Best Food for Guppies: The Ultimate Guide

Guppy fish, known as guppies, are wonderful tropical fish to add to any freshwater aquarium.  With their unique coloring and low-maintenance needs, they have become one of the more popular fish to keep.  While taking care and feeding guppies is relatively easy, there are so many different types of food out there for you to choose.  This article aims to teach you about the different options of food for guppies and which ones are the best guppy food for you to buy.

Best Food for Guppies
Best Food for Guppies

What is the Best Food for Guppies?

There are so many different kinds of foods for guppies.  From pellets to flakes, live food to plant matter, it is sometimes daunting to figure out what types of foods to get for your guppies.  Wild guppies are used to eating animal matter, mosquito larvae, and any organic material that they happen to come across.  However, in a fish tank, it is best to vary their diet so they can get different types of nutrients.  For example, giving your guppies frozen blood worms, tubifex worms, and fruit flies can be a staple food for your guppies as they love the high protein.  These are all freeze dried foods that you can pick up at any pet store.  Some guppy food is best for fully grown adults, whereas other foods might be better tailored for guppy fry, so it kind of depends on what you have in your tank.  Regardless of the foods that you choose, it would be best for you to keep a journal to track your guppy eating habits, just in case there is some kind of issue.

Guppy foods like pellets or flakes can be your basic daily food that you give your guppies.  However, you can also include some live or free-dried foods once or twice a week.  Things like brine shrimp, frozen bloodworms, and mosquito larvae are a great food supply for guppies.  Some hobbyists opt to make their own food at home because they want more control over the foods that the fish are eating. 

It would be problematic to not mention that guppies should stay away from breads, oily foods, and processed foods.  Bread, for example, only fouls the water up and has no nutrients in it that would help your guppies out.  These types of foods either have zero nutritional value or they are very dangerous to the health of your fish, so best to avoid them. 

What Are High Quality Fish Food Ingredients?

When you are choosing what particular guppy food, you want to pay close attention to what ingredients are highlighted with that product.  For example, guppy fry need to have high protein in their diet in order to promote growth, while adult guppies benefit more from having foods with a lot of amino acids, omega 3, and fatty acids.  These ingredients are essential to the health and well-bring of your guppies.  Live foods will generally have a lot of the best ingredients in them naturally, which make them a great option for your guppies. 

Best Guppy Food (overall pick)

Hikari Fancy Guppy Fish Food

Hikari USA is a well-known company that offers some of the best guppy food.  With top quality ingredients, Hikari created a high quality guppy food for your beautiful fish to feast on.  The guppy food promotes healthy immune systems, quality growth rates, and helps the guppies defend against diseases.  This guppy food contains many natural ingredients and incredible flavor to make your fish happy in your tank.  For a high protein diet for your guppy food, look into Hikari Fancy Guppy Fish Food.

Pros

  • Priced well
  • Fresh natural ingredients
  • Good value for money

Cons

  • Small-ish bag

Cobalt Aquatics Premium Tropical Flakes Fish Food

A great option for guppy food is the Ultra Fresh Royal Guppy Mignon Pellet.  This guppy food is in pellet form and has a shrimp flavor to it.  This is one of the best options for supporting bright colors and cleaner waters.  This brand uses natural ingredients like seaweed, fresh sword prawns, and Australian spirulina to give a vitamin boost and nutritional value to all of your guppy fish.  This easy to use food source will keep your fish looking great and is one of the best choices for digestion.  Check out Ultra Fresh Royal Guppy Mignon Pellet for a balanced diet for your guppies.

Pros

  • Shrimp flavored
  • Quality ingredients
  • Fresh

Cons

  • Sinks too quickly

Best Flake Food for Guppies

New Life Spectrum Optimum Flakes

If you are looking for a food source that is in flake form, peek at the New Life Spectrum Optimum Flakes.  These tropical flakes are great for tropical fish and promote strong immune system health.  This guppy food is better for surface dwellers and is the best choice for freshwater flakes.  The New Life Spectrum Optimum Flakes include an enhanced Naturox formula which also contains bits of garlic.  These main ingredients are good for all ages of fish and come in large flakes that your guppies will love. 

Pros

  • Supports immune system health
  • New formula
  • Last 4-6 months

Cons

  • Flakes need to be broken up for most fish

TetraMin Tropical Flakes

Tetra has a flake option as well in the TetraMin Tropical Flakes.  This is a highly rated, nutritionally balanced food for guppies and other fish.  It is a fish-flavored guppy food that is good for all ages of fish. This is one of the best fish foods for guppies because of its antioxidants.  These antioxidants help cells stay healthy and keep the guppy colors looking bright and beautiful.  The TetraMin Tropical Flakes also will not leave your tank dirty or cloudy, which is huge for the tank’s presentation and health of the fish.  This brand of flake food will certainly be a favorite food for guppies in your aquarium.

