Guppies with the Munchies!

[CcJ23]

I have already posted this in the new introductions page (I just joined AA today) but I figured I would post it here to see if I get a better reaction!

Does anyone have any advice on guppies? I have a lot and have had the tank for a while, however I think they are still eatting a lot of the fry. My goal is to raise as many as posible to adulthood. I will try to upload a picture to show how many plants I actually have in there. I recently placed a female that looks like she is due any day in a breeding box that I finally bought. Do you think it will help? She has been in there for almost a week because she was really boxy and gravid. Will this stress her so she doesn't give birth? Let me try to get a picture of her too...

The first 2 pictures show how heavily planted the tank is and the breeder box in the upper left.


These pictures show the female that I have in the breeder box. She is obviously plump, but she has been like this for a week and I expected her to have the fry by now. This is my first attempt at a breeder box. Should I be worried about stressing her or should I remove her? Advice??

 

[khoifish89]

dang that is a lot of plants. okay on to the subject, what i do is to have a separate fries tank. this eliminate the problem of other guppies eat the fries.

 

[CcJ23]

I want to setup a fry tank, but my problem is getting to that stage. Before I set one up, I want to have substantial fry to put in that tank. I am probably getting less than 10 fry from each drop. I know thats not normal! I have even seen them eat the fry...so sad but I can't catch them with all the plants and I have no where to put them besides a tupperware container LOL. I guess my question is, will this fry bin save me a lot of fry? I'm hoping for 30 or more...thats atleast what a guppy should have right?

 

[Ian086]

I agree with Khoifish89, seems a bit over-planted. If you don't have a fry tank(a 10g is plenty), and you are using the main tank, i would check out a floating b.trap with a compartment on the bottom for the fry. I would then transfer the fry to a breeding net. Don't release the female back to the main tank for about 2 days. Let her recover. I have had good success that way. I picked up a 10g for a couple of euro for my fry. I only have two(fake) plants, a internal filter and an airstone. I currently have about 60 week-old platy fry(my second batch) in my 10g

 

[Ian086]

I want to setup a fry tank, but my problem is getting to that stage. Before I set one up, I want to have substantial fry to put in that tank. I am probably getting less than 10 fry from each drop. I know thats not normal! I have even seen them eat the fry...so sad but I can't catch them with all the plants and I have no where to put them besides a tupperware container LOL. I guess my question is, will this fry bin save me a lot of fry? I'm hoping for 30 or more...thats at least what a guppy should have right?

The problem is you won't get substantial fry to put in a fry tank in the first place without getting the fry tank!!-hope that makes sense!. The fry will be just snacks for the other guppies. You'll have to set-up the fry tank properly first. The fry are going to be super sensitive to the conditions in the fry tank, also it'll have to cycle first, even it's just a mini-cycle. Patience is the key as I'm sure your aware, guppies are like rabbits. You'll have more than you can handle in no time....Ian

Good luck trying to catch the fry with all those plants!!

 

[callisto9]

I just had my first guppy fry last week. The female dropped them in the tank and as I saw them, I netted them and put them in a fry net. All ten are doing well. Ten might be all I can expect from my guppies though - they are the smaller "Japan Blue" variety. About the size of Endler's.

 

[CcJ23]

All of those plants grew from a 3 or 4 trimmings I had a few months ago LOL. I have actually have actually been selling them on Craigslist. I will hopefully have somebody getting picking them up in a few days so my tank will be less dense. For the fry that are in there however, it makes great hide-aways! In larger tanks it makes a gorgeous fast growing carpet.
Did you see the breeder box in the upper left picture? Will that work ok? I have another 10 gallon that I haven't set-up yet. I don't haave a filter or lights/ a lid for it yet unfortunately. Do you know where I can get a cheap sponge filter for it?
So you think with a fry tank and a breeding trap I will have a lot more fry?!

 

[Wiggles24]

Omg I have never seen a tank that planted in my life!!!!! Lol

 

[CcJ23]

The problem is you won't get substantial fry to put in a fry tank in the first place without getting the fry tank!!-hope that makes sense!. The fry will be just snacks for the other guppies. You'll have to set-up the fry tank properly first. The fry are going to be super sensitive to the conditions in the fry tank, also it'll have to cycle first, even it's just a mini-cycle. Patience is the key as I'm sure your aware, guppies are like rabbits. You'll have more than you can handle in no time....Ian

Good luck trying to catch the fry with all those plants!!

