Guppy Fry

[dskidmore]

How sad! Any idea what the cause was?

[meegosh]

Not too sure... my friend had it in her tank for 5 months or so and had luck breeding with it. So I asked her if I could borrow her for a bit... Looks like I owe her a guppy. I've been watching the parameters closely and everything seems normal. The fry and couple dozen ghost shrimp are doing fine.

[kimo]

Originally Posted by meegosh

I'm guessing that the other fry were eaten by the male. Maybe that is what caused the female to pick on him, and eventually kill him. The ghost shrimp I have in my tank are rather small at this point and I don't think they would catch a fry. I could be wrong though. I will try to find a breeder box or net that I could try to attach. Thanks for the help guys! I've never had any of my fish reproduce, its quite interesting!

Any guesses on ROUGHLY how old it is? Its probably 5-6mm in length. I'm just curious more than anything. I wonder how long ago she had her brood?

A female guppy will never kill a male. It most likely died of another injury or disease. Ghost shrimp at any size won't bother guppy fry. Breeder boxes are a NO, NO when it comes to guppies no matter what you read in the advertisements. That is the easiest way to cause injury and disease. Can't really tell how old the fish is by the size. I've had guppy fry that were so small it was like two eyes on a stick. Some so large at birth that they looked half grown. Probably around two weeks old.

(A fancy guppy breeder for more than 40 years...)

[dskidmore]

Originally Posted by kimo

Breeder boxes are a NO, NO when it comes to guppies no matter what you read in the advertisements. That is the easiest way to cause injury and disease.

If you're trying to produce large numbers, sure, a dedicated fry tank is better, but for the average hobbyist trying to save a few fry, the breeder boxes work fine. I used an airline to siphon out uneaten food, and swished it around to exchange the water every day, and I had respectable survival rates.

[SpeedEuphoria]

Originally Posted by kimo

Ghost shrimp at any size won't bother guppy fry.

I witnessed it in my tank, I was surprised myself

[kimo]

Originally Posted by dskidmore

If you're trying to produce large numbers, sure, a dedicated fry tank is better, but for the average hobbyist trying to save a few fry, the breeder boxes work fine. I used an airline to siphon out uneaten food, and swished it around to exchange the water every day, and I had respectable survival rates.

Much safer and easier to fill a 1 gallon plastic bottle (the kind that dog treats or mayonaise comes in) w/treated water and put the guppy fry in there. All that's needed is an airstone. And NO... the bottle does NOT need to be cycled. The fish will come out of there long before the cycle is complete. If uneaten food clutters the bottom, just use an airline to syphon and clean... maybe once every 3-5 days. A 1g will hold up to 20 fry for the first two weeks. Time enough to seperate females/males. Breeder boxes are too small any way you look at it. Try guppies - Your DIRECT INFORMATION SOURCE about show quality guppies, guppy food, guppy supplies for the best info on how to breed and raise guppies.

[meegosh]

Well I ended up getting a breeder box, the biggest I could find. It has different chambers in it for qt'ing fish. As far as the females beating up the males.... I've seen it again. I went to the LFS and there was a new kid (15 years old) working the tanks. I wanted to get 2 females and two males, he put one male in a bag by himself. Then he got lazy and put the other 3, one male and two females in another bag. While I was on my way home I noticed some activity in the bag. I looked and the one female was nipping the males tail. It took quite a decent chunk out of it. I think the male is stressed, I have been treating with melafix in another tank. Doesn't look good for him.

The others are doing fine - two females and a tequila sunrise male (aka shooter), and the fry is growing like crazy. I'd say its well over 12mm now. When should I wait to take him out of the box? When he/she is almost full grown?

Thanks again everyone, I never expected to have any fry in my tanks, its been quite a learning experience!

[dskidmore]

Originally Posted by meegosh

Then he got lazy and put the other 3, one male and two females in another bag. ... one female was nipping the males tail.

In such overcrowded conditions as you see in transport, you'll get unusually agressive behavior from stressed fish. That doesn't mean it's part of their normal temprament.

[meegosh]

I was simply responding to kimo's statement that a female guppy will never kill a male. I saw it done a few weeks ago to my male guppy when he got nipped/stressed to death from the new female. I agree that during transport they are more aggressive due to stress.

[kimo]

Originally Posted by meegosh

I was simply responding to kimo's statement that a female guppy will never kill a male. I saw it done a few weeks ago to my male guppy when he got nipped/stressed to death from the new female. I agree that during transport they are more aggressive due to stress.

There was something already wrong with that male guppy that put him on his last legs. The female didn't kill him.