What Do Guppies Eat? (Ultimate Answer!)

Guppies are omnivores which means they need a diet made up of both meat protein and vegetable matter. Guppies need to be fed a varied, balanced diet which can be made up of fish flakes, pellets, and live or frozen foods including bloodworms, daphnia, and brine shrimp.

For 60 years or more, guppies have been one of the most popular fish in the freshwater fishkeeping hobby. During that time an almost endless array of colors, patterns, and tail shapes have been developed by hobbyists and professional breeders.

I first started keeping guppies in the 1990s and I don’t think a day has passed when I haven’t had at least one tank full of guppies in my fish room. I have bred and raised thousands of guppies over the years.

One thing I have learned over that time is ‘What is the best food for guppies?’

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What Do Guppies Eat?

Guppies are omnivores, which means they need to eat a diet that is based around both meat and vegetable matter. We can cater to their needs by feeding them good quality fish foods.

If there is one thing I have learned after 30 years of guppy keeping, it’s that guppies can and will eat just about anything. I don’t think during that time there have been many foods I’ve given to my guppies which they have refused to eat.

However, just because they will eat anything, doesn’t mean we should just feed them anything. For guppies to grow strong, healthy, and colorful, it is important we provide them with a balanced diet.

I currently feed my guppies a mix of the following;

• Flake food
• Pellets
• Live and frozen bloodworms
• Frozen daphnia
• Frozen brine shrimp
• Repashy Community Blend

Flake Foods

There are a wide variety of different flake fish foods available on the market today. Some are better than others. I have a long-standing relationship using Tetra Flake foods. I find they hold up well in the water and my guppies seem to relish them. I have heard other hobbyists having good luck with Xtreme Flake Foods, but I haven’t tried them yet.

Good quality flake food should make up the backbone of a balanced guppy diet. I feed my guppy’s flake food at least once every single day. My favorite flake food is this TetraMin Plus (check price on Amazon.com)

Pellets

Fish pellets are much like flakes in that they can be used as a staple fish food. I feel flakes and pellets can be used interchangeably. Although guppies will eat from any part of the aquarium, I have found a floating or slow sinking pellet to be their preference.

I currently feed my guppies Fancy Guppy food by Hikari. The small pellets float for a long time and the ingredients seem designed well around a guppy’s needs.

Hikari seems to have tailored these pellets around pregnant female guppies which need a diet high in fat and protein to help their babies develop properly. Find out more about Fancy Guppy food by Hikari HERE

Live and Frozen Bloodworms

I love feeding my guppies either live or frozen bloodworms. They go nuts for them and they will essentially eat as many as I put in their aquarium.

Bloodworms are a great source of protein, which is especially important for pregnant female guppies. I try to feed my guppy’s bloodworms at least 2 or 3 times every week. I wrote an article titled Can Guppies Eat Bloodworms which might be of interest to you.

Frozen Daphnia

Daphnia is available live or frozen, but unfortunately where I am we only seem to be able to get it in frozen form. Either way, guppies love eating it. Daphnia is tiny waterborne crustaceans. Their shells act as good roughage for guppies and help to keep their internal systems running smoothly. Daphnia is great constipation prevention.

I usually try to give my guppies daphnia a couple of times a week. I usually interchange it with brine shrimp.

Brine Shrimp

Much like with daphnia, brine shrimp is available in live or frozen form, although frozen is much more common.

Again, as with daphnia, brine shrimp provides guppies with a great source of roughage.

I tend to alternate between daphnia and brine shrimp. I feel both are equally as good, and if you can only source one or the other, just feed the one you can buy.

Repashy Community Blend

Repashy is food for the guppy connoisseur. It comes in a powder form and you mix it with boiling water, then allow it to set. Once it has been set you cut it into cubes which will keep in the refrigerator for about a week, or in the freezer for several months.

Repashy is made with high-quality ingredients and I tend to feed it to my guppies either when I need them to put weight on them or when I am trying to beef up some females ready for breeding.

The joy of Repashy is it sits as a cube on the substrate and doesn’t break apart, so my guppies can spend hours just pecking at it, eating a little bit at a time.

What Vegetables Can Guppies Eat?

Guppies do appear to enjoy eating some vegetables. Whilst you would not want to drop a whole zucchini into your aquarium, offering your guppy’s a little bit of fruit or vegetables occasionally can be beneficial to their diet.

Guppys are known to eat many of the following

• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Cucumber
• Green Beans
• Peas
• Cabbage
• Kale
• Spinach
• Cooked Potato

I would highly recommend feeding vegetables to your guppy’s in moderation

How Often Should Guppies Be Fed?

I am often asked ’How often should I feed my guppies?’. The answer varies on a number of different factors. I wrote a whole article dedicated to the subject title How Often Should You Feed Guppies?.

Essentially, I feed my adult guppies 2 to 3 times a day, making sure I give them as varied a diet as possible. Juvenile guppies may need feeding 3 to 4 times a day. When I have guppy fry that I want to grow, I might feed them every few hours, maybe up to 6 times a day.

In Conclusion

As discussed above, guppies are omnivores. They require a varied diet to give them all the vitamins and minerals they need to grow big, strong, healthy, and colorful.

If we as fishkeepers neglect to feed them a balanced diet, we have to expect they may grow poorly, they may not be colorful and they could be more susceptible to pests and diseases.