Someday you will just sit there staring at your aquarium, admiring that your guppy fish just delivered the fry, and now your tank is full of them. But soon, you will start to see the number of fry getting lesser and lesser each day and your guppy parent getting fatter and healthier. Of course, this will leave you puzzled with many questions starting with Do guppy fish eat their babies?
Sadly, yes, guppy fish is one of those species of fish that eat their own babies. These fish can intentionally or accidentally suck their own babies into their mouths while swimming. But before you start to blame your guppy fish for killing all the fry, you should understand their reasons first. They will do so when they are hungry, energyless due to recent baby delivery, and mistake the baby for fish food.
After this, if you still feel bad about it, there are always solutions to prevent them from happening again. While disturbing and heartbreaking, you can always save these fry by taking a few simpler steps.
In this article, we will explore why guppies eat their young and what you can do to stop them. We’ll also examine the diet of guppy fish and whether or not you should separate baby guppies from adults.
Stay tuned for all the answers!
Do Guppy Fish Eat Their Babies?
Yes, guppy fish do eat their babies. It’s not common, but it does happen. There are a few reasons why guppy fish might eat their babies. While this might shock some, it is quite common among many other species in the aquarium.
Guppies are omnivores, so they’ll eat both plants and animals. Baby guppies fit right into their mouths and are a good source of protein.
Another reason guppy fish might eat their babies is to weed out the weaker ones. The guppy can retain more energy after delivery by eating the weaker babies. This helps them to be stronger and have a better chance of survival.
So before you start getting too upset about your beloved guppies eating their young, you need to look at the reasons and find correct solutions.
Why Do Guppy Fish Eat Their Babies?
I know how shocking and heartbreaking it is even to imagine guppies eating their babies. And they will even do so right after giving birth to those same fry.
This behavior is most common among first-time mothers who don’t know any better. But even experienced guppy moms have been known to snack on their young from time to time. So, why do guppies eat their babies?
It might seem cold and heartless, but there’s usually a good reason for it. I will list out all the reasons below and let you decide what to do next:
Is Similar To Fish Food
You cannot deny that those small babies can easily pass as fish food. But, to a guppy, their fry is nothing but a potential meal. This is one of the reasons why guppies eat their babies—it’s simply part of their nature.
The fry of guppies looks a lot like regular fish food. So, it’s unsurprising that sometimes they mistake their babies for food.
Fits In Their Mouth
Another reason why guppies might eat their young is because the fry is small enough to fit into their mouths easily. If you’ve seen a guppy give birth, you know they can have upwards of 50-100 fry at once.
These many fry together are enough crowd and can easily land on a guppy mouth while swimming. So the parents might turn to their own offspring as an easy meal.
To Weed Out Weaker Babies
In some cases, guppy fish might eat their babies to weed out the weaker ones. Doing this ensures that only the strongest and healthiest guppy fry survives.
In addition, this gives them even lesser chance of survival in the wild. And, of course, weaker babies are easy to catch without much struggle.
Hunger
Of course, hunger is also a factor. If you do not feed the guppy well, she is more likely to snack on her fry out of desperation.
This is especially true if the female guppy gave birth to a large number of fry within the span of a few hours. A single female guppy can give birth to as many as 100 fry in one go!
To Retain Energy After Delivery
Guppy fish might eat their babies to retain energy after they give birth. By eating their young, they can regain their strength and care for subsequent batches of fry better.
This is especially true if the mother guppy is not well-nourished. Giving birth takes a lot of energy; by eating their young, guppies can replenish some lost energy.
How Do You Stop Guppies From Eating Their Babies?
Everyone wants to save guppy fry and have a tank full of guppies in the near future. So, you will want to do everything you can to make this possible.
If you don’t want your guppy to eat her fry, there are a few things you can that I have listed below:
Use A Breeding Box
If you are planning on breeding guppies, then using a breeding box is a must. This will help separate the fry from the mother and other adult fish.
In addition, doing so will prevent the adults from snacking on their own young. A breeding box is a small aquarium or fish tank divided into two sections by a clear plastic divider.
The divider has small holes that allow water to flow between the two sections, but the best way to do that is by using a breeding box.
This will help keep the fry safe until it is large enough to be released into the main tank. If you cannot get a breeding box, you can try separating the guppy fry immediately after they are born.
Separate The Guppy Fry Immediately
As soon as the fry are born, separating them from the mother and other adult fish is best.
You can do this by using a breeding box or scooping them up with a net and placing them in a different tank. If you do not have another tank, you can place the fry in a large plastic container with an air stone.
It would help if you kept guppy fry in their own tank because the adult fish will eat them. It is also important to remove the mother because she will become stressed and might stop eating.
You can best keep mother guppy in a separate tank as soon as you find they are pregnant. And after she is done giving birth, remove her from the fry tank and drop her in the main tank while making sure to feed them good food.
You can read more about separating guppy fry here.
Should I Separate Guppy Babies?
The jury is still out on this one. Some experts say separating the fry (guppy babies) is the best way to ensure survival, while others believe leaving them with their parents is better. If you decide to separate them, do so carefully and slowly so as not to stress the fry or the parents.
If you want your guppy fry to have the best chance of survival, it is best to separate them from their parents as soon as they are born.
Guppy fry is very small and vulnerable, and their parents or other fish can easily eat them if they are not separated.
What Is Guppy Fish Diet?
Guppy fish are omnivores, which means they eat plants and animals. In the wild, guppies’ diet consists of small insects, crustaceans, and algae.
In captivity, you can feed them various foods, including flakes, pellets, live food, and frozen food. While guppies can survive on a diet of only flakes or pellets, it is best to supplement their diet with live or frozen food for optimal health.
Conclusion
In conclusion, guppy fish is not uncommon to eat their babies. There are a few reasons they might do this: hunger, wanting to weed out weaker babies, or needing to retain energy after delivery. You can immediately use a breeding box or separate the fry if you want to stop your guppies from eating their babies. The Guppy diet is not particularly different from other fish food, so you should not worry too much about what they are eating. However, if you want to ensure that your guppy fry survives, it is best to separate them from the parents as soon as possible.
What do you think? Do you have any experience with guppies eating their babies? Let us know in the comments below!
Thanks for reading!
Good Luck!!!
Happy Fishkeeping!!!
