Best Foods For Guppy Fish Based on Ingredient Quality

Guppies are true omnivores and need a varied diet of animal proteins and plant matter to make sure they get all the nutrients required.

In this article, I want you to come away with not just a list of high-quality foods, but also the knowledge of how to look at any foods in the future and instantly know how to judge the quality.

High Quality Fish Food Ingredients For Guppies

When it comes to checking ingredients, the first items listed is the key indicator for quality. Here’s what you want to see:

Whole Fish

Whole fish is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to fish food. It gives you the most usable protein and contains all of the oils that are so important for fish health.

It’s also great to see listings for things like whole shrimp or krill. It means the whole animal was used instead of just the leftover shells and heads that you get from shrimp meal (specific animal meal is acceptable).

Shrimp and krill also have the added benefit of being color enhancing. The red pigment that makes most shrimp and krill pink can help make red, yellow and orange fish more vibrant.

Spirulina

Spirulina is a freshwater cyanobacteria (aka blue-green algae) that is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. It even has some protein. 

And it’s easily digestible so fish are able to absorb more of the nutrients.

It also has color enhancing properties that can help make your fish even more vivid.

Kelp

Kelp is a marine macroalgae that grows to enormous size. Just like spirulina, kelp is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals in a form that’s easy for fish to digest.

This is a good substitute for all of the algae that guppies would normally graze on in the wild.

Low-Quality Ingredients To Avoid

There are several low quality ingredients that are used as cheap fillers for fish food. It’s a red flag if you see any of these listed as the one of the main ingredients.

Generic Fish Meal

Generic fish meal (fish meal that doesn’t name a specific species) is usually a sign of low quality food, especially if it is the main protein source (first ingredient listed on the packet).

Fish meal is made up of all the garbage that’s left over after fish are processed for human consumption. 

Processing plants fillet the fish, harvest the fish oil and then throw the rest (skin, scales, bones,  guts, etc) into a big machine so it can be ground into a paste.

Doesn’t that just sound delicious?

The problem with fish meal is that a lot of the good stuff has already been used up by the time the “fish” make it into the grinder. Things like the actual meat of the fish and the fish oil are taken out before the grinding.

Wheat

Wheat products are often used in fish foods as fillers, binding agents and fiber additives.

A little wheat to help bind fish food together is one thing, but wheat shouldn’t be one of the main ingredients of a fish food.

A fish’s body is just not designed to digest a grain like wheat. Their digestive systems will mostly just pass things like that through as waste, helping to foul your water.

Soy

Just like wheat, soy is not something that you want to see as a main ingredient. Yes, soy contains protein, but it’s difficult to digest, even for humans. 

Fish digestive tracts are short and primitive. They’re not good at breaking down tough ingredients. Whatever fish can’t readily digest, their bodies just push through as waste.

That just means more poop from food that really didn’t benefit the fish at all.

Best Foods For Guppies With High-Quality Ingredients

New Life Spectrum Thera A Small

These sinking pellets, combine krill, squid, a medley of seaweeds, with spirulina and marigold. This is a color, enhancing, balanced diet ideal for guppies.

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Krill (Euphasia superba), Squid (Dosidicus gigas), Whole Wheat Flour, Fish (Brevoortia tyrannus), Garlic, Fish Oil, Seaweed (Ulva lactuca, Undaria pinnatafida, Eucheuma cottonii, Eucheuma spinosum, Chondrus crispus), Kelp, Green Algae (Chlorella pyrendoidosa), Ginger, Astaxanthin, Spirulina,  Marigold, Bentonite Clay, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin,Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride,Calcium Pantothenate, L-Ascorbyl-2 Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Choline Chloride, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Tocopherols (a preservative)

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New Life Spectrum Grow 60

Spectrum Grow comes in the form of teeny tiny pellets which are a great size for guppy fish. Packed with high quality protein sources and a wide variety of seaweeds as well as spirulina, offering a great balance for guppies.

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Squid (Dosidicus gigas), Krill ­(Euphasia superba), Whole Wheat Flour, Fish (Brevoortia tyrannus), Garlic, Fish Oil, Seaweed (Ulva lactuca, Undaria pinnatafida, Eucheuma cottonii, Eucheuma spinosum, Chondrus crispus), Kelp, Green Algae (Chlorellapyrendoidosa), Ginger, Astaxanthin, Spirulina, Marigold, Bentonite Clay, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Acetate,Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement,Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate,  L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Choline Chloride, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Tocopherols (a preservative)

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Omega One Color Mini Sinking Pellets

Omega One Color Mini Sinking Pellets are made up of quality protein sources, like salmon, whole herring and whole shrimp, these sinking pellets, also contain marigold to help enhance colors of your guppies.

