How Fast do Baby Guppies Grow? Guppy Growth Stages

Have you recently acquired some guppy fry? Perhaps you already have guppies and they’ve chosen to reproduce and have youngsters. You may now be wondering how long guppies take to grow and how large they may get.

There are several factors that affect the growth rate of guppies. Environment and genetics are important factors. It takes 4 to 6 months for guppies to reach the adult stage. Male guppy will be 1.5 inches and female approximately 2 inches.

So, in this post, we’ll go over all you need to know about the stages of guppy development and how to prevent your guppy from developing. As a result, keep reading to make sure you don’t miss anything important.

How Fast do Baby Guppies Grow?

Guppies can live anywhere from two to five years. It all depends on their DNA as well as the environment in which they were reared. It takes around 6 months for a Guppy to mature from fry to an adult, at which point they will reach a size of 4-6cm. Guppies, on the other hand, may breed from the age of two months to 1.5 to two years. It’s crucial to remember this if you don’t want to breed your Guppies.

Guppy Growth Stages

When it comes to your Guppy’s growth, there are several stages to be aware of, and understanding each step will help you understand how to care for them.

1. Stage of Fry

Guppies are just approximately 0.6mm long when they are hatched! They can swim on their own, and instinct will take over, prompting them to seek the best hiding area in the tank.

This is due to the inherent inclination of predators to flee. If you have a mixture of adult Guppies and fries, it’s a good idea to separate them, as we’ll discuss later in this post. The Fry stage will last roughly a month.

2. Juvenile Stage

During the juvenile stage, they begin to grow color and the sexes may be distinguished. Males’ tales are smaller and begin to color up, whilst females’ tales are considerably bigger and their gravid markings are already evident. Male guppies’ gonopodium begins to develop.

The juvenile period of a guppy’s existence is one of the most crucial. It is critical to provide them with the greatest food and water possible. Brine shrimp, blood worms, high-quality flakes, spirulina and plankton pellets, and beef hearts can be fed at this time.

Guppies in the juvenile stage range in length from 1/4 to 3/4 inch (1.2 to 2 cm). They begin sexual maturation at the age of two months and become juvenile guppies.

Guppies in the third stage, often known as the ‘Young stage,’ are sexually developed at the age of two months. If you don’t wish to breed your Guppies, now is the time to separate the males and females, as previously instructed.

You should also cease giving fatty foods to Guppies at this point since this will harm their health. Your Guppies’ color will be enhanced if you feed them the correct foods.

3. Guppy (adult)

Guppies attain adulthood around the age of six months. A mature female guppy can grow to be 1.5-2 inches long depending on genetics and environmental factors (4-6 cm).

Their expansion will come to a halt or will be considerably slowed. Male guppies’ fins and tails may lengthen throughout time, depending on their genes.

You should still offer your guppies a variety of foods to keep them healthy and vibrant. Flake protein-rich meal should be their primary source of nutrition. Fats should not be fed to kids since they are unhealthy.

Guppies may live for two to five years. Adult guppies become sterile at about 1.5-2 years of age and are no longer able to breed.

How often do Guppies Give Birth?

Guppies, particularly females, are remarkable in that they may give birth to a large number of live fry at once, and they can do so frequently. A female guppy may give birth to a new batch of fry every 30 days under the correct aquarium and breeding circumstances, and each time she can give birth to between 20 and 50 guppy fry.

If your tank has both males and females, new young guppies should arise once a month on average.

Is it True that Guppies Eat their own offspring?

Yes, guppies, particularly males, have this issue. Male guppies will devour their own young, and there will be a lot of them. Now, don’t be alarmed or disgusted; this is a common occurrence with many different varieties of fish. Fish, especially guppies, frequently consume their own fry for several reasons. Male guppies are more likely to do this than females, although it does happen to females as well.

This is why it is suggested that while breeding guppies, the male and female parents be removed from the breeding tank so that the guppy fry is not devoured by the parents.

What Might Obstruct a Guppy’s Proper Development?

So, while investigating ‘How long do Guppies take to grow?’ we now have a better understanding of the many phases of growth. It’s critical to comprehend the elements that may prevent them from developing normally. When it comes to having Guppies, there are a few things to consider.

1. Tank Dimensions

Guppies’ tank size has a significant impact on how long and how much they grow. Surprisingly, a large tank can give the Guppies just as much trouble as a tiny tank.

To begin with, the issues with a tiny tank are self-explanatory; the Guppies do not have enough space, and the number of Guppies you have will determine this. You don’t need a huge tank if you only have a handful; nevertheless, the more Guppies you have, the more room you’ll need, no matter how little they appear at first.

The Guppies, on the other hand, expend more energy in their quest for food when they have a large tank. The energy they waste striving to move around a large tank should be used to help them develop during the first three phases of their lives.

Guppies can be kept in breeding boxes for the first month of their existence, but this limited environment is detrimental to their growth. It is not recommended to use breeder boxes. If you want your Guppies to attain their full potential, this is extremely crucial.

2. Volume of Water

This difficulty is linked to the challenges of a huge tank. Because of the vast volume of water, the Fry must travel longer distances to acquire food that would be easy to locate in a smaller tank. Again, too little water volume means there are too many Fry in a little space; imagine a bunch of infants in a studio apartment; there isn’t enough room for them to grow.

3. Adult Guppies

When raising Guppy fry, the adult fish can also be a source of anxiety! Guppies, like many other fish, aren’t afraid to consume their young! This might be made worse if you have a tank with a variety of species.

