What
happens in the first full month of life can make or break a show guppy. Whether
you are hoping to raise winning show fish or just super special guppy pets,
what you do in the first 30 days will make all the difference. Even though guppy
breeders have many diverse methods of handling this critical period, it is generally
agreed that it is important to make the most of this period of rapid growth
and development. To get really good size and bodies sturdy enough to support
the developing large finnage you have to push guppy fry to the maximum during
the short interval between birth and the beginnings of sexual development.
Guppy
development tends to follow a certain pattern. During the first month of a guppy's
energy intake goes toward body growth and the development of muscle and bone
structure. Towards the end of the first month the guppy begins to divert even
more energy into sexual development. By about the sixth week the guppy begins
to divert even more energy into sexual activity. At this time energy is also
beginning to be channeled into finnage growth... first of the caudal and, a
month or so later, into dorsal growth. Even though the guppy will continue to
put on body growth even up to death, the body growth becomes slower and slower.
Obviously, for maximum size in their fish, guppy breeders concentrate on the
first month of almost exclusive growth to fome their show guppies to the best
possible size before the energy starts to divert in other directions.
But
let's get back to the brood fish we set up in the last article (October FAMA).
If you followed along and set up your breeders, by now your highly pregnant
females should be isolated in their own 'nursery tanks' and be very near to
dropping fry, if they have not already done so. There should be some protection
for the fry such as clumps of foxtail or an unraveled plastic "chore girl"
pad. (Guppies simply do not grow well once they get into mama's digestive tracts!)
As soon as possible, after she finishes dropping, the female should be removed.
Top breeders keep careful track of which female mothered which batch so that
if a batch produces a number of really good show fish they can go back to the
same female for future litters, or know which female to dispose of if the batch
proves rather lean on show quality fish. For this same reason the female is
kept away from all males to insure that subsequent litters will be on the same
mating.
With mother gone, the fry now have the run of the tank and all the food that it is provided with. The purpose of the small 5 gallon tank during the first month is that fry will grow better when they don't need to use up much energy looking for food... the energy goes toward growth instead. Bare tanks with corner filters make it possible to closely monitor the feeding so that the fry always have food before them, yet any food not eaten can readily be siphoned off the bare bottom before it has a chance to spoil. Breeders often use snails or other scavengers in fry tanks so that any leftovers from force feeding are cleaned up, especially uneaten live brine shrimp that decay rapidly once they have perished in the fresh water.
Feeding...
How Much? How Often?
Guppy
fry have very small digestive systems which must be refilled every 20 minutes
or so for maximum growth... a feeding schedule not many of us can manage. The
next best thing is to work out a balance between underfeeding, feeding enough,
and dangerous overfeeding. The goal is to feed enough at one feeding to last
until the next feeding without causing pollution. Probably the most workable
arrangement is an every two hour feeding schedule with about 8-10 feedings per
day. However, if even that is too frequent for your schedule, don't panic. By
using live foods, or foods that do not deteriorate rapidly, breeders have raised
excellent show fish on far less frequent feedings; it just takes a bit more
experimentation. But a word of caution... always make sure the previous feeding
is either eaten or siphoned off before feeding again,
Force
feeding was mentioned earlier. The trick to force feeding guppies is to get
the fish to keep eating a little more than they might naturally be hungry for...
and to eat a diet that supplies them with all the essentials they need for growth.
This means high quality food with a minimum of unusable filler material that
takes up space in their turnroles but passes through without benefiting the
fish.
Just
like a child that won't turn down an ice cream cone even though already uncomfortably
full from a large dinner, guppies will excitedly gorge when a new favorite food
is fed, even if they are really not all that hungry. This, of course, implies
a certain order in presenting foods. The full feeding of the day is the one
to present a food you know is good for them but about which they are not particularly
enthusiastic... they will keep eating it because they are truly hungry. While
their bellies are full and feeding has become less enthusiastic, add a feeding
of live baby brine shrimp and watch the sheer gluttony with which they attack
it... as if they hadn't eaten in weeks. That is what force feeding is all about...
keeping the irresistible geedies Goming so they keep eating whether hungry or
not!
