How to Breed Mosquito Fish & Guppies

Guppies are small freshwater fish, native to Central and South America. These colorful and ever-popular tropical fish are non-aggressive and hardy. Guppies are live bearers that reach adulthood quickly and breed readily. Mosquito fish are physically similar to guppies, but lack the guppy's vibrant colors. They are slightly more aggressive than guppies and tend to nip at the flowing fins of show guppy males in particular. For this reason, it is best to house mosquito fish in their own aquarium. Both species are live bearers and are bred in an identical way.

Things You'll Need

  • Breeding pairs of guppies
  • Breeding male and two female mosquito fish
  • 5-gallon guppy or mosquito fish breeding tank
  • V-shaped bottom breeding tank
  • 35-gallon guppy or mosquito fish display aquarium
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Instructions

    • 1

      Half-fill a 5-gallon bare-bottom breeder tank with water from the original guppy or mosquito fish aquarium, and place a heater into the tank.

    • 2

      Move the gravid, or pregnant, female mosquito fish or guppy to the tank approximately 20 days after mating takes place.

    • 3

      Place a V- bottom breeding trap into the 5-gallon aquarium.

    • 4

      Observe the female carefully, and place her into the trap when she shows signs of slowing down by not swimming as much. Tip the breeding trap in the water, and catch the female in it. Do not catch her in a net at this late stage of pregnancy.

    • 5

      Continue to observe the female in the breeding trap. The live young that she gives birth to will fall through the slit in the bottom of the V-shaped structure and then swim into the aquarium through the perforations in the bottom of the trap.

    • 6

      Leave the female in the breeding trap for an hour or two, to recover from the birthing, and then return her to the main guppy aquarium.

    • 7

      Feed the mosquito fish or guppy fry a commercial fry paste, frozen brine shrimps or finely ground boiled egg yolk. Do not over feed.

    • 8

      Remove any inferior fry from the tank. These will include very tiny, thin and dark individuals, or those that cannot swim correctly.

    • 9

      Sex your mosquito fish or guppies between three and six weeks of age. The male fish will develop his sex organ, or gonopodium, by this age. The gonopodium is the fish's modified anal fin, which becomes pointed and through which the milt or semen is deposited into the female's body. A female's fin is more rounded, making it possible to distinguish her from the male.