Questions about stocking and Guppies as feeders?

[happygirl65]

Does anyone here breed small fish like guppies to feed any of their fish? I remember that my mother did this when I was young and she did have some rather agressive amazon fish.

Is this considered cruel? Or is this conidered to be keeping really healthy fish? I am conflicted. (Perhaps sappy and silly but still I DO understand the circle of life in an ecosstem and am all for the natural health wherever possible)

I would like to have some angels in my 55 gal tank and perhaps a BGK (with plans to build a huge tank in a couple years for him) and I know that both of these guys will eat the guppies.

I guess, I am toying with the idea of occasionally putting guppies in just to supplement their diet a bit....but what I dont know is if this will make them more agressive? Is this something you just dont really want to do in a community tank? Or is this just something people do for really large agressive fish?

Also will any fish breed in a commnity? I would think that most of the time the fry would get eaten immediately if so, but didn't know if this will happen more with some species? I dont want to end up with a ton of something and no where to put them. I am considering setting up a 10 gal for a QT tank somewhere else too...what are anyone's thoughts on this?

I was thinking that if I do notice something is about to have babies then I could put them in the QT tank as long as nothing else is there at the time...but then what?

So far my stocking plan is as follows: (55 gal 48 in long, 20 high, 13 deep

3-Corys
1-BN Pleco
?-Angelfish (not sure how many need more info)
3-Dwarf gourami
2-Pearl Gourami
6-Cherry Barb or Rosey Barb (depending on what I can find)
1-Brown Ghost Knife (if I can find it..Black if not)

Still considering MTS but would want to leave room for loaches if the population explodes.
Also how big do mystery snails get? They sure are neat!


And for anyone who doesnt already know, this is not my first tank, but it has been a while and I was not the one taking care of the tank before. That is why I am taking so much care in doing all my "homework" before even setting up my tank. I just want to have a plan and then stick to it for the most part, that way I can tell my kids and my husvand when we are at the LFS exactly why they can't have that "pretty red one" over there.

TIA
Tori

 

[hc8719]

i cant coment on feeding feeders, because i dont due it personally, half the time i hear people saying "do it, it saves money" and other times people say its not worth the hassle" i too think it would kinda be wrong, but on the other hand, my acf and BGK need to eat. as far as morals, i think giving the feeders a good life before sending them to the death tank is ok (it kinda sounds wrong i know) i mean feed them well, and dont make it look like a lps feeder tank with 20 million feeders in there.

as far as angels, i hear keep 1 or 4+ because one gets dominant and hates the others.

and as far as the BGK, i think yours would do quite alright in a 55 gal for awhile, i know mine has done well in a 55gal, so if you do plan on getting a bigger tank, get a BGK now if you like.

be careful when getting cherry barbs, it turned out i got 3 male and 1 female, and the males instead of fighting each other, would just harass the female (maybe so the other males didnt have a chance) so the male ended up in qt, with my ACF, who honestly didnt think could eat them, let alone 2 in an hour.

and finally, mystery/brig/apple snails, there are actually 2 diff sub-species, one gets like 2 inches, and other other kind can get as big as a baseball. hope this helps

 

[happygirl65]

Awesome answers and so FAST!

Can I trust the LFS to tell me how big the snail will get? Or is it better to research the scientific name? I like the apple snail and think 2 inches is great but wouldnt want the larger one...that's just too big for me.

With the BGK I originally didnt think I would get a bigger tank but since we will be adding on to the house again in the near future I know I can plan for what I want and have my husband build me whatever size I need. I think a really large tank could be a neat room divider. I think if I can sucessfully master this 55 and keep it looking fantastic then I can convince him to let me have another even bigger one.

This board is great! I am getting so many good ideas and so much good advice.

Anyone have any other comments on my stocking plan? I didn't know that about the cherry barbs, but think tiger barbs are exactly the same way. May need to find some different group/school fish.
Are the rosey barbs the same? They look so similar?

I think I am too squeemish about the guppy feeder thing (my mother's suggestion from her exp.) and might have a hard time explaining missing fish to my kids....LOL . I do remember seeing them get eaten at times when I was kid and I was fascinated and horrified at the same time. I think as long as all of my fish will thrive on commercially available foods then I will probably go that route.

 

[hc8719]

im not really sure why you need feeder? who do you plan on feeding them to? angels? they can live on flakes and bloodworms, plus they wont eat feeders until full grown.

most, if not all snails are coldwater (i hear mixed on mysterys) which means putting them in a tropical tank, they wont live much longer than a year or two

i dont think the lfs will lie to you about snails, the largest ive seen was golfball size anyways, and like i said, they dont live long enough to grow that big in tropical tanks.

another thing about mystery snails, sometimes your water isnt hard enough, and they may need calcium added to the tank (i add 3 day calcium feeders)

other the other hand, ghost shrimp are incredibly active, very good bottom cleaners, and only cost $0.30 or less per shrimp

about cherry barbs, you usually need 2 females for every male, (they're real easy to distinguish)

heres a link to a site im helping work on: http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Cherry_Barb

male picture is on top, female scroll down to the bottom, (they're even easier to tell apart in person)

 

[happygirl65]

OK, You are right, I dont need feeders. I just have seen so much about Angels eating neons and guppies and thought...perhaps that was a natural order sort of thing.....but it seems now that its more of a "big fish' vs "little fish" thing. I have never had angels before so I just wanted to cover all my bases but I got some bad advice from someone. That is why I posted.

About the ghost shrimp, will they attack any of the other fish? I posted once about crabs and someone told me that most crabs and shrimps will tear at the fins of any fish who gets close enough....in your experience is this true at all? I do think the ghost shrimp are cool and I would think they would be incredibly fascinating to watch and a good addition if they can live there peacefully.

I checked out your page on the Cherry Barbs, cool site. You are definitely right about the sex, it would be no problem to tell at any LFS. Thanks for your assistance!

 

[hc8719]

"big fish' vs "little fish" thing. I have never had angels before so I just wanted to cover all my bases but I got some bad advice from someone. That is why I posted.

About the ghost shrimp, will they attack any of the other fish? I posted once about crabs and someone told me that most crabs and shrimps will tear at the fins of any fish who gets close enough....in your experience is this true at all? I do think the ghost shrimp are cool and I would think they would be incredibly fascinating to watch and a good addition if they can live there peacefully.

one more thing about angels, if you have a small angels, and they grow up with neons, they probably wont consider neons food when they get bigger, unless they are starving.

ghost shrimp, fin nippers?, ha, they must have met crawfish. ghost shrimp as well as all shrimp im familiar with are the most non-violent animal you'll see in a tank. it has been said ghost shrimp will die before it gives gives away food to another ghost shrimp, but will give it up in a heart beat if a fish attempts to steal it.

ghost shrimp are the bottom of the food chain (right next to plants) wonder why they sell so cheap? because they are meant to be feeder animals for larger fish. however alot of people keep them as tank-mates for cleaning up leftover scaps in a fish tank. i have kept ghost shrimp tiny neons, with no problem if that helps.

only if you have tiny fish fry do the ghost shrimp present a problem, as they may eat fry.

feel free to pm me if you have more questions...