A well rounded feeding schedule would look something like this:
Feeding
Because
brine shrimp have a laxative effect, most breeders precede all feedings of live
baby brine shrimp with a feeding of solid food to work as a kind of stopper
to keep the brine shrimp in the digestive tract long enough that the fish can
get maximum nutritional benefit from them. The next feeding after a brine shrimp
feeding, the fish are ready again for another stick to the ribs kind of food.
By alternating foods and flavors the fish are tempted to maximum indulgence
and, at the same time, are sure to be getting the best possible assortment of
essential nutrients, since no single food has everything. I might mention here
that it is next to impossible to get maximum growth from fry without the use
of some kind of live food, especially during the first crucial formative months.
Although baby brine shrimp (newly hatched) are almost universally used by major
guppy breeders, guppies also enjoy live tubifex worms (although many breeders
feel the risks of contamination are too great), mosquito larvae, white worms,
vinegar eels, tiny gammarus, micro worms, wingless fruit flies, etc.
Guppy
breeders have found that frequent water changes seem to spur growth. With so
many fish in a small volume of water eating so heartily and so continually,
frequent water changes are necessary to remove waste material and ammonia. Trace
elements are also replaced, and the water changes seem to be invigorating and
an appetite stimulant to the fry. Some breeders replace 25% of the water once
a week while others prefer to change lesser amounts (such as 10%) daily. Changing
more than 25% at any one time could shock the fish if the water quality or temperature
were very different than that in the tank. In Singapore commercial breeders
change up to 100% of the water daily and produce very large fish... but they
are blessed with water that is naturally warm and not chemically treated.
Temperature
also affects growth... the warmer the temperature the more the metabolism of
the fish is stepped up. Breeders take advantage of this fact in different ways.
Some breeders keep their fry quite warm (80 degrees) so that their fish will
eat more and ~row faster even though they know that the fish will "bum
out' faster later. The other school of thought is that by keeping temperatures
low (72 degrees) the fish will mature more slowly thus giving a longer period
of time during which energy is used primarily for growth. Still others try to
hit a happy medium keeping their fish around 75-76 degrees. Since all methods
have produced top show fish, irs what works best for you during the growing
stages. When guppies reach maturity, most breeders try to keep them in cooler
tanks so they remain in their prime longer.
Lighting
also affects growth. The number of hours the lights are on influences the number
of hours the fish are actively feeding. Some even leave the lights on 24 hours
a day. Others feel that unless fish can be fed every two hours throughout this
24 hour period, the extra activity without extra feeding siphons energy from
growth. Probably the most common lighting schedule used by top breeders is 16
to 17 hours on, 7 to 8 hours off. The intensity of light does not seem to be
a great factor in growth, but too little light, or light that is too dim, has
been shown to cause deformities, especially of the spine.
I
won't go into filters here because many kinds are used successfully, the main
criterion being that they are kept clean. Undergravel filters are seldom used
by guppy breeders who are force feeding because of the difficulty of siphoning
off uneaten foods. Probably the most common filter used in guppy breeding is
the inside box filter with charcoal and dacron wool. I know it is the only filter
I have found that keeps the water crystal clear and unyellowed. I presume many
outside filters would do as well, but since most guppy breeders have many tanks
placed tightly side by side, there is no place but the front glass to install
them and that is not padicularly desirable.
Culling
begins with day one. A breeder whose goal is a tank of prime show fish keeps
a continual close watch for any inferior fish. In batches of newborn guppies
there are often one or more that are darker color than the rest and may not
swim well. Almost never will such fish develop properly and they should be removed
as soon as spotted. Belly sliders might be of normal color but sort of slide
from one spot to another rather than swimming. These rarely develop properly
and should be quickly disposed of. As the fiah begin to grow, there are usually
a few that are considerably behind the others in size. Seldom do they turn out
to be large bodied adults so can also be discarded. However, if there are fish
that keep up in size with the majority but lag behind in the onset of sexual
development, do NOT dispose of these as they could well become the biggest fish
of all because they are still turning the majority of their energy into growth
while the others are diverting energy into sexual development.
To recap, the main job during the first month of raising a show guppy is to push growth through force feeding of quality foods, water changes, cleanliness and controlled temperatures. During this period the fry do best in small tanks where they never have to go far for food. The culling of inferior fish is a continual process so that more food and tank space is available for growing the real show stoppers.
By
next month the fry will be about ready to move to larger headquarters and we
will get into sexing and watching for key signs of development.