CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How should guppies be raised? How can male and female be distinguished? How long do they live?

It is easy to distinguish between male and female. The one with a big belly and dull color is female. It is also easy to raise. You can just drink some water or wine after sleeping.

Guppies are small tropical ornamental fish that are lively and active and easy to raise. Generally, there is no limit to the breeding facilities, and a rectangular glass tank can be used. The pH of the water used for breeding is preferably neutral, and other water quality factors are not strictly required. This fish has a strong adaptability to water temperature, and the suitable temperature range is 15-35 degrees Celsius; but the optimal water temperature is 25-26 degrees Celsius; when the water temperature drops to 13 degrees Celsius, it will lie still at the bottom of the water without eating or moving, and if it lasts too long, it will die.

Guppies have a mild temperament and will not fight with other fish, so they are suitable for mixed breeding with other fish. They are also not very selective about food and can eat egg yolks, steamed bread residues, etc. However, when raising them artificially, it is best to feed them live bait such as fish worms and nematodes.

Guppy is also known as rainbow fish. It is generally 3-5 cm long and is the most common type of tropical fish. The fish is small and exquisite, swims swiftly and lively, and has colorful body colors, which makes it very popular. In particular, the male fish is more beautiful than the female fish. Its green-brown body is mixed with red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, just like a rainbow in the sky, hence the name. There are generally several small blue round spots on the fish body, surrounded by lighter rings, which are very similar to the eye-shaped spots on the peacock's open tail, hence the beautiful name of the guppy.

After a long period of cultivation, there are many varieties of guppies. Some have particularly wide tails, some have forked tail fins like a swallowtail, some have a golden body, and some have colors like brocade. Therefore, people divide them into different varieties according to their different characteristics, such as common guppies, swallowtail guppies, long-tail guppies, lyre-tail guppies, yellow guppies, etc. It is easy to distinguish between male and female guppies. Among individuals of the same age, female individuals are longer and fatter than male individuals, with a more monotonous body color, without the colorful colors of male fish; male fish have brighter body colors.

Guppies are ovoviviparous fish. When breeding, a rectangular glass tank with a size of 60 cm * 20 cm * 20 cm is generally used. The pH value of the breeding water is required to be 6.8-7.4, the hardness is 6-11 degrees, and the water temperature is maintained at around 26 degrees Celsius. More water plants should be planted in the tank, preferably duckweed or water plants with lush leaves.

As broodstock, individuals of the same species with a total length of 3-4 cm should be selected. The ratio of female to male is 1:1. The selected broodstock are placed in a breeding tank for breeding. Soon, the abdomen of the female fish gradually swells and the gonads become more mature; at this time, the male fish will chase the female fish or intercept the female fish from multiple angles. Finally, the male fish's copulatory organ is inserted into the male fish's cloaca to ejaculate, completing internal fertilization.

After the female fish is fertilized, its abdomen becomes more swollen and black fetal spots appear. It will soon give birth to offspring. After giving birth, the parents should be removed immediately and raised separately to prevent them from swallowing the offspring.

After the fry are born, they sink to the bottom of the water and then hide in the water plants. They usually do not eat on the first day after they are born, but start eating on the second day. They should be fed with paramecium, fish meal or egg yolk water in time.

Feeding method

Tank and water preparation

Research on feeding methods

The preparation of the tank is mainly cleaning and disinfection. I use boiling water disinfection for disinfection. The disinfection is thorough and there are no problems left after chemical disinfection. It is also the most environmentally friendly method. It should be noted that when disinfecting, the tank should be placed steadily. It must be stable, otherwise it will crack easily. Then add a small amount of boiling water to let the glass adapt to the temperature to prevent the glass from bursting due to sudden high heat. Finally, add an appropriate amount of boiling water for disinfection.

To cultivate water, you need to let tap water stand for 3 to 5 days to evaporate the chlorine in the water. Then add the water to the disinfected tank, add nitrifying bacteria, and use water fairy to continuously oxygenate for 24 hours to initially establish a nitrification system. Then, you can put fish in this water.

Catching fish

After receiving the fish, do not rush to open the packaging box. Open the box in a dark place after returning home. Avoid excessive movement during the journey to prevent vibration or rolling. Because the fish have stopped eating and are in a dark environment, and have been transported over long distances for a long time, they are physically weak and mentally nervous. Therefore, you must be especially careful to prevent the fish from being startled and hitting the bag or tank and getting injured, or causing the fish to clamp its tail due to fear. Therefore, all work must be done gently and carefully.

Add water

Watering (also known as watering, a professional term) is an important and tedious operation. But if you want to raise fish well, you must be careful and patient to complete it, to ensure that the fish can initially adapt to our breeding environment smoothly and lay a good foundation for normal breeding in the future. Many novices make mistakes in this regard and suffer heavy losses! The work of watering mainly includes the following steps: 1. Water temperature: The water temperature in the tank is stable between 22 and 26 degrees. After receiving the fish, do not rush to open the packaging bag. First, rinse the packaging bag with water of the same temperature as the water in the tank. Then put the packaging bag in the tank for about 20 to 30 minutes to make the water in the bag and the water in the tank reach the same temperature.

2. Open the bag: After opening the bag, first add 1/10 of the water in the tank into the bag, and then slowly add the water in the tank to the bag to gradually adapt the fish to the changes in water quality such as PH, KH, etc. The whole process lasts about 30 to 40 minutes. When the amount of water added to the tank reaches the amount of water in the bag, the fish can be gently taken out and put into the fish tank. This water addition process can also be carried out with an infusion system for hanging bottles, which can better adapt the fish to the water quality and is suitable for more precious fish. After the water addition is completed, the original water in the bag must be poured out, because the waste excreted by the fish during transportation, the detached mucous membrane and other substances are the favorite food and spawning beds of bacteria, and are an important source of fish disease.

3. Fish will be very scared after entering the tank. Don’t use too strong light at this time, and don’t alarm it. For example, you can’t point or make big movements when watching. Make sure to do enough preparation before receiving the fish. Don’t let the fish run around the tank all the time after entering the tank. Remember not to feed it on the same day!

4. Do not feed or change the water on the first day, and observe its condition. Generally speaking, the fish will recover a little on the first day, such as looking for food, chasing mates, etc. If the condition is not good, you can add 1% saturated salt water.

5. The next day: If the fish are in good condition, looking for food everywhere, chasing their mates, etc., you can feed them a little live bait, just for the sake of showing your appreciation, but never feed them too much! Live food is the best for starters, such as brine shrimp, etc. Artificial bait is not recommended because it is difficult to digest. You can replace 1/10 of the water. The water you replace in winter should be 1 to 2 degrees higher than the water temperature in the tank, and 1 to 2 degrees lower in summer. This is also the way to control the temperature when changing water throughout the year.

If the condition is not good, do not feed and continue to observe.

6. Day 3: A critical day! If there is something wrong with the fish, it will be obvious on this day. Observe the symptoms and prescribe the right medicine.

If there are no problems and the fish is in good condition, feed it one meal at a time, slightly more than yesterday, and gradually transition to the normal feeding amount within a week. The same goes for changing water.

7. The water addition procedure must be completed carefully. Even if you are sure of the water quality, it is not recommended to put the fish directly into the tank without adding water. Remember this, otherwise injuries are inevitable.

Guppies have a short lifespan, usually only 2-3 years.

Just take a look and you will know.