Guppies are known for their prolific breeding nature. So they produce a lot of babies in no time. These baby guppies need a balanced nutritious diet for their healthy growth. But what do baby guppies eat?
Baby guppies eat a protein-rich diet for their healthy development. Live food items such as bloodworms, daphnia, tubifex, and baby brine shrimps are excellent sources of proteins and nutrients for baby guppies. Apart from live food, they like to eat high-quality flakes, freeze-dried and frozen food.
The best thing about baby guppies is that they have simple dietary needs. And there are a lot of commercial foods available for baby guppies in the market. You just need to ensure that the food you feed them has enough nutrients for them to develop into adults. Let’s discuss this in detail now.
What Do Newborn Baby Guppies Eat?
Newborn baby guppies (a.k.a. guppy fry) are tiny and have a lot of energy.
So they tend to eat a lot. In the wild, they feed on algae and zooplankton.
Baby guppies eat these organisms because they help them to grow faster.
In an aquarium, you can feed guppy fry a variety of foods.
Since they are still developing, guppy fry need more protein. Therefore, you should feed them food with high protein content.
Also, make sure their diet contains vitamins and other nutrients. These will strengthen their immune system.
You can feed the following foods to baby guppies for their healthy development.
1. Flakes.
Flakes are one of the most widely used food for baby guppies. Flakes designed for fry are readily available at most pet stores.
Since guppies are omnivores, they prefer both meaty and vegetable flakes.
So, if you give them only vegetarian flakes, they may not get enough nutrition.
If you don’t have flakes designed for fry, you can crush adult fish flakes into smaller pieces or fine powder before feeding them to baby guppies.
Recommended Further Reading:
- What Do Guppies Eat – The Ultimate Food Guide For Guppy Owners
- Here’s Why Guppies Swim At The Top Of The Tank
- Can Male Guppies Live Together? (Crucial Things To Consider)
2. Freeze-dried foods.
Baby guppies devour live food. However, if you don’t have live food, freeze-dried foods are an excellent alternative.
Freeze-dried foods are highly nutritious as they provide essential proteins, fats, and other nutrients that are vital for the healthy development of guppy fry.
They are also easier to handle than live foods.
Freeze drying is an effective way to preserve the freshness and moisture of foods without losing their natural flavor.
It also helps to keep the food safe from contamination during storage.
There are many types of freeze-dried foods available in the market today, like freeze-dried bloodworms, brine shrimp, tubifex, insect larvae, etc.
3. Egg yolk paste.
Egg yolks are another excellent source of protein for baby guppies.
Unfortunately, they are rich sources of fat and cholesterol too.
However, feeding egg yolk paste to your baby guppies will increase their appetite and improve their overall condition.
Egg yolks also contain the necessary proteins, vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and other nutrients that help in the healthy development of baby guppies.
To feed an egg yolk to guppy fry, you can take a hard-boiled egg and separate its yolk.
Then, crush the yolk into a fine paste and feed it in small amounts to baby guppies.
Although egg yolks are highly nutritious, the disadvantage of feeding them to baby guppies is that they can quickly foul the tank water.
Hence, you need to be careful while sprinkling the egg yolk paste in your aquarium.
4. Microworms.
Micro worms are a small freshwater invertebrate commonly found in ponds and streams.
They look similar to earthworms but are much smaller.
Feeding microworms to baby guppies is beneficial since they are full of nutrients.
Moreover, microworms are easily digestible by baby guppies and hence are favorites among aquarists.
Related Further Reading:
- Can Guppies Live In A Bowl? (Why Bowls Are A Bad For Guppies)
- Do Guppies Need Light? – The Definitive Guide To Guppies And Light
- Why Do Guppies Change Color? (5 Reasons + What To Do?)
- Can Guppies Live In Saltwater? Here’s What We Found
5. Baby brine shrimp.
Baby brine shrimp are tiny crustaceans. These little creatures are ubiquitous in tropical waters.
Baby brine shrimp contain the essential nutrients required for the proper growth and development of baby guppies.