Pros

  • Digestible ingredients
  • Does not cloud water
  • Added antioxidants

Cons

  • No lid to keep fresh

Best Guppy Food for Color

Omega One Super Color Flakes

Omega makes one the best fish food on the market today with their Omega One Super Color Flakes that specialize in bringing out the bright colors in your fish.  They contain a lot of Omega 3 and 6 and are a high protein food for guppies.  These color flakes work with both freshwater and saltwater fish and are naturally insoluble, which makes less waste.  This guppy food also has less starch than other brands, which have your fish leaving less waste to clean up.  With over 40 years in the fish food business, Omega One Super Color Flakes are a high quality guppy food, which really let your fish show their true colors.

Pros

  • Significant color enhancement
  • Creates less waste
  • High protein

Cons

  • Too powdery for some

Tetracolor Plus Tropical Flakes

Another solid product from Tetra is using the Tetracolor Plus Tropical Flakes for guppy food.  This fish-flavored flake is perfect for all ages of fish and provides a balanced diet.  Flakes with this kind of nutritional value help the colors of your guppy’s shine in the water.  These flakes are rich in carotene and other natural ingredients to boost the color of your guppies. The Tetracolor Plus Tropical Flakes are also very good about not making your aquarium cloudy. 

Pros

  • Great flavor
  • Quality ingredients
  • Great value for money

Cons

  • A bit dense

Best Food for Guppy Growth

Fluval Bug Bites

There are many different types of foods to give your guppies and one of the best foods is Fluval Bug Bites.  The very first ingredient is insect larvae which is incredibly high in nutrients, which makes it the perfect for guppy growth.  This brand of tropical formula includes multiple sources of high protein like salmon which help increase the growth rate of your guppies.  This kind of food is meant for adult guppies.  Fluval Bug Bites contains no artificial fillers, colors, or preservatives and only has main ingredients that have essential vitamins for your guppy’s health and happiness.  This kind of guppy food is sure to be a hit with your tank.

Pros

  • Very popular flavor for guppies
  • Highly rated
  • Trusted company

Cons

  • Pellets are large

Xtreme Aquatic Foods Nano Food

An alternative to the larger pellets is from Xtream Aquatic Foods, which is the Xtreme Aquatic Foods Nano Food.  This food promotes healthy growth for young-adult fish and makes for a great meal for your guppies.  The pellets are smaller, all natural, and have a very popular flavor with fish around the world.  They also do not use any kind of hormones or artificial coloring, but all of the essential vitamins for your guppy growth.  Xtreme Aquatic Foods Nano Food is a quality brand and a great value for your money, so try it our as your new guppy food.

Pros

  • Smaller pellets
  • All natural ingredients
  • Made in the USA

Cons

  • Higher than average price

Best Food for Guppy Fry

Hikari First Bites Fish Food

Baby guppies, or guppy fry, need their nutrients too.  One of the best guppy foods for fry is the Hikari First Bites Fish Food.  This food for guppy fry is a great source of protein and prepare them for proper feeding habits.  This dry, fish-flavored guppy food encourages rapid growth for your fry as most of the ingredients are freshly harvested.  Hikari First Bites Fish Food is a powerful food for guppy fry and will help them develop resistances to diseases.  Any fish keepers that have a new batch of guppy fry would do well to try this fish food.

Pros

  • Great for promoting guppy growth
  • High source of nutrients
  • Encourages proper eating habits

Cons

  • Tend to sink to the bottom quickly

Ultra Fresh Baby Fish Food

Another major brand of guppy fry food is Ultra Fresh Baby Fish Food.  This is a shrimp-flavored favorite with guppy fry and comes in little granules.  This makes it the perfect guppy food alternative to baby brine shrimp that the fry would eat in the wild.  The granules are slow sinking and create no dust, oily film, or much pollution in your aquarium.  Ultra Fresh Baby Fish Food is a great source of vitamin C along with other essential nutrients that helps your guppy reach their full growth potential. 

Pros

  • Granule form
  • Packed with vitamins
  • Good for digestion

Cons

  • A bit too powdery

Best Live Food for Adult Guppies

White Worms

Nothing like live food for your adult guppies to munch on.  One of the great live foods are white worms, which are easily grown in a terrestrial system.  They can survive in both freshwater and saltwater and are one of the best live foods for guppies.  The white worms wiggle in their area which attracts the guppies.  White worms also do not leave much of a mess and do not impair any of the water quality, making them ideal for adult guppy food.  In order to use white worms, you will need to fill a container with some dirt or coco fiber.  With this container, you can add a starter culture to the dirt and begin growing your white worms.  Once your starter culture has grown, you will have your own constant source of live guppy food.

Pros

  • High in nutrients
  • Great flavor
  • Easy to create start culture

Cons

  • Delivery issues reported

Grindal Worms

Another type of live food is the Grindal Worm Starter Culture.  Grindal worms are cousins to earthworms and are a fish favorite to eat.  Easy to raise, grindal worms offer a varied diet from the usual flakes and pellets.  Grindal worms are similar to the aforementioned white worms except that the white worms prefer much cooler temperatures than grindal worms.  However, once you have them firmly settled, you will be able to provide live food for guppies any time you want.

