What Are Some Signs of Mating for Guppies?

Guppies are one of the most popular species of fish to be bred in aquariums because of the relatively inexpensive purchase price of most varieties and their ease of care. Guppies are also fast breeders. Placing a sexually mature female in a tank with sexually mature males usually results in the insemination of the female.

  1. Guppies

    • To survive as healthy fertile fish the guppy must be housed in a large tank with water temperatures averaging between 82 and 84 degrees, although they can survive in water temperatures of between 69 and 86 degrees. The females of the species are much larger than their male counterparts, with females characterized by a dull gray color and round bodies. The male guppy is the more colorful of the two sexes, with a large number of colors used to attract the female in a courtship dance performed by the male.

    Sexual

    • The female guppy reaches sexual maturity between the ages of 3 and 4 months, with maturity appearing to happen earlier in warmer waters. The female fish can be spotted after around one week of age by the gravid spot, which is a darker area under the tail of the female fish. The male guppy can become sexually mature at a younger age than the female, with sexual maturity reached when the gonopodium anal fin becomes prominent. The courtship ritual of the guppy takes the form of a display of colorful fins performed by the male guppy in which the male arches its body in front of the female.

    Breeding

    • Breeding takes place at a fast rate with the placement of a sexually mature female in a tank with sexually mature males. Where guppies are bought from a store in which they have been stored in the same tank as male guppies they are often pregnant when purchased by an aquarium owner. The ease at which guppies can be bred means they can be inseminated by other species of fish to create different breeds of fish.

    Pregnant

    • When pregnant, guppies appear to have a large, swollen stomach area and a darkened gravid spot. When a female guppy is pregnant the gravid spot can be a signifier of an imminent birth, with the dark spots within the gravid spot being the eyes of the unborn fish. It is often impossible to identify the father of captive guppy fish because females can mate with a number of different fish, with each fish providing fertilization for different guppy eggs for the live birth of guppies.