When can baby guppies go in with adults

To care for baby guppies, use a heater to keep the water temperature between 76 and 80 °F, install a good filter, and clean out the aquarium once per week to keep the environment healthy. It's also important to keep the tank light on for 8-12 hours each day so the guppies' spines will grow properly. Feed the fry every 2-3 hours for the first 6 weeks, then decrease the feedings to every 4-5 hours. Give them a mixture of high quality dry food and fresh food like brine shrimp. For tips on recognizing symptoms of common illnesses, read on!

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Most freshwater fish lack parental instinct and will eat their baby under the right circumstances. Guppy fish is one of them. Guppies are cannibals and will eat their fry when they get a chance.

So, it is necessary to know when to add guppy fry with the adults to ensure that they are safe from them. So, When can guppy fry go with adults? Let us find out.

In general, guppy fry can go with adults when they reach one inch in size. Guppy fry will get this size at two months of age. However, growth ultimately depends on guppy fry feeding and living conditions, so feed high-quality food and provide adequate water parameters for faster growth.

This article will discuss when to keep guppy fry with adults and how to introduce young guppy in the main tank. So, let us get into it.

Table of Contents

How old should guppy fry be to put them In the main tank?

You can place your guppy fry in the main tank when they reach two months of age and become a young guppy.

Place your guppy fry in the main tank when they reach an ideal size of at least 1 inch.

Now, the size according to the age completely depends on your guppy fry’s feeding and water parameters.

If your guppy fry is getting high-quality nutritional food with high protein content and living in adequate water conditions, they will grow faster.

Consider feeding your guppy fish various types of food that include live, freeze-dried, and frozen food.

You can feed your guppy fry egg yolk, daphnia, baby brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, and other nutritious food.

Feed your guppy fry four to five times a day in a small quantity regularly to ensure their faster growth and development.

Also read: Guppy Fish Growth Stages.

Can guppy fry survive In a community tank?

We don’t recommend keeping guppy fry in a community tank.

Adult fish present in the community tank will see your guppy fry as a tasty snack and will hunt them down.

However, if you want to keep your guppy fry in a community tank, create plenty of hiding spots for them to hide from the adult fish.

Hiding spots will not completely ensure keeping your guppy fry safe but will lower the stress of your guppy fry by preventing constant chasing and giving them a place where they can hide when adult fish are trying to eat them.

Also read: Can Guppy Fry Survive In A Community Tank?

Can we keep guppy fry with adults from day one?

We don’t recommend keeping guppy fry with adults and other fish from day one.

Guppy fry will be very small when they are born.

You must know that guppies lack parental instinct, which means even the parent guppy will try to hunt the guppy fry and eat them.

It would be best to immediately separate the mother guppy and the guppy fry when the pregnant guppy gives birth to the guppy fry.

Consider keeping your guppy fry in a breeding box or a separate tank until they reach their ideal size that doesn’t fit the adult and other fish mouths.

Factors to consider when going to add guppy fry with adult fish?

These are the factors to consider when going to add guppy fry with adult and other fish:

1. Size of the guppy fry.
2. Health condition of your guppy fry
3. Size of the tank
4. A number of fish are present in the tank

Size

The size of the guppy fry is the primary factor to consider when you add them to the main tank.

Guppy fish get their ideal size when they are two months old.

Two months old guppies will usually reach the size that will not fit an adult’s mouth.

However, it completely depends on your guppy fry’s feeding and water condition when it comes to faster growth and development.

Feed your guppy fish food containing high protein content and other required nutrition to grow faster.

Adequate water conditions and parameters are necessary for your guppy fry growth.

Provide your guppy fry with a water temperature between 78-82 °F.

Also read: How Often Should Guppy Fry Be Fed?

Health condition of the guppy fry

When pregnant guppy gives birth to guppy fry, some guppy fry may develop a parasitic infection, making all the fish sick if you introduce them to the main tank.

This is also why we suggest separating the pregnant guppy when they are about to release the fry.

Keeping your guppy fry in a separate tank until they reach their ideal size will help you detect if your guppy fry is suffering from any infection.

If your guppy fry suffers from any issues, perform a treatment first and then introduce them to the main tank.

Also read: Do Guppy Fry Need A Filter?