Yeah it makes sense. Do you think I can set it up without a filter or lights for now? I did a mini experiment with a small batch of fry several month ago before I had all these plants and I put them in a tupperware container. They didn't grow as fast as I expected, probably because I got behind on water changes, and they didn't develop their color. Needless to say, I finally put them back in this tank and the male quickly began to develop color, some were the most intense colors I've gotten! The females ironically, some developed color and some still remain very gray. I'm keeping them to see if that changes. This all basically brings me to my question, do you think light is neccessary for new born fry? I think it is as they mature but for a temporary thing...?

 

[Ian086]

All of those plants grew from a 3 or 4 trimmings I had a few months ago LOL. I have actually have actually been selling them on Craigslist. I will hopefully have somebody getting picking them up in a few days so my tank will be less dense. For the fry that are in there however, it makes great hide-aways! In larger tanks it makes a gorgeous fast growing carpet.
Did you see the breeder box in the upper left picture? Will that work ok? I have another 10 gallon that I haven't set-up yet. I don't haave a filter or lights/ a lid for it yet unfortunately. Do you know where I can get a cheap sponge filter for it?
So you think with a fry tank and a breeding trap I will have a lot more fry?!

It does indeed make a great hiding spot but they'll usually be picked of one by one..Sorry didn't see your breeder trap, yeah that looks similar to mine. Should do the trick as long as the fry can't escape!!. If i were you i would set-up the other tank now, i live across the pond mate but i'm sure you can pick up a cheap filter on ebay or a lfs..You don't really need a 'sponge' filter, an internal filter will do-whichever is cheaper for you. Don't get anything over powerfull, you just want a gentle current. Just cover the in-take vents on it with a pair of ladies tights(i think you's guys call them panty-hoes???). They will become your best friend!. Cheap and so many aquarium uses..And the light-you could just use a table lamp until you pick something up, again try ebay..Trust me mate if you set it up like this, your have tons of guppies in no time. Have you thought about what you're going to do with all the newbies??. I trade mine with the lfs for credit....I'm no pro, but everything i told you worked for me...Ian

................If you don't ask questions, you won't get answers........

 

[Ian086]

Yeah it makes sense. Do you think I can set it up without a filter or lights for now? I did a mini experiment with a small batch of fry several month ago before I had all these plants and I put them in a tupperware container. They didn't grow as fast as I expected, probably because I got behind on water changes, and they didn't develop their color. Needless to say, I finally put them back in this tank and the male quickly began to develop color, some were the most intense colors I've gotten! The females ironically, some developed color and some still remain very gray. I'm keeping them to see if that changes. This all basically brings me to my question, do you think light is necessary for new born fry? I think it is as they mature but for a temporary thing...?

The lights you'll get away with for now but the filter could be a problem. The problem would be that because the filter will be new, it won't have any good bacteria in it. You could quicken the cycle a bit by putting it in your established tank. This will still take a few weeks. You could use some media sponges from your other filter in the new filter(you might have to cut them to size)to quicken the cycle up. Also use some substrate from your other tank.. They don't usually show there colours for a few weeks and mine took a while to grow. The females will be less colourful anyway..I think you answered your own question about the light, they do need it but you'd get away with it for a week or two anyway....I know you probably don't want to hear this, put patience really is the key here..it'll save you so much headache and fish!!...

Add me to your contacts if you like and keep in touch and let me know how your getting on...I can email you some photos of my fry set-up if you want...Slan

 

[CcJ23]

The lights you'll get away with for now but the filter could be a problem. The problem would be that because the filter will be new, it won't have any good bacteria in it. You could quicken the cycle a bit by putting it in your established tank. This will still take a few weeks. You could use some media sponges from your other filter in the new filter(you might have to cut them to size)to quicken the cycle up. Also use some substrate from your other tank.. They don't usually show there colours for a few weeks and mine took a while to grow. The females will be less colourful anyway..I think you answered your own question about the light, they do need it but you'd get away with it for a week or two anyway....I know you probably don't want to hear this, put patience really is the key here..it'll save you so much headache and fish!!...

Add me to your contacts if you like and keep in touch and let me know how your getting on...I can email you some photos of my fry set-up if you want...Slan

Thanks Ian! and I just added you. I would love to see your fry set up to give me an idea. As for all the babies, I have sold a few on Craigslist (I don't know if they have that for the UK) and I think I will be able to work something out with the LFS if that Craigslist starts to slow down. Thank for all the help! It's nice to see that other people on here actually care.