Pros

  • Easy to set up starter culture
  • Good value for money
  • High in nutritional value

Cons

  • Delivery issues reported

Live Daphnia

If you have a freshwater aquarium, check out live daphnia for your guppy food.  Otherwise known as common water fleas, they are shrimp flavored, easy to grow, and quite a tasty treat for your guppy fry.  Since the daphnia is in such small bodies, they are perfect for baby guppies to munch on.  It is recommended that you only feed them a small pinch of daphnia one or two times a week to promote fast growth within the guppies.  The live daphnia works well with other types of guppy food and adds much needed nourishment to your guppy’s balanced diet.

Pros

  • Promotes growth
  • High in protein
  • Great value for money

Cons

  • Not a daily food for guppies

Best Live Food for Guppy Fry

Microworms

If you have some newborn guppy fry in your fish tank and you are looking to get them started on some quality guppy fish food, the best choice is microworms.  Microworms are an essential start to a guppy’s healthy diet.  Microworms are actually nematodes that are used as a food.  Some smaller adult fish might pick at the microworms a bit, but mainly the food is meant for the baby guppies.  Once they are placed in the water, they will live for about 8-12 hours, so be careful not to overfeed you guppies.  Set at a reasonable price, microworms are a great way to ensure that your guppy food is top quality and gives lots of essential protein to their diets. 

Pros

  • Great taste for guppies
  • Easy to start
  • Only require a small amount

Cons

  • Smell a bit

Vinegar Eels

Another fantastic food for guppy fry are vinegar eels, especially for small newborns.  They wiggle a lot which compel the fry to hunt them down and gobble them up.  Vinegar eels are high in nutrition and make a great live food for guppy fry.  Once they are established, vinegar eels can last around ten months.  If you have females, they can give birth to up to 45 young ever week or so.  This makes them an incredible source of food for your guppy fry.  The best part is that they only require two to four weeks to start up.  This is an easy process which requires a container, apple slices, some apple-cider vinegar, and water.  In no time, your new culture should be ready for harvesting to feed your guppy fry.  Vinegar eels help your guppy fry grow to their fullest potential.

Pros

  • High nutritional content
  • Easy to set up starter culture
  • Perfect for guppy fry

Cons

  • Delivery issues reported

Baby Brine Shrimp

Baby brine shrimp is another great option for food for guppy fry.  Companies like San Francisco Bay Brand make kits that will help you grow brine shrimp eggs so that you can eventually feed them to your guppy fry.  They are an excellent food for your baby fish as they are high in nutritional value and contain an egg yolk sac that make them so convenient for baby guppy to eat.  They are best used a couple of hours after hatching as it makes them more potent for growth when fed to the guppies.  This is a quality aquatic product that will promote high growth health for your guppy fry.

Pros

  • Easy to set up
  • Easy to clean
  • High nutritional value

Cons

  • Leaking issues reported

How to Make Homemade Food for Guppies

There are also those that want to make their own homemade food for guppies, which can have many benefits if you know how to go about it.  For one, it is usually cheaper in the long run as many products tend to cost money and only last a short time.  Another reason is that some fish keepers enjoy having more control over what food their guppies eat.  There are many human foods that guppies can eat, especially when it comes to fresh vegetables.  From spinach leaves to potatoes, peas to green beans, and even soft algae, the guppy diet is versatile and there are a lot of homemade options.  The takeaway is that any kind of plant matter will generally work as guppy food.  You can also use foods like oatmeal in the center of a plastic container with some brewer’s yeast on top and add some worms. 

Having control over what ingredients go into your guppy food is an important point for many fish keepers.  It may end up being a bit of a tedious process to prepare all these different foods, but once you get the process started, you begin to recognize the routine you want to build and it becomes a lot easier as the weeks go by.  Since you are making your own guppy food, there are many nutrients that are absent in many other dry foods. 

Furthermore, when preparing homemade food for guppies, you need to make sure that there is a high protein count in the food as the guppy’s diet is protein-rich, so use things like meat and egg yolk.  But keep in mind that guppies have tiny mouths, so make sure that you break up the food into small pieces so it is easier for them to eat. 

How to feed guppies?

When feeding guppies, it is important to give them a variety of foods in order to spice things up for them.  By giving the guppies different types of foods, they will get different sets of nutritional value from each kind of food.  Some foods may be higher in proteins, while other focus more on other essential vitamins. 

As a general rule of thumb, you should only be feeding your guppies two times a day with about as much food as they can devour in a few minutes.  If you feed them too much, then the guppies can start exhibiting certain health problems.  After feeding them, keep an eye on them to make sure you are indeed giving them a proper amount.

Guppies can actually live for about two weeks without any food.  While not ideal, guppy fish can survive on little to no food for a bit of time.  However, seeing as you want your guppies to stay as healthy as possible, this scenario should be avoided as much as possible. 

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