Guppies are ravenous eaters and will eat food every time you serve to them. Such behavior our guppies can confuse us, and we can end up overfeeding them.
Overfeeding can make your guppies suffer from a life-threatening condition. Knowing about the right quantity and times to feed your guppies is essential to prevent such issues. So, How often should you feed guppies? Let us find out.
Feed your guppies according to their age. Feed adult guppy one to two times a day, young guppy two to three times a day, and guppy fry four to five times a day. Consider serving the food in a quantity your guppy can complete in two to three minutes to avoid overfeeding.
This article will discuss how often to feed adults, young, and fry guppy. Also, we will know how long can guppies go without food. So, let us get into it.
Contents
- 1 How often should I feed my guppy fish?
- 2 How often should I feed my guppy fry?
- 3 How often should I feed my pregnant guppy?
- 4 Guppy Fish Dieatery Requirement.
- 5 Does water temperature impacts guppies’ appetite?
- 6 Best food for guppy fish.
- 7 Is there an ideal time to feed guppy fish?
- 8 How long can guppies go without food?
- 9 What happens when you overfeed your guppy fish?
- 10 Conclusion:
How often should I feed my guppy fish?
How often you should feed your guppies entirely depends on their age.
Young guppies need more food to have faster growth, whereas adult guppies will not require much food as they will no longer grow.
You should feed your adult guppies once or twice a day.
Ensure feeding your guppies in a quantity that they can finish in one to two minutes.
Guppies are ravenous eaters and will eat every time you serve food to them, whether they are hungry or not.
Such eating behavior of guppies will result in you ending up overfeeding them.
Both overfeeding and underfeeding can make your guppy fish suffer from a critical condition.
So, to ensure that your guppies are not being overfed or underfed, you should provide them food in a quantity that they finish in one to two minutes.
You are underfeeding your guppies if they complete the food in seconds after providing them.
You are overfeeding your guppies if they take more than two minutes to finish the food.
In case of underfeeding, increase the amount of food in small quantities every time you feed them until they complete it in one to two minutes.
In case of overfeeding, decrease the amount of food in small quantities every time you feed them until they complete it in one to two minutes.
This way, you can ensure that you are not overfeeding or underfeeding your guppies.
Also read: Can Guppies Eat Bloodworms?
How often should I feed my guppy fry?
You should feed your guppy fry four to five times a day.
Feed your guppy fry a small pinch of food four to five times a day.
Guppy fry will not be able to eat food at one time because of their size, so we should feed them a smaller amount of food four to five times a day.
Consider feeding your guppy fry high protein food for their faster growth.
You can feed your guppy fry newly hatched brine shrimp and high-quality flake food.
Ensure crushing the flake food before feeding it to your guppy fry.
Also, consider feeding baby brine shrimp to your guppy fry as it is best for them.
Feed your guppy fry four to five times until they reach one month’s age, then reduce the timings to two to three times.
Feed your guppies two to three times until they reach three months of age. After three months, you can feed your guppies one to two times or one time a day.
Also read: Guppy Fish Growth Stages.
How often should I feed my pregnant guppy?
A female pregnant guppy requires more nutrition to sustain her developing fry and herself.
However, female pregnant guppy will not be able to eat much because of the space taken by the guppy fry.
So, you should feed your pregnant guppies a small quantity of food four to five times a day to avoid overloading them.
You should feed them newly hatched brine shrimp and high-quality flake food on their daily diet.
Also, consider feeding them frozen bloodworms and mosquito larvae to ensure good nutrition.
Make sure to feed them a small pinch at a time only so you don’t end up polluting the water with leftovers.
Also read: Why Is My Pregnant Guppy Not Eating?
Guppy Fish Dieatery Requirement.
Guppy fish are omnivore fish and require both plant and meat matter food in their daily diet.
Usually, guppy can feed on flake food and pellets, but if you want to ensure your guppy enhancing color, you should feed them a variety of food.
