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If the idea of feeding human food to guppies has struck your mind, there is something you must know. Guppies are omnivorous and will happily eat both plant matter and meat.
Human food you can give guppies to include zucchini, spinach, cauliflower, cucumber, carrots, peas, green beans, broccoli, corn, potato, cabbage, and kale. Besides veggies, you can feed guppies shrimp, feeder fish, beef heart, egg yolk, and chicken breast (a controversial food item).
If you want your fish to eat homemade food without getting sick, prepare the food well, and do not overfeed. So what is the right way to give vegetables to guppies, and how much? These are the kinds of topics we have covered here in this article.
Human Food Guppies Can Eat – Best Homemade Food
guppies
Guppies aren’t too picky about their food, but they love variety. Imagine how boring and tasteless your life will get if you eat the same food every day. This also applies to fish.
The commercially available pellets and flakes contain nutrients necessary for the proper growth of the fish. However, adding vegetables and other protein-rich food helps supplement their diet. And also adds variety to the food that guppies absolutely crave.
How to Prepare Vegetables for Guppies?
Below are some vegetables that you can try offering your guppy fish. It could be an endless list, so we have only picked up the veggies that are commonly given to the fish and are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Cucumber / Zucchini / Tomatoes: When feeding these vegetables to guppies, always make sure to remove the jelly part and seeds. Cut it into small pieces, and then toss some into your tank.
Lettuce / Spinach/ Kale: You can feed it fresh and raw. Or blanch in boiling water for 5-10 minutes and then give it to your fish in small pieces.
Peas / Corn: Put them into boiling water until it gets softened. Then remove the outer shell and drop it down into the aquarium for your guppies to nip on it.
Feeding green peas to fish helps treat various stomach ailments such as indigestion, bloating, constipation, and swim bladder disease. Peas contain a high amount of fiber that acts as a laxative and remedies the condition.
Green beans / Potato / Sweet potato/ Carrot: Boil these veggies for 10 minutes and then wait for them to get cool. Make small pieces and put them into the tank. Your guppies are going to love it.
Some important tips to keep in mind:
- Always wash the vegetables with dechlorinated water before preparing them for your fish.
- Regardless of your choice of vegetable, remove the leftover or uneaten part after four to five hours of feeding.
- The point of blanching the veggies is to make them easier for the fish to eat. However, it takes out some of the nutritional value.
How to Prepare Meat for Guppies?
When it comes to feeding meat to guppies or any other species for that matter, you have to be quite careful with your choice.
It has always been a controversial topic among fishkeepers whether or not to feed terrestrial animal meat (chicken, beef, or pork) to fish. First of all, it’s not a natural food source for fish, and it contains high among of protein and fatty acids.
Moreover, chickens or other land animals which we humans normally eat are often injected with harmful chemicals, antibiotics, and growth hormones. And this can be quite harmful to tiny aquatic creatures if they consume a large quantity of it.
The fishkeeping industry has varied opinions about this subject. If you lurk around some fishkeeping forums, you will find many aquarists who claim that they have been feeding chicken to their fish without any issues.
I believe the key here is to occasionally offer chicken to your fish and not as a staple food. Since it’s high in protein and fatty acids, overfeeding will result in obesity and indigestion. If you can feed organically raised meat to your guppies, it would be much healthier and usually considered safe.
So let’s talk about the best choices you have when it comes to treating your fish with meat content.
You can feed your guppies frozen/boiled beef heart, thawed frozen shrimp, and feeder fish. Make sure to remove all the uneaten parts within 2 hours of feeding. Meat tends to contaminate the water and put off an unpleasant smell if left exposed for too long.
Insects You Can Feed Guppies
The core theme of this article is about the human food guppies can eat, but as we are talking about food, here are some of the insect matter your fish is going to love. Being high in proteins, minerals, and vitamins, insects are among the best alternative meals you can offer guppies.
To name some – mosquito larva, brine shrimp, micro worms, fruit flies, and daphnia are some of the finest live food you can feed your fish. Many of these are commercially available and come pre-packed.
