Unexpected baby guppies! Help!

[Bmtiz92]

Hi everyone,
Tonight after I got home from my night classes, I started to do a PWC on my 10 gal tank. I haven't been as diligent with it the last two weeks because I have had tests and have been sick, so as soon as I got home tonight I turned off my filter and airater and started to siphon off the bottom, to my shock the poop started swimming! Upon closer inspection I realized I had a couple fry in there...I have searched high and low and only found five, and have put my two female guppies into the breeder box I got as a quarantine box for a fish with a hurt fin. I had no idea either of them were pregnant, much less about to drop fry! Neither of them really got much bigger, and everything I've read say they "square off" and I never saw this in either of them. Thing is, now I have 5 baby guppies and I have absolutely NO idea what to do and how to care for them! Right now I have them in a betta cup just so the other fish won't eat them, but I know obviously this won't work long term. What do I need to get to care for them? What can I feed them? I hate to put them back into the tank because there really aren't plants for them to hide in as my goldfish has destroyed them (yes, I know he is too big for the 10 g, I am trying my hardest to rehome him! LFS gave him to me to cycle my tank, told me to kill them when it was cycled and I couldn't do it. He didn't mention they get huge) so I doubt they would stand much of a chance as far as hiding goes. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!
BTW, I added a couple of pictures, hopefully you can see them :/

 

[Coleallensmom]

The problem with the betta cup is no aeration and no heater. If there were more fry, it's possible that they were eaten but if it was a young guppy, it's possible that she only had the five... I would let the females back into the tank and put the fry in the breeder box.

We had guppies for a while and I found it was easiest to just let the females be. Once new fry were spotted, we just netted them and put them in our breeder box for a few weeks until they were large enough to fend for themselves. A tiny amount of crushed up flake food is fine to feed the fry.

 

[Bmtiz92]

Thank you! They are both relatively young, I have had them for about 2 months and in that time they have gotten much bigger. I will go ahead and take the females out, do you think that the fry can get through the slits on the sides of the breeder box? I hate for them to become goldfish food.

 

[Coleallensmom]

You didn't say what brand of breeder box that you have(?) but I imagine they'll be just fine. I know you said your goldfish eats your plants, but do you have any little bits of them left? I always liked to put a tiny bit of java moss or a couple baby java fern in to give the fry something to hide in while in the breeder box.

 

[Bmtiz92]

Sorry, it is one of those plastic ones. It was never really intended to actually use as a breeder box, I just needed something to give one of my fish a rest after a split tail. I do have some small pieces left that I can put in there with them, they float but they have downward roots they could swim in. I will probably go to the pet store tomorrow and get a fuller plant for them to hide in. My plants were looking awesome too until the goldfish got bored *rolls eyes*. I do have another small tank with filter/heater that I could set up for them, do you think that would be better?

 

[Bmtiz92]

I have not found anymore fry, and I'm not really sure which female had the first five, but should I assume that whoever was having them wont be having any more? Everyone looks happy/ healthy and are acting normal.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Yep, mine always were done within a 24hr period. Do you have male guppies or just the two females?

 

[Aron]

There are some nice males in there from the look of that pic. In which case you can immediately presume both your females are pregnant! They will give birth every four to five weeks, so expect more, but like above, they usually drop all fry within 24 hours, mine usually do it over a period of 3-4 hours then nothing for another month.

The first thing I would recommend you to do is give that goldfish away to anyone who will take it. The goldfish could get big enough to start nipping and killing your adult guppies. I know you have said you have tried, but in my opinion it is quite important! They will live happily in a deep enough pond if you know anyone with a pond!?

 

[Bmtiz92]

Yes, I do have several males. I was hoping they would breed eventually but I figured they would actually look pregnant before they dropped fry! I also had no idea goldfish could live in ponds, I do have a friend who has a large pond on his property and I could put him there. I just didn't want to give him to petco and them kill him, he's too cool of a fish for that.
All of the babies are looking good, they are growing and eating constantly. They are so active! I am having a lot of fun just watching them. Thank y'all so much for helping out

 

[Retired_AF]

Thats probably best. Goldfish look good but they are basically swimming poop factories. Usually it isnt a good idea to keep them with tropicals, not only because they will go after the guppies eventually, but also because they make the water really nasty and could end up making your tropicals sick. It isn't impossible to keep them together, but you would need some REALLY AWESOME filtration.

If you wanted to keep him, I would recommend at least a 20 gallon tank for your first goldie, then an additional 10 gallons in size for each additional fish. With normal filtration you would be able to prevent ammonia and nitrites from building up to toxic levels.

 

[Bmtiz92]

Thank you retired_af! I actually found someone with a 55 gal that wants him, so he will have plenty of room to play around. He is going to his new home tomorrow and I will have 80% less poop in my aquarium! Lol