We already know that Guppies have a natural propensity to seek hiding places when they are born. If you have a communal tank with any pregnant fish, this is extremely dangerous for Guppy Fry since they are more likely to be eaten.

4. Conditions

As previously stated, the tank size has an influence on the growth of your Guppies and fries. The tank’s upkeep, on the other hand, is something to think about. Water must be changed often; else, parasites will breed.

Temperature control and filtration are also crucial. Despite the fact that guppies are known for being low-maintenance fish, it is vital to consider the additional costs. If these aren’t taken into account, Guppy Fry’s growth and possibly their life will be jeopardized.

5. Feeding

The sort of food you feed your Fry is crucial, as it is with anything else. If the Guppies are not provided a varied diet that promotes growth, they may have problems later on, just like we do. The frequency with which a Guppy must be fed is also significant.

If you feed your Guppies too little food, they will go into starvation mode and become malnourished, but too much food can also cause problems. To name a few issues, rotting food builds up in the tank, causing high ammonia levels, low pH levels, mildew, and even filter blockage, to name.

Related Post: What Did Do Baby Guppies Eat?

How Long do Guppies take to Grow Up?

A guppy fry takes around 6 months to fully mature into an adult guppy, taking into consideration all four growth phases, as we described in the opening section of today’s post. Given that a guppy only lives for 1.5 to 2 years, this may be considered a long period of development, since the guppy would have spent a third of its life simply growing into maturity if it only lived for 1.5 years. Of course, if you treat the guppies correctly and provide them with adequate food and living conditions, the process can be hastened.

What can you do to help Guppies Grow?

Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to help your guppies grow and develop. So, here’s what you can do to give them the best possible chance of succeeding.

1. Tank

Tank size is important when considering how long it takes Guppies to mature, and it should be regarded as one of their basic requirements. The first stage is to decide how many you’d like to keep. As try not to overcrowd the tank by adding too many fishes.

This may motivate you to separate the male and female Guppies, or you may find yourself with many more than you anticipated. if they don’t devour them first.

Remember that a large tank can force the Guppy Fry to use too much energy seeking food, while a small tank may not provide them with enough area to grow. It’s essential to keep to the 1 gallon of water per inch of Guppy rule, which will decide the size of your tank.

Aquatic stores can also advise you on tank size; however, it is critical that you do not follow their suggestion to keep them in a breeding box.

2. Feeding

Guppies, like any living creature, need to be fed in order to develop. It is recommended that you give Guppy Fry between 5-8 times a day. Increased feeding will almost always result in improved development.

When they reach adulthood and their maximum development potential, it is advised that you feed them 1-3 times each day. Make sure you just give them a tiny quantity at a time to avoid the food becoming filthy in the tank.

From this, you should be able to estimate the quantity. Counting how many flakes your Guppies eat in two minutes is a fantastic technique to figure out how much to feed them. Anything left over will almost certainly not be consumed by them, and you don’t want to pollute the ecosystem.

Baby brine shrimp, micro worms, daphnia, or vinegar eels are the sorts of food you should give Fry. If you buy Guppy flakes, make sure they’re high-quality crushed flakes that will fit in the Fry. Feed them a variety of freeze-dried fish food, vegetables like lettuce, cucumbers, peas, and high-quality fish flakes as they grow into adults.

3. Maintenance

In order to determine how long guppies take to develop, you must maintain your tank. To keep your Guppies healthy, be sure to check the tank on a regular basis and replace the water once a week.

Because you don’t want to harvest any sickness or parasites, gravel vacuuming is essential, as is maintaining the filtration system. To ensure healthy living circumstances for your Guppies, it is advised that you apply a water conditioner. Any chlorine or chloramine in the water will be removed by the water conditioner. These pointers might assist you in ensuring that nothing bad occurs to your Guppies. If you see that your tank or Guppies have been harmed, treat them as soon as possible to avoid further damage.

4. Conditions

Guppy Fry search for hiding locations as an instinct to avoid predators after they are hatched. This implies that living plants, such as Guppy grass, should be present in your fish tank. If you use a mixed tank, other fish will be protected as well, but this cannot be guaranteed.

To enhance development and sustain a living, guppies require a lot of light. Use artificial lighting to help with this; the lamps should be on for a maximum of 16 hours and no fewer than 12 hours every day. Even after they are completely grown, this should be continued. A regular water check is another approach to help your Guppies thrive in their aquarium. Watching day by day, in addition to the weekly water change, allows you to address any problems that occur more quickly than only monitoring your weekly change. Remember that the water temperature should be between 24 and 26 degrees Celsius, and the pH level should be between 6.8 and 7.8.

The Bottom Line on How Fast do Baby Guppies Grow?

To summarize, we now know that it takes them around 6 months to mature into adults. The size, color, and health of the Guppies, on the other hand, are determined by how well they are cared for. We must consider fundamental necessities such as food, housing, cleanliness, and space, just as we do with any living thing. Guppy Fry should be fed 5-8 times per day until they are completely grown, at which point they should only be fed 1-3 times per day. Ensure that the tank and water are clean at all times and that the temperatures, as well as the pH level, are correct.

We must also ensure that the Guppy Fry has enough room to develop, move, and hide if required, therefore tank size and water volume are important considerations. We recommend that you follow these rules since they will teach you how to avoid difficulties and guarantee that your Guppies reach their full potential and enjoy a happy life.