Guppies are the most common fish every aquarist and beginners love to add to their home aquarium as they are easy to maintain. However, guppy fish shows strange behavior that becomes a concern, like consistently blowing bubbles.
My guppy fish was showing strange behavior by consistently blowing bubbles, so I researched all the reasons behind such behavior of guppy fish and now want to share it with you. So, Why do guppies blow bubbles? Let us find out.
Lack of oxygen is the primary reason behind your guppy fish blowing bubbles. Other reasons include poor water conditions, overcrowded tanks, ammonia spikes, and inadequate water temperature. Consider adding an air pump and regularly performing a weekly water change of 35% to prevent such issues.
This article will discuss all the possible reasons behind guppy fish blowing bubbles and the treatment and prevention to take when guppy fish shows such behavior. So, let us get into it.
Contents
Why Is my guppy fish blowing bubbles?
There can be numerous reasons behind your guppy fish blowing bubbles, of which low oxygen level is the primary reason.
Other reasons include too many aquatic plants in the tank, an overcrowded tank, poor water conditions, and inadequate water parameters.
Guppy fish blowing bubbles can signify something unusual and can also be the normal behavior of guppy fish.
Knowing the reason behind guppy fish behavior is essential for their well-being.
Let us know whether it is normal for a guppy fish to blow a bubble or not.
Is It normal for guppy fish to blow bubbles?
It is normal for guppy fish to blow bubbles if they are not doing it most of the time.
However, if your guppy is showing such behavior most of the time, something unusual is going on.
There are various reasons for guppy fish blowing bubbles, of which the low oxygen level is the primary reason for such behavior of guppy fish.
There are other reasons which can result in guppy fish suffering from critical conditions.
Checking and ensuring the good water condition is the first step for you to take when you encounter such behavior of your guppy fish.
What are the reasons behind guppy fish blowing bubbles?
These are the reasons behind your guppy fish blowing bubbles:
- Low oxygen level
- Poor water conditions
- Inadequate water parameters
- Rapid breathing
- Overcrowded tank
- Too many live aquatic plants
Low oxygen level
A low level of oxygen in your guppy fish aquarium water will make them blow bubbles.
Guppy fish require oxygen to breathe.
Guppy fish uses its gills to draw oxygen from the water, and in the absence of oxygen, your guppy will suffer breathing.
Lack of oxygen will make your guppy fish breathe more rapidly, making bubbles.
Also, beneficial bacteria present in our aquarium require oxygen to break down harmful chemicals like ammonia and nitrite.
In the absence of oxygen, beneficial bacteria will not get able to break down such harmful chemicals, affecting your guppy fish gills and skin.
Also read: Can Guppy Fish Live Without Oxygen?
Poor water conditions
Contaminated water conditions can also make your guppy fish blow bubbles.
Poor water conditions result in altering the pH level of your guppy fish aquarium.
Contaminated water will also result in an ammonia spike in your guppy’s aquarium.
Increased pH level increases the ammonia level of your guppies aquarium.
Ammonia spike will affect your guppy fish gills, making it harder to breathe, and they blow bubbles.
Also read: Can Guppy Survive In Muddy Water?
Inadequate water parameters
Inadequate water parameters can also result in guppy fish blowing bubbles.
As we discussed above, a high pH level will increase the ammonia in your guppies tank, affecting your guppy fish gills.
Also, you must know that increased water temperature results in decreasing oxygen levels.
Because of oxygen deficiency, your guppy fish will blow bubbles.
All these things will make your guppy fish come under stress, and they can show such behavior.
Also read: What Is The Ideal Water Temperature For Guppies?
Rapid breathing
Rapid breathing makes your guppy fish blow bubbles.
Your guppy fish will breathe rapidly when there is a lack of oxygen in their aquarium.
An overcrowded tank, poor water condition, increased water temperature, and ammonia spike will make your guppy fish breathe rapidly.
Overcrowded tank
An overcrowded tank will come with all these problems:
- Your guppy fish tank will get polluted faster than usual.
- There will be a lack of oxygen in your guppy’s aquarium.
- All of your guppy fish will not get the food adequately.
Both the contamination of tank condition and lack of oxygen will make your guppy fish blow bubbles.
All the fishes present in the tank will rely on the same source of oxygen to consume.
When we overcrowd our guppies tank, all the fish compete for the oxygen, lowering the oxygen level.
The case will get worse when the water gets stable and has no movements.
Too many live aquatic plants
We all know that adding live aquatic plants to our fish aquarium helps us ensure enough oxygen in the water for our fishes.
But, you should also know that plants only release oxygen in the daytime.
At night when the sun sets off, the process reverses, and plants uptake oxygen and releases carbon dioxide.
Adding too many live aquatic plants to your guppies aquarium will make it difficult for guppy fish to breathe at night as plants will uptake all the oxygen.
In such a situation, your guppy fish will do rapid breathing, resulting in blowing bubbles.
How to treat guppy fish that consistently blow bubbles?
For treating your guppy fish that consistently blow bubbles, you have to find the exact reason for such behavior first.