Just like microworms, baby brine shrimp are edible and easy to digest for baby guppies.
6. Tubifex.
Tubifex is yet another excellent option for baby guppies. Since baby guppies need a protein-rich diet, tubifex is perfect for them.
Tubifex are microscopic roundworms that resemble earthworms. Tubifex is often sold with microworms.
Both tubifex and microworms are excellent sources of protein and energy for baby guppies.
While purchasing live tubifex, you need to be careful. First, you need to purchase tubifex from a reputed store.
Second, the water in which the tubifex are kept should be clear.
Once you find clean tubifex, you need to place them in a container containing dechlorinated water.
Then rinse them thoroughly at least 3 to 4 times a day until the water is clear.
You can store tubifex in the refrigerator and examine the water every morning.
If the water is clear, it is safe to feed the tubifex to baby guppies. Otherwise, you need to rinse it again till the water becomes clear.
7. Daphnia.
Daphnia is one of the essential food items for baby guppies due to its high nutritional value.
In addition, daphnia has been used successfully as live food for many years. It’s known to provide good nutrition for baby guppies.
The best about feeding daphnia is that it can live in the aquarium until baby guppies consume it.
Moreover, unlike tubifex, daphnia doesn’t carry any diseases and is safe to feed baby guppies.
Related Further Reading:
- When Do Guppies Get Their Color? (Exact Facts And Figures)
- Why Do Guppies Lay At The Bottom? (3 Reasons + What To Do)
- Do Guppies Lay Eggs Or Give Live Birth? (Explained Simply)
- Can Guppies Live Alone? – Here Are Crucial Things To Consider
Do Baby Guppies Eat Algae?
Yes, baby guppies do eat algae. They are fond of algae, and they will even feed on the floating algae in the tank water.
Algae grow naturally in ponds or tanks with a lot of plant life. They are not harmful to guppy fry, but algae cannot be the only diet of guppies.
Baby guppies need adequate nutrition in their early stages of development.
Therefore, if you want them to grow healthy, you should feed them with live food such as microworms, daphnia, shrimp eggs, flakes, etc.
Do Baby Guppies Eat Fish Food?
Yes, baby guppies love eating fish food because they are rich in proteins and fats. This makes them an ideal food choice for baby guppies.
Fish food comes in different forms, like pellets, flakes, frozen and freeze-dried, dry powder, liquid form, etc.
In addition, all these types of fish foods come packed in various sizes and shapes.
You should check the fish food ingredients and purchase only those that best suit your baby guppies’ nutritional needs.
If you buy commercial fish food, you must ensure that it contains no additives or preservatives.
Do Baby Guppies Eat Bloodworms?
Yes, baby guppies do eat bloodworms as they contain high levels of protein and iron. However, they lack other nutrients that are essential for breeding. So it’s recommended to feed bloodworms to baby guppies as an occasional treat along with their staple diet.
Moreover, baby guppies have tiny mouths. Therefore, they cannot chew or swallow large pieces of food.
Since bloodworms are not microscopic, they are difficult for baby guppies to eat.
So, you can feed them bloodworms that are smaller in size so that they can easily fit in guppies’ mouths.
Alternatively, you can cut the bigger bloodworms into tiny pieces before feeding them to baby guppies.
Also, remember that feeding excess bloodworms can cause problems such as constipation in baby guppies.
Interesting Further Reading:
- Do Guppies Eat Each Other? And How To Stop Them?
- Do Frogs Eat Guppies? (Yes and No – Here’s Why)
- Why Do Guppies Hide? + How To Stop Guppies From Hiding?
Related Questions
When do baby guppies start to eat?
Baby guppies are active from the time they are born. So they can start to eat as early as within 4 to 6 hours of their birth.
Baby guppies start to eat early compared to other fish fry as they begin to swim within a few hours after birth.
The common consensus is that baby guppies start to eat after a day.
However, some aquarists have experienced their baby guppies taking their first feed only after three days or more.
Do baby guppies eat each other?
Baby guppies don’t eat each other. They are very social and tend to play with their siblings.
So they don’t feed on them or try to kill them.