Size of the tank

The size of the tank also matters when you add guppy fry with the adult fish.

If you have a small size tank, then adding guppy fry will overcrowd your fish tank when they become adults.

Also, the chances of getting hunted by the adult fish will increase because of the small space to live separately and hide most of the time from the adult fish.

Also read: How Many Guppies In A 20 Gallon Tank?

Number of adult fish present in the tank

Consider keeping a small amount of adult fish in the tank when adding guppy fry with them.

Less number of adult fish will result in less chasing of guppy fry for hunting them down.

The stress level of your guppy fry will minimize.

Also, having a less number of adult fish is necessary when you add multiple fry to their tank, as it can result in overcrowding your fish tank.

Consider following the one-inch one-gallon rule to avoid overcrowding your fish tank.

The one-inch one-gallon rule means one inch of fish per gallon of water.

How to ensure guppy fry survival when keeping with adult fish?

Take care of these things to ensure the survival of the guppy gry with adult fish:

1. Create hiding spots for your guppy fry.
2. Feed your adult fish regularly.

Hiding spots

Guppy fry will need a hiding spot to hide from the adult guppies.

Even if your guppy fry has reached its ideal size, it will need a hiding spot to save itself from the adult guppies and other tankmates.

Ensure creating plenty of hiding spots for your guppy fry.

You can add plenty of live aquatic plants to your guppies tank to create good hiding spots.

Adding live aquatic plants will also help keep the water clean and oxygenated.

Other aquarium decors in the pet store or online, like terra cotta pots, driftwood, and sunken ships, also make a good hiding spot for your guppy fry.

Also read: Do Guppies Need Hiding Places?

Feed your adult fish regularly.

Regularly feeding your adult fish is the primary way to ensure the safety of your guppy fry.

If your adult fish are hungry, they will run after guppy fry to catch and eat them.

Adult fish with a full stomach will not likely chase the guppy fry to feed on them.

So, make sure to feed your adult fish one to two times a day in a quantity they can finish eating in one to two minutes to avoid overfeeding or underfeeding.

Also read: How Often Should You Feed Guppies?

How to introduce young guppy to the main tank?

It is necessary to add the guppy fry safely to the main tank.

Guppy fry will live in a different environment and water parameters than the main tank.

Maybe their environmental temperature is high than the temperature of the main tank.

So, it is necessary to make an ideal environment for a guppy fry in the main tank before adding them.

Also, water parameters are not only the factor to consider here when adding guppy fry.

These are the two things to perform when introducing guppy fry in the main tank:

1. Feed your adult fish first.
2. Make sure of gradual acclimation.

Feed adult fish first.

It is necessary to feed the adult fish first before adding guppy fry to the tank.

If you don’t feed the adult fish first before adding guppy fry to their tank, they will see coming guppy fry as their tasty snack.

Guppy fry will be small in size, and your adult fish will see them as food and will try to chase and hunt them.

Feeding your adult fish will give your guppy fry several hours to get familiar with the habitat and find the best hiding place for them to hide.

Also, adult fish with a full stomach will show less aggression, and they will not chase guppy fry for some time.

Make sure of gradual acclimation.

Gradual acclimation will help your guppy fry to adapt to the main tank water condition, and there will be a low risk of guppy fry coming into shock because of immediate change in water condition.

Perform these steps to make sure of gradual acclimation:

1. Place all of your guppy fry in a plastic container containing their own tank water.
2. Place the plastic container in the main tank for 20-30 minutes to let the plastic container’s water temperature get the same as the main tank’s water temperature.
3. Add some of the main tank water to the plastic container every several minutes until the plastic container gets full.
4. Let the fry remain in the plastic container for the next 20-30 minutes to adapt to the environment of mixed water.
5. Move all the guppy fry to the main tank using a fishnet. Make sure not to put the plastic container water in the main tank.

Also read: Do Guppy Fry Need A Heater?

Conclusion:

You can add the guppy fry with the adults when they reach at least two months.

Keep guppy fry with the adults when they get at least one inch of size.

Usually, guppy fry will develop one inch in size in two-three months.

However, it completely depends on guppy fry’s feeding and water condition when it comes to their growth and development.

Feed your guppy fry high-quality nutritional food and provide adequate water parameters to ensure faster growth and development.

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