Feeding your guppy fish a variety of food like brine shrimp, veggie pellets, bloodworms, and mosquito larvae will enhance your guppy color and help faster growth.
| Guppy Food | Serving Quantity | No of Times |
|---|---|---|
| Veggie pellets | One small pinch at a time | 2-3 times a day |
| Brine shrimp | One small pinch at a time | 1-2 times a week |
| Mosquito larvae | 10-15 pieces | 2-3 times a week |
| Bloodworms | One small pinch at a time | 1-2 times a week |
| Tubifex Worms | One small pinch at a time | 1 time a week |
| Zucchini (Blanched) | One slice at a time | 2-3 times a week |
Also read: Do Guppy Eat Algae?
Does water temperature impacts guppies’ appetite?
Water temperature does impact your guppy fish appetite.
Hot water temperature will make your guppy fish hyperactive, and they will eat more.
The cold water temperature will make your guppy fish lethargic as they are tropical fish and prefer to live in warm water temperatures.
Guppies will eat less in cold water temperature.
Consider maintaining the water temperature between 72-82 °F to provide the ideal water temperature of your guppy fish.
Also read: What Is The Ideal Water Temperature For Guppies?
Best food for guppy fish.
Guppies are omnivore fish.
Guppies require plant and meat matter food in their daily diet.
Usually, you can feed your guppies high-quality pellets and flake food, but feeding them complex food will ensure faster growth and enhancing color.
These are some best food you can feed to your guppies:
- Brine shrimp
- Veggie pellets
- Mosquito larvae
- Bloodworms
- Tubifex Worms
- Boiled peas
- blanched vegetables
| Guppy Food | Advisable For Your Guppies |
|---|---|
| Bloodworms | Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Bloodworms |
| Veggie pellets | Aqueon Tropical Granules |
| Flake food | Tetramin Tropical Flake Food |
| Tubifex worm | Hikari Freeze Dried Tubifex Worms |
| Brine shrimp | Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp Cubes |
| Boiled pea | Feed Fresh Boiled Pea |
| Mosquito larvae | Feed Live Mosquito Larvae |
| Zucchini | Blanched |
Also read: Best Food For Guppy Fish.
Is there an ideal time to feed guppy fish?
You should feed your guppies twice a day.
Feed your guppy fish once in the morning and once in the evening.
The time gap between the two meals should be of twelve hours.
Consider feeding your guppies at a consistent time regularly. This will help your guppies to develop a regular eating pattern.
Feed your guppy one small pinch at a time that they can finish in one to two minutes.
Also read: Does Guppy Eat Plants?
How long can guppies go without food?
Adult guppies can live for an average of two weeks without food, whereas guppy fry can live for 3-4 days without food.
However, it is not recommended to keep them without food for long.
When you go out for vacation for a couple of days, your guppies can go without food for up to two weeks.
Otherwise, ensure to feed your guppy every day twice a day.
Not feeding your guppies for a long time will make your guppy fish suffer.
Guppies are active swimmers and require more nutrition to remain active all day.
So, make sure to feed your guppies in a regular manner.
Also read: How Long Can Guppies Go Without Food?
What happens when you overfeed your guppy fish?
Guppy fish are ravenous eaters and will eat every time you serve them food, whether they are hungry or not.
Such eating behavior of guppy fish will confuse you, and you will end up overfeeding them.
Overfeeding guppies will result in these issues:
- Your guppy will become bloated.
- Your guppy will suffer from constipation.
- Your guppy will become lethargic.
- Your guppy will start refusing to eat and will lose its appetite.
Overfeeding guppies can suffer from a life-threatening condition.
Even your guppy can pass away because of overfeeding.
Consider feeding your guppies food in a quantity that they finish eating in one to two minutes.
Also read: Can Guppy Die From Overfeeding?
Conclusion:
How often to feed guppy fish ultimately depends on their age.
Young guppies require more food than adult guppies to have faster growth.
Feed your young guppies two to three times a day and adult guppies one to two times a day.
Feed your pregnant guppy and fry four to five times a day in small quantities to ensure that they are getting enough nutrition.
Provide your guppy food in a quantity that they can finish in one to two minutes to avoid overfeeding.
Reference: ResearchGate, ResearchGate, Journals, Wikipedia,