2010, 15:25
Nice post khalid :) I think it can apply to most fish really, which is useful.
Bare bottom tanks are faster easier to clean.Just on that point, I've also found that it is one hang of a lot easier to clean than tanks with gravel. However, I've got two criticisms: if fish poop, it's really easy to spot on a bare-bottomed tank.
Another problem is that, without gravel, there is quite a lot less capacity in your tank for beneficial bacteria - that is, less medium for them to grow on. I suppose this could be countered by providing plenty of bio-media in your filtration, but I always feel just that much more safe with actual substrate. Looks natural too. Just IMO. :)
Very valid point SalmonAfrica. I also use SuperActiFlo Active Bed Media floating in a bag on the top of the tank. just to add to the bio capacity
Well,their is another way...................inter-breeding!!! Be warned,doing this will degrad your guppies,their genetics will not be 100% pure fancy guppy........the mosquito fish or gambusia is basicall a super-sized aggresiven,ugly,sex maniac!!! You can get bigger guppies but the other guppies in the tank(males) WILL be attacked by mosquito fish and the fancy guppy females might suffer the same fait.......but me....I like to test......so when my little devils are older I'm gonna breed them with my fancy guppies!!! I really hope it will work.......
lowracer
20-05-2010, 21:40
NO!
fortuntely i dont think they will interbreed
SalmonAfrica
20-05-2010, 21:49
Well,their is another way...................inter-breeding!!! Be warned,doing this will degrad your guppies,their genetics will not be 100% pure fancy guppy........the mosquito fish or gambusia is basicall a super-sized aggresiven,ugly,sex maniac!!! You can get bigger guppies but the other guppies in the tank(males) WILL be attacked by mosquito fish and the fancy guppy females might suffer the same fait.......but me....I like to test......so when my little devils are older I'm gonna breed them with my fancy guppies!!! I really hope it will work.......
Rather don't, and for several reasons.
For one, I don't think it's likely that they'll breed, although it's not impossible, seeing as they belong to the same family. In any case, mixing up the genetics between these two species will further weaken the gene pool of show guppies, which at the moment, aren't exactly the most genetically stable creatures on the market.
Secondly, you're right about the super-sized proportions (for a livebearer) and aggressive nature of Gambusia, which is why they aren't quite as popular as guppies - guppies as they are are suitable community fish, and adding the genetics to a natural trouble causer will only make mixing species in a tank so much more difficult.
We've had Gambusia affinis in our pond since we built it, the only possible way they got there must have been in the plants, and their population naturally increased. I use them as feeder fish for my predators. I've not seen Gambusia much larger than the average guppy, and never larger than the few super-sized guppies I've seen.
It's more likely that the Gambusia will rip up your Guppy's nice finnage before any cross-species gonopodium action happens.
A sample of the large fish.
Very fast fish, they never sit still. Difficult to get a clean shot
The female sword is 75mm
And the Guppy 50mm
Congratulations Khalid! I have also found that the more water changes you do, the better for your fish. Apparently the adults give off a chemical, which retards the growth of fry, which is why you often find that if you separate your fry from the parents they grow so much faster! When I used to stay in the Klein Karroo, I had an irrigation water dam on the property and used to put my guppies in there for mosquito control as soon as it was warm enough in spring. They grew incredibly fast, to huge sizes and had huge amounts of fry, so that I had literally millions in the 10mx10m dam within 2 months! Unfortunately the winter was too cold for them to survive!
Gambusia definitely will not hybridize with guppies. They look similar, but are not closely enough related. In fact, if I remember correctly, the molly is a closer relative to the guppy family!
thanks Kratzfa - that just reminds me to get rid of all my outside guppies before it gets too cold.