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Salmon, Whole Herring, Wheat Germ, Wheat Flour, Whole Shrimp, Pea Protein, Rice Bran, Wheat Gluten, Herring Oil, Kelp, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E Supplement, Mixed Tocopherols, Marigold Extract, Niacin, Inositol, Astaxanthin, Canthaxanthin, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement

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Omega One Super Veggie Pellets Small Floating

These small floating pellets have a good balanced mix of proteins, like salmon, whole herring, and whole shrimp with and spirulina. They also contain some marigold extract, which can help enhance colors of guppies. This is a great daily feeder.

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Salmon, Whole Herring, Rice Bran, Wheat Flour, Wheat Germ, Kelp, Pea Protein, Whole Shrimp, Wheat Gluten, Spirulina, Herring Oil, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin E Supplement, Mixed Tocopherols, Marigold Extract, Niacin, Inositol, Astaxanthin, Canthaxanthin, Riboflavin, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement

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New Life Spectrum Naturox Optimum All Purpose Flakes

These flakes are made from Protein sources, like krill, squid and whole fish, as well as great plant-based foods like a mix of seaweeds, kelp, spirulina, marigold and algae. They make a great staple diet for guppies as they provide the full spectrum of nutrition they need.

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Krill (Euphasia superba), Squid (Dosidicus gigas), Whole Wheat Flour, Fish (Brevoortia tyrannus), Garlic, Fish Oil, Seaweed (Ulva latuca, Undaria pinnatafida, Euchema  cottonii, Euchema spinosum, Chondrus crispus), Green Algae (Chlorella pyrendoidosa), Kelp, Ginger, Astaxanthin, Spirulina, Marigold, Bentonite Clay, Sea Salt, Vitamin A Acetate,Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement,Vitamin B12 Supplement,  Niacin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride,Calcium Pantothenate,  L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Vitamin C), Choline Chloride, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Tocopherols (a preservative)

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Zoo Med Spirulina 20 Flake Fish Food

Spirulina 20 has always been one of the foods that I rotate around for my various aquariums and guppies will love to snack on this. It contains a nice mix between animal based ingredients and large amounts of spirulina, which is packed with all sorts of different nutrients.

I do recommend feeding it a few times a week alongside your other foods since spirulina is such a great color enhancer, especially for blue and green fish.

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Salmon Fish Meal, Spirulina Algae Meal, Soy Flour, Wheat Flour, Corn Starch, Dried Krill Meal, Shrimp Meal, Plankton Meal, Lecithin, Vegetable Oil, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (stabilized Vitamin C)

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Repashy Soilent Green

I love that the first ingredient of this gel food is spirulina. It is such a high-quality plant-based ingredient packed with lots of nutrients for guppies. It also contains high-quality protein sources Like krill and black soldier fly larvae meal. This is a great food to have in your rotation for guppies.

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Spirulina Algae, Algae Meal (Chlorella), Krill Meal, Pea Protein Isolate, Black Soldier Fly Larvae Meal, Rice Protein Concentrate, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Leaf Meal, Dried Brewer’s Yeast, Coconut Meal, Stabilized Rice Bran, Flax Seed Meal, Schizochytrium Algae, Dried Seaweed Meal, Lecithin, Locust Bean Gum, Citric Acid, Taurine, Stinging Nettle, Garlic, Dried Kelp, Dried Watermelon, RoseHips, Hibiscus Flower, Marigold Flower, Paprika, Turmeric, Salt, Calcium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (as preservatives), Magnesium Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Manganese Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate, Copper Methionine Hydroxy Analogue Chelate. Vitamins: (Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Calcium L-Ascorbyl-2-Monophosphate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Beta Carotene, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex)

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Northfin Fish Food Veggie Formula Slow Sinking Pellets 1mm

This veggie formula is awesome for guppies. Organic kelp and whole krill provide great nutrition that is easily digestible. This is a slow sinking pellet.

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Organic Kelp (Laminariales), Whole Antarctic Krill Meal (Euphausia Superba), High DHA Omega-3 Whole Herring Meal, Whole Sardine Meal, Wheat Flour, Spirulina, Garlic (Allium Sativum), Astaxanthin, Montmorillonite Clay, Vitamin A Acetate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Cholecalciferol, Alpha-tocopherol Acetate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Thiamine, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Cobalt Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Selenium, Zinc, Rosemary Extract (Rosmarinus Officinalis)

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Feed a Varied Diet for Best Results

Guppies are true omnivores. They cruise around and eat pretty much anything they can get in their mouths.

It’s especially good to give guppies lots of different proteins since they reproduce constantly.

I recommend a varied diet as much as possible in the aquarium. Pick a couple a staple foods to rotate and then some Zoo Med Spirulina 20 as a nice treat.