It usually happens on a Saturday morning. You are sipping your coffee, staring at your tank, and suddenly you see it—a pair of tiny eyes looking back at you from behind the filter.
Congratulations, you are a grandparent.
But then, panic sets in. You see the father guppy chasing the baby, trying to eat it. Your instinct is to grab a net or buy one of those plastic “breeding boxes.”
Stop. Put the net down. There is a better, more natural way to raise them. I call it the “Jungle Method.”
1. The Problem with Plastic Boxes
You have probably seen those plastic isolation boxes (breeding traps) hanging on the side of tanks in the shop. I hate them.
- Stress: Putting a pregnant female in a tiny clear box stresses her out. She might abort the babies or even jump out.
- Stagnant Water: The water inside the box doesn’t flow well. It gets dirty fast.
2. The Solution: Floating Plants (The “Safe Zone”)
In nature, mother guppies don’t have plastic boxes. They have roots and weeds. If you want your babies (fry) to survive, you need to give them a place to hide near the surface.
The two best plants for this in Malaysia are:
- Guppy Grass (Najas guadalupensis): It looks like a messy tangle of green noodles. It floats. It grows fast. It is perfect.
- Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum): This is the spiky stuff you see in every fish shop. It is tough and creates a dense forest.
The Strategy: Let a big clump of these plants float on the water surface. The babies will instinctively swim into the tangle. The big adults are too fat to follow them. It becomes a natural fortress.
3. Feeding: The “Powder” Trick
You don’t need to hatch live shrimp if you are just a casual hobbyist.
- The Method: Take your normal high-quality flake food. Put a pinch in your palm. Grind it with your thumb until it becomes a fine dust.
- Delivery: Dip your finger in the water right over the “plant jungle.” The dust will sink into the plants where the babies are hiding.
4. The Filter Danger
The #1 killer of baby guppies isn’t the parents—it’s your filter intake. If you have a Hang-On-Back (HOB) or Canister filter, the suction is too strong. The babies get sucked in and vanish.
- The Fix: Buy a “Pre-Filter Sponge” (a small cylinder of foam) and slip it over the intake pipe.
- Bonus: The sponge catches food particles, and the babies will actually graze on the sponge like a buffet.
5. When are they safe?
The rule of thumb is: “If it fits in the mouth, it is food.” You can stop worrying when the babies are about 1cm long (usually after 3-4 weeks). Once they are too big to be eaten, they will bravely swim out of the plants and join the adults in the open water.
There is something magical about “Colony Breeding” (keeping everyone in one tank). You see the tiny fry hiding in the moss, the teenagers exploring the middle, and the adults at the top. It feels like a real, living community, not a factory.
So, let your plants grow wild. The messier the tank, the safer the babies.
