BACKYARD GUPPY FARM - BREEDING GUPPIES FOR PROFIT - DUMBO MOSAICS
My moms backyard guppy farm that we are using to Breed for Profit is coming along nicely.
Guppy fish are live-bearing fish that breed easily in the wild and can be successfully bred even in home aquaria even without any conditioning or the need for the aquarist to intervene in any other way than to place both male and female guppies in the same tank.
But can you breed guppies in outdoor ponds or tubs? Yes, guppy fish can be raised and can breed even in an outdoor pond or tub, if you prefer keeping your guppies outside.
While raising guppies outside doesn’t present with insurmountable challenges, there are a few things you should know if you choose this route of breeding guppies.
In this article, I’ll go over the basics of breeding guppies outside including how to set up an outdoor pond for guppies and the equipment you’ll need to ensure that your guppy fish are well off in their outside environment.
Setting Up an Outdoor Pond
guppy-fish-pond-tub
Guppy Fish Tub
Guppy fish stay small during their lives; therefore, they don’t require huge tanks to accommodate their needs.
Even when kept outdoors, they’ll do fine in a patio pond kit that’s set up with aerators, lights, air pump and enough water volume (a foot or two deep).
This unless you want to breed them, then you’ll need a larger pond to accommodate the fry that will be born, and which will take up space in your pond unless you remove them.
Setting up an outdoor pond is not very different from setting up an aquarium, but there are a few extra things you need to be more careful about, like the effect of outdoor air temperature on water temperature.
Water Temperature for Guppies
As tropical fish, guppies can be kept at stable temperatures that are in the 72-82 °F (22-28 °C) range. For short amounts of time, guppies can tolerate temperatures as low as 60-65 °F, but never for extended periods.
Those that are thinking of raising and breeding guppies in tropical climates, where temperatures don’t drop below 68 °F all year round, needn’t worry about taking their guppies indoors.
Those who live in climates where outdoor temperatures vary largely from winter to summer should set up a water heater for their guppy aquariums to keep the temperature stable.
Water heats up and cools down slower than air temperature, therefore, you should keep in mind that the temperature of the water in the aquarium or pond won’t be the same as the outside temperature.
Once water heats up to a given temperature, it won’t cool down as fast during the night, therefore, the water temperature in the tub or pond won’t reach the highs and lows of the day.
It’s important for the tub or pond to be deep enough so that the water doesn’t get heated up too quickly. Shade is also important to protect the pond and your guppies from direct sunlight.
Assuming that the pond is deep enough, there will also be temperature gradients between the top of the aquarium and the bottom of it.
I recommend taking temperature readings multiple times during the day to see how temperatures change in your outdoor set-up and whether you need to add more shade or permit more sunlight to reach your ponds.
This is especially important in temperate climate regions where temperatures can change drastically from season to season and even more so if you have guppy fry in the pond that are more sensitive to temperature changes.
Equipment You Need for Outdoor Guppy Breeding
The equipment needed for keeping guppies in an outdoor pond is more or less the same as the equipment needed for home aquaria, namely:
Filter
If it’s your first time setting up an outdoor guppy pond, I recommend that you get a filter for it too. If you’re an experienced aquarist, you can get away without a filter, but it still helps a lot to have a filtration system.
Yes, ponds are large and have a lot of water volume and yes live plants can help keep the water clean, but it’s better for your guppies if they have a filter system in the pond.
Mosquito net
Even for indoor aquariums I always recommend having a cover for your aquarium to prevent guppies from jumping out.
Guppies are jumpers and they will attempt to jump out of their tubs of ponds, so I recommend covering the pond with fish net to prevent accidents that will put their lives in danger.
Heater
A heater is not necessary if outside temperatures stay within the range acceptable for guppy fish, if not, a heater can help keep the water temperature stable and it can extend the period for which you can keep guppies outdoors.
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