Re your remark about the nose test Khalid. I have always kept Malaysian livebearer snails in my community tank and in my livebearer tank. They act like earthworms in continually turning over the gravel and all dead fish and leftover food is eaten. All fish droppings are eaten as well and buried, which is good for the plants. I used to have lot of Cryptocoreans, which dislike being replanted. I cleaned that tank about every 2 years, except for frequent water changes and filter maintenance, but still found the gravel in the aquarium to be in reasonable condition, while in tanks without Malaysian snails the bottom layers of gravel can become quite smelly! The snails are a good indication if you are overfeeding as they will then multiply enormously! If you feed so that there is no leftover feed for them, you will just about never see them, as they then only come out at night. On the other hand they are the biggest thread to all your breeding tanks of egg layers. I had enormous problems when I was still married, that my wife would overfeed, when I was away from home, but the snails kept the water from turning foul.
SalmonAfrica
16-02-2011, 11:41
Gambusia definitely will not hybridize with guppies. They look similar, but are not closely enough related. In fact, if I remember correctly, the molly is a closer relative to the guppy family!
Guppies, mollies and Gabusia are all in the same family, but only guppies and mollies share the same genus out of this group. Hybridization between fish of different genera is less likely than that between those within the same genus, but not impossible.
Anyway, back on topic, how're your guppies doing Khalid? What size are they now?
:amazed: Gambusia - now that is a well endowed fish!
Anyway back to the topic - I am in the process of clearing most of the guppies. However I do have 2 very nice virgin females. They share a 3ft tank with 5 ABN. As you can imagine they have grown to a nice size.
Dirk Bellstedt
18-02-2011, 07:37
Hi Guys,
I have been breeding a lot of guppies of late, many of which come from Tyrone Genade. He has been in Italy and visited many prominent guppy breeders there. In their opinion the important thing on how to grow out a really large good show guppy is dependent on what you feed the fry in the first week after birth. You have to feed really high quality foods then, such as freshly hatched brine shrimps and high quality granulates which is exactly what I have been doing and I can really say this works. You then get male fishes that have a really thick tail, I am referring to the back part of the body and not the fin, and they really have a much more chunky and sturdy look. I now have some real machos of different colours and breeds and I ascribe this to this good food in the first week. Others of the same breed that have been in a large group where they have not received such good food just simply do not grow out so large.
Khalid, have you also been using my high quality granulates for your big fishes? If this is the case this would explain their large size.
I also want to add that giving them more space does get them to grow larger, but some of my big fellows fed as indicated above have been raised in small tanks and therefore I think the nutrition in the first week is even more important.
Kind regards,
Dirk
I know this isn't my thread but I have a question, prof does the same apply to endlers??
Dirk Bellstedt
18-02-2011, 09:06
Yes, Hein,
The same applies to Endlers and although they do not grow as large as normal guppies do, they definitely do grow larger if fed better in the first couple of days after birth.
Kind regards,
Dirk
Hi Prof Bellstedt
Do you seperate your babies from their parents? I read somewhere years ago that livebearers give of something in their urine which inhibits the growth of younger fish. I keep my babies with their parents and have also noticed that the babies grow much faster if I do regular water changes and of course not keep them crowded!
Best regards
Frank
Dirk Bellstedt
18-02-2011, 12:24
Hi Frank,
I do not always separate the babies from the parents and then if I feed bs the parents of course also score. However, I do not get the feeling that they grow more slowly if they stay with their parents.
As a biochemist, I have my doubts about these substances that fishes are supposed to release which inhibit the growth of their young. I do not really see what the point of this should be and for this reason I doubt whether this is correct. If the evidence is conclusive, I will accept it but the older information was often derived from something that someone had thought about and not on facts.
Regular water changes remove nitrate which is known to reduce growth rates so this would be good, and crowding just means more competition and stress, so I fully agree.
Kind regards,
Dirk
Hi Prof Dirk.
I agree with your take on the growth saga. I would rather believe the contrary. In nature that would give the fry a even worst chance of survival, which makes absolutely no sense.
Khalid, have you also been using my high quality granulates for your big fishes? If this is the case this would explain their large size.
Dirk
My fish have a wide variety diet Sera, Tetra, Hikari, Ocean Nutrition and of course the Prof's food.
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