Why Are My Guppies Not Breeding? [7 Reasons And Solutions]

Water conditions can prevent guppies from reproducing in your fish tank since they don’t breed in poor water conditions.

Why are my guppies not breeding? The guppies breed when they are in the right water condition. People make the most common mistake because they put all the female or male guppies together, thinking they are pairs. Identifying the male and female is an essential process.

Like any other species, guppies need the right partner to breed. Another reason why your guppies are not breeding is they are too old, or one of the partners has reached old age.

Due to that, Guppies will not mate, and you will not have babies. Moreover, it would be best to have plenty of plants in the fish tank to provide a hiding place for the newborn babies.

Guppy fries are easy targets to large size guppy fish. They will eat babies as soon as they are born. Make sufficient space in the tank to protect the newborn guppy babies.

You would see a lot of the guppy fries are hiding behind the rocks and plants. If possible, move the babies in a separate fish tank, allowing them to grow.

How do I encourage my guppies to breed?
- Here is the step-by-step guide to breeding the guppies
What time of day do guppies usually give birth?

Why won’t my guppies give birth?
Final verdict

How do I encourage my guppies to breed?

Encourage guppies to breed setting your tank full of various plants to hide guppy fries. When the pregnant female guppy feels she has a safe area to give birth to babies, she always mates with the male guppy.

Do not forget to set the temperature to around 75-82 degrees Fahrenheit (24.50 to 26.50 C) while the females and males guppies are in the fish tank together.

Here is the step-by-step guide to breeding the guppies

#1) Select the guppy fish:

Select the proper male and female guppy fish when you decide on the breed. If you have a particular choice that you want in the tail color, then choose the male and female whose tail pattern and color match your needs.

Male and female guppy fish tail patterns and colors will be fry in the newborn babies. Guppies kept in the group would fry different color guppies.

You will see mixers of all types of colors in the guppy fries. The method applies to the fin shape as well. The larger fin male and female will fry babies with large fins.

#2) Number of guppy fish:

You may have to put two male guppies and three to four female guppies for the breeding. The single pair may get stressed out alone in the tank.

When the male guppies are kept alone with the female, they become aggressive in chasing the female guppy.

When there are more female guppies, compared to the male, the male guppies’ attention is split between the female guppies making less stress on the one female guppy.

#3) Setup The Breeding Tank:

You should have sufficient space in the breeding tank. Guppies would need more space to swim around in the tank.

When the water condition is suitable, they breed comfortably and produce babies. Have continuous oxygen supply with the fresh water in the tank.

The filtration process should be gentle to prevent the babies from getting suck into the bottom of the filter.

Also, add more hiding space such as “plants, rocks, and decorative stuff.” The babies would get eaten by the big fish. Sometimes guppies eat their babies if they are hungry.

You should have a proper setup to make the hidden from the other guppies in the tank.

If possible, remove the baby guppies from the tank as soon as possible to prevent them from getting eaten by other fish.

#4) Temperature control:

Set the right temperature to make the fish enjoy their environment. The heated water reduces the oxygen level in the water.

Guppies would have difficulty consuming the oxygen in the water. You should use the temperature control device or change the water regularly to keep the control temperature.

#5) Feed Healthy Food:

Guppies would need feed with a high nutritional value. To provide the right breeding space to the guppies, they must get sufficient food in time.

When they are happy, they become more active inbreeding, resulting in a faster breeding process. Purchase food that supports healthy breeding.

#6) Birth period:

Generally, the guppy’s birth period is 26 to 31 days. When your female guppy is ready to give birth to the babies, they will have a dark spot at the lower end of their fins.

How long is a guppy fish pregnant?

Their stomach also becomes large, and her gravid spot will be visible with deep dark black color.
Remember that the guppies will give babies, not the eggs.

When the guppies are about to provide babies, you should stay there to collect the guppy fries from the tank.

The female guppies may eat their babies if they find them in the tank as soon as they come on the surface and start swimming.

#7) Remove the female guppy from the tank:

Once the female guppy has given birth to all the baby guppies, you can remove them from the tank.

Move them with the other guppies where they can stay calm. Guppy babies would survive independently, so they do not require their mother around for their protection.

The baby guppies would start eating the normal fish food that you throw at them. Provide them nutritional food to grow them faster.

What time of day do guppies usually give birth?

You cannot tell what the female guppies will start giving birth to fry. The guppies give babies when they are ready. Generally, it takes 4 to 6 hours to complete the birth process. It can give birth to 2 to 50 guppy fries in one birth process. Therefore, some female guppies may give birth in the day as well.

Why won’t my guppies give birth?

When guppy fish are stressed, they avoid mating with their partner. The bad water condition, less oxygen in the water, or scared situation in the water is some of the reasons why guppies stay away from breeding.

It would be best if you created an appropriate condition in the tank to allow your guppies to keep calm.

Check the water condition regularly. The changing water temperature day and night also stresses out the guppies.

You should have a temperature detection and control device in the water to collect more data on the changing water temperature.

Regularly replace a small portion of the water from the tank with freshwater. Reduce the flow of the water if it ripples in the water. Sometimes unnatural condition in the tank also scares the guppies.

Final verdict

Guppies are the most popular fish in the category. They come in beautiful colors, cute faces, and small size. It is the most suitable fish breed for the fish tank kept in the home. Guppies would enhance the beauty of your aquarium.

Their tail will shine with bright colors. Furthermore, you can breed the guppies at home and increase the number throughout the years.

“Worst water conditions, temperature fluctuation, poor feeding methods, and wrong breeding pair selection” can lead to reduced or not breeding guppies. Use a properly set up fish tank with carefully selected breeding pairs. set the proper temperature and condition of the water. these things will help to breed your guppies.