Brine Shrimp
Do you know guppies also eat soft algae that naturally grows in the fish tank?
How Often Should You Feed Guppies?
Knowing how often and how much to feed your fish is as important as deciding which food to give.
Probably the best thing about guppies is that they are easy to take care of. However, it’s crucial to create a regular eating schedule and stick to it. It helps improve the digestion system and promotes the overall wellbeing of the fish.
Adult guppies should be fed at least two times a day. For Guppy fry, you will have to feed them 5 to 8 times a day. Since babies can’t eat much in one serving, it’s essential to feed them many small meals to complete their food requirements.
When it comes to feeding fry, you have to be a little cautious about the food type. For instance, you shouldn’t give chicken breast to baby fish, as they can’t digest the protein it contains. If you are a beginner and have never raised fry, it’s suggested to buy commercially available food.
Now, let’s talk about the right amount of food you should give to your guppy fish. There is a general rule of thumb that states each time you feed your fish go for 1/8th of their body weight. In case you find this math complicated, simply put enough food for the fish to eat, and remove what’s left within 5 minutes. This way, you will get an idea of the right amount of food to feed your guppies.
Can you Replace Homemade Food with Guppy Pellets?
No, you shouldn’t even try to do that. Prepackaged fish flakes or pellets that you find on the market are specialized food. These food items are prepared by keeping nutritional values in check. So if you replace it with ‘any’ vegetable or meat item, your fish will most likely face nutritional deficiency.
The staple food – a large portion of the diet – should consist of the food that is actually made for the species. However, on top of that, you can add veggies and other protein-rich food items as a supplement. Instead of substituting one food for other, mix different food and create a diet out of it.
If you want to make your homemade fish food, you can do that too. However, that will require some work from your side. You will have to study and do some research on preparing a meal that contains the necessary nutrients needed by your fish. There are many helpful videos on the internet that you can watch and learn to make your own guppy fish food.
To be specific, the essential minerals for guppy fish include calcium, phosphorus, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium, and zinc.
What Happens When You Overfeed Your Guppies? – Signs You Are Overfeeding Your Fish
Overfeeding is the most common mistake new fish owners make. We often overfeed our aquatic pets, trying to provide enough for them. I would say it’s better to underfeed your fish when in doubt.
Do you know there are more chances of fish dying from overfeeding than starving? Many aquarists believe a healthy aquarium will always look hungry.
Overfeeding can cause improper digestion, fatty liver, and fin rot. When you put more food in your tank than what is actually required, there will be a lot of leftovers that will eventually settle down and pollute the tank.
Usually, a fish stops eating when its stomach gives off satiation signals to the brain. But when they reach that point, they have eaten more than required. This makes the fish poop more and contributes to the high amount of waste.
To ensure you don’t overfeed your fish, follow this one common rule: do not give fish more than what they can consume in half a minute.
Below are some of the signs that show you are overfeeding your guppies:
- If your aquarium has food on the bottom and you often find pellets floating on the surface after a few hours of feeding, then it’s a telltale sign that your fish is getting overfed.
- Dirty gravel and cloudy water is also a sign of overfeeding.
- In a fish tank, the decomposition of organic waste produces acids. These acids often lower the pH in the water and make it acidic. So if you are having low pH levels, it means your tank has too much accumulated waste sitting and decaying.
- Hike in nitrite and ammonia levels is yet another sign.
- Last but not least, if your fish has started getting fat or obese, it clearly means you are feeding them excessively.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Know When Guppies are Hungry?
If you are feeding your guppies twice a day, you don’t have to worry about them being hungry or underfed. Usually, a hungry fish will start digging around the substrate and keep coming to the surface and waiting there.
How Long Can Guppies Go Without Eating?
Adult guppies can survive up to 2 weeks without food. Guppy fry will survive around three days without eating anything.
Conclusions
So finally, it’s time to wrap up this article. We hope the information presented here helped you increase your knowledge about the different types of human food you can feed to guppies.
Here we have also touched upon various related topics to make things clear and easy to implement.
