Why do guppies eat their babies?
Although guppies are a peaceful species and easy to look after, when the guppies begin to reproduce, things get a bit nasty and even horrific for a novice hobbyist and some experienced hobbyists.
Most of us believe that all the animals are protective of their offspring, or at least we don’t expect the parents to eat their offspring most of all by the mother; with such notion, we get perplexed and horrified when we witness the mother devouring her babies.
Most animals are protective about their babies; however, some animal species such as lizards, snakes, even cuckoos desert their eggs unceremoniously and crawl away or fly away or swim away. However, some species take one step further by eating their babies.
Filial Cannibalism
Stress – a cause why guppies eat their babies:
To maximize reproductive success:
How to prevent guppies from eating their babies?
There are different ways of preventing guppies from eating their babies; one thing common in all the methods is adapting the technique of separating the babies from the adult guppies.
Moving the pregnant guppy to a breeding tank
The best method to prevent the adult guppies from eating the baby guppies is to prepare a separate breeding tank and move the pregnant guppy into it. Baby guppies are palatable to their parents and all the other adult members in the habitat, including the other adult guppies and the other species living in the tank if it is a community tank.
This scenario lowers the chances of baby guppies’ survival rate. By merely separating the pregnant guppy into another tank increase the chances of babies’ survival rate. You can further increase the survival rate by preparing the breeding tank appropriately.
Water Parameters
The primary factor to address in a breeding tank is establishing appropriate water parameters conducive to baby guppies; a temperature range of 77 to 79°F (25 to 26°C) with water pH 6.8 to 7.8 and water hardness 8-12dGH. The ammonia and nitrites should be 0 ppm and nitrates maximum 10 ppm. Running a fishless cycle is an essential part of the breeding tank setup.
Clean water
A filtration system is essential to keep the water clean; you can use a simple sponge filter with an air stone. Despite the filter, you will have to clean the tank regularly and do a regular partial water change to keep the water parameters in check.
Lighting
Guppy fish needs 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. Lack of light or dim light will result in unhealthy stock; baby guppies with insufficient light develop deformities. By simply mounting 30 to 40 watts fluorescent lamp or LED lights above the breeding tank would suffice. Most LED lights come with a timer so that you wouldn’t miss out on the time duration.
Plants for the breeding tank
Though some hobbyists prefer to have a bare breeding tank, it is wise to have some floating plants, preferably mosses such as java moss, which shelters the newborns and protects them from their mother guppy.
Moreover, java moss is home to infusoria, the first fry food. For the first few days, fry nourish themselves from infusoria and the planktons; hence, it is crucial to have plenty of mosses floating in the fry tank; you may also supplement it with homemade or commercial infusoria.
Diet
You would need to feed right for Guppy fry to grow healthy and study.
Guppy fry needs infusoria and artemia such as brine shrimp, daphnia, etc., to grow healthily and wholly; supplementing high-quality commercial fry food will significantly help.
Related Readings:
Can guppies live in cold water? What is the ideal water temperature for Guppies?
Creating a lot of hiding space
Another way to protect the guppy babies from their parents without investing in a separate breeding tank is to provide plenty of hiding spots for your guppy fry. You can do this by planting sufficient live aquarium plants, incorporating decoratives such as driftwood, caves, tubes, rocks, swirls, etc.
Guppies are viviparous, not egg layers; they give birth to free-swimming babies; hence they are not as vulnerable; they can quickly locate a secure spot and elude the adult members in the habitat.
Live aquarium plants, rocks, and other decoratives ensure guppy fry enough cover to dodge from the adult guppies and other species.
Aquarium plants are ideal as they are the home to Infusoria, the first fry food; hence, along with providing shelter, they nourish the fry to grow healthy.
Live plants keep the water well oxygenated and clean by absorbing nitrates and other toxins from the water.
Breeding net or box
Placing pregnant guppy when she is about to give birth; the gestation period of guppy fish is around 25 days (21 to 30 days).
It is better to move her to the breeding box only when she is about to give birth; staying in a confined environment will stress the mother guppy leading to some birth complications; eventually, the mother guppy might die. Also, the mere act of moving her to the breeding box can stress the mother guppy; a stressed guppy may deliver many unborn babies, deformed and under-developed fry, etc.
A guppy can give birth to up to 200 babies; however, generally, it can range from 20 to 50 babies in a home aquarium environment; she delivers one at a time in succession with pauses between the group of babies; the labor may last for few hours depending on the condition of the mother guppy; however, if she is stressed it can stretch to even days.
You would want to remove the mother guppy from the breeding box and supply her with a nutritious diet to recover from the labor. Otherwise, she will devour on her newborns to replenish herself of nutrition in preparation for the subsequent reproduction.
It is safe to introduce the baby guppies into the main tank when they are large enough to not fit into the mouth of adult guppies or other inhabitants in the tank; it will be about six weeks by them.
Why do guppies eat their babies? – Final thoughts:
Irrespective of why do guppies eat their babies, every guppy breeder should accept nature’s way and prepare to adopt an appropriate method to protect the guppy babies from the adult members depending on the budget, time, and space availability.
As guppies do not have any maternal instinct, or at least according to the human acumen, it is entirely up to you to protect the baby guppies if you intend to build your guppy stock.