Start with checking the water quality as poor water conditions can be the root cause of guppy fish blowing bubbles.
Check for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels using the test kit.
Ammonia and nitrite should be at 0ppm and nitrate below 25ppm.
Perform an alternate water change of 20% if there is a high ammonia level in your guppy fish tank.
Ammonia can burn your guppy fish gills and make them suffer from a critical condition.
If lack of oxygen level is the reason behind guppy fish blowing bubbles, add an air pump to your guppy fish tank.
You can also consider adding live aquatic plants to ensure enough oxygen is present in the water for your guppies.
The filter also creates a movement on the water’s surface, helping oxygen exchange.
If water temperature is the reason behind your guppy fish blowing bubbles, add a heater to keep the water temperature adequate and stable.
Increased water temperature will dissolve less oxygen, so maintain the water temperature between 72-82 °F as it is the adequate water temperature required by guppy fish.
How to prevent guppy fish from consistently blowing bubbles?
Here are the ways to prevent your guppy fish from consistently blowing bubbles:
- Improve the water condition of your guppy fish aquarium.
- Maintain adequate and stable water parameters of your guppy fish aquarium.
- Consider adding an air pump to your guppies tank for agitation.
- Avoid overcrowding your guppy fish tank.
- Avoid adding too many plants to your guppy fish tank.
Good water conditions
Providing your guppy fish with good water quality will help you prevent your guppy fish from showing such behavior.
Regularly perform a weekly water change of 35% to ensure good water quality.
Make sure that adding the water because aquarium water is less by evaporation is not a water change.
Siphon 35% of water and add fresh water back to your guppy’s aquarium.
Treat the water with a water conditioner first to eliminate chlorine, chloramine, leads, and other chemicals when adding fresh water.
So, we recommend using API TAP WATER CONDITIONER as it eliminates chlorine, chloramine, and other chemicals.
You can buy this product on amazon: API TAP WATER CONDITIONER.
Keep a regular check on your guppy fish tank’s ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels.
| Particulars | Guppy Requirement |
|---|---|
| Ammonia | 0ppm |
| Nitrite | 0ppm |
| Nitrate | Below 25ppm |
Ammonia and nitrite level should be at 0ppm and nitrate below 25ppm.
Check the ammonia level using the API Ammonia test kit as it shows the exact result.
You can buy it from Amazon API TEST KIT.
Also, consider adding a sound filtration system with biofilter media to your guppy fish tank to keep the water clean.
We advise you to purchase a Fluval High Performance Aquarium filter to maintain your tank’s water quality.
You can buy it from Amazon Fluval High Performance Aquarium Filter.
Also read: How Often To Change Guppy Water?
Adequate and stable water parameters
Providing your guppy fish with adequate and stable water parameters will help you prevent your guppy fish from consistently blowing bubbles.
| Particulars | Guppy Requirement |
|---|---|
| Water temperature | 72-82 °F |
| Water pH level | 6.7-7.8 |
| Water TDS level | 400-600ppm |
Guppy fish require a water temperature between 72-82 °F.
Ensure to provide your guppy fish with a water pH level between 6.7 and 7.8.
Maintain the TDS level between 400-600ppm.
Also, you must know that with adequate water parameters, stable water parameters are equally essential to prevent your guppy fish from showing such behavior.
So, consider adding a heater to your guppy fish tank to ensure stable water temperature.
Also read: Do Guppy Need Heater? (Heater Watt Size Guide)
Add air pump
The lack of oxygen in your guppy’s tank is the primary reason behind your guppy fish blowing bubbles.
Adding an air pump will eliminate the issue of lack of oxygen from your guppy’s aquarium by creating enough agitation on the water’s surface for oxygen exchange.
Usually, adding a filter will also do the work of creating movement on the water’s surface.
Point the outlet of the filter towards the water’s surface for creating a movement.
Also read: Do Guppy Fry Need An Air Pump?
Avoid overcrowding your guppy fish tank.
An overcrowded guppy fish tank results in a lack of oxygen in your guppy’s fish aquarium.
Follow the one-inch one-gallon rule to ensure that you are not overcrowding your guppy fish tank.
The one-inch one-gallon rule means one inch of fish per gallon of water.
Also read: How Many Guppies In A 20 Gallon Tank?
Avoid adding too many plants.
Adding live aquatic plants to your guppies tank is a great choice for keeping the water clean and well oxygenated.
However, too many plants will absorb all the oxygen from the aquarium water at night, making your guppy fish suffer from breathing at night time.
Also read: Do Guppy Eat Plants?
Conclusion:
There are numerous reasons behind guppy fish blowing bubbles, of which low oxygen level is the primary reason.
Other reasons include poor water conditions, inadequate water parameters, overcrowded tanks, ammonia spikes, and too many live aquatic plants in guppies tanks.
Performing a weekly water change of 35% and maintaining the water temperature between 72-82 °F is necessary to prevent your guppy fish from consistently blowing bubbles.
Add an air pump and keep a regular check on ammonia levels to ensure enough oxygen in the water for guppies and guppy fish is not suffering from any gills issues.
Reference: ResearchGate, NCBI