how many will fit?

[mariah]

I have a 10g tank right now. There is three female guppies and five baby molly fry. They are 3-4 days old. I am expecting baby guppies any day from all three. I am moving them all into a 29g after they all have the babies and they are about two weeks old. My question... how many guppies can go into the 29g with 5 mollies? I might get Molly babies depending on the genders. I got them from my sister and i am going to swap her so i only have 1-2 males and the rest females. I am going to let the guppies be and do their own thing. How many would you say? I was thinking maybe 30 guppies? Then I would do a mass sell of at least 20 guppies and go down to only 1-3 female mollies. I do just over 50% to 75% water changes every week. Let me know what you think

 

[tnfinfan]

1" of fish per gallon is a general guideline but it doesn't really cover well. Mollies are rather heavy eaters and generate a good bit of waste. They grow quickly, reach 4", and are active swimmers. Males can be rather bossy and territorial in small spaces. Five mollies, then, would be a full 29 all by themselves. If you're temporarily housing juveniles, that's different. But, you need to have concrete plans for them because literally, they're full grown in just a few months.

If you're getting into breeding, you'll need to figure out what to do with all these babies or you'll be overrun in no time.

 

[mariah]

1" of fish per gallon is a general guideline but it doesn't really cover well. Mollies are rather heavy eaters and generate a good bit of waste. They grow quickly, reach 4", and are active swimmers. Males can be rather bossy and territorial in small spaces. Five mollies, then, would be a full 29 all by themselves. If you're temporarily housing juveniles, that's different. But, you need to have concrete plans for them because literally, they're full grown in just a few months.

If you're getting into breeding, you'll need to figure out what to do with all these babies or you'll be overrun in no time.

Five of them wouldn't fill the 29g... that's crazy. I was told i was about to have a gourami with a few mollies, danios and lamp eyes. I am saying on a high note... like the highest before i re home. My sister has the mother and another female in a 10g and 7 of the same 4-5 day old babies. I am going to give her some baby guppy fry when they are born. She only wanted two females for the tank but they had 12 babies the very next day. She is most likely going to rehome them all but 2-3 and then have guppies in there.

 

[tnfinfan]

Oh, so you meant literally, how many fish can you crowd into a tank? The sky's the limit. The pet shops cram them in with a shoe horn. Doesn't mean they'll be happy or healthy, though, and the pet shop sure the heck isn't filtering with a little HOB. But hey, no need to believe someone who once had a molly tank with babies everywhere and constantly battled ich, dropsy, etc. You'll find out soon enough.

 

[mariah]

Oh, so you meant literally, how many fish can you crowd into a tank? The sky's the limit. The pet shops cram them in with a shoe horn. Doesn't mean they'll be happy or healthy, though, and the pet shop sure the heck isn't filtering with a little HOB. But hey, no need to believe someone who once had a molly tank with babies everywhere and constantly battled ich, dropsy, etc. You'll find out soon enough.

No not like stuffed full. I mean like about how many of each is the high high point. I am not even sure what i am going to do..maybe try and keep the molly females virgins so don't get babies but i don't have the male aggression. Maybe 3 females? Idk yet.

 

[tnfinfan]

So much depends on your maintenance of the tank, how quickly you're able to rehome the young, whether you can afford to run out and get another tank for the males so you can control the production of babies, the ratio of males to females, etc, etc. But, you don't want a breeding tank that's stocked to the brim with no tank space for juveniles that have outgrown the baby tank. It's just poor planning. They breed insanely fast and it's so ridiculously easy that the fish sell for a dollar at the pet store. How much do you expect to get for the babies? If you had a predator fish to feed, then that would be different. That's a solid plan for the young. Just don't count on being able to sell them unless you've already made an arrangement with a retailer.

I just would hate for you to make the same mistakes I did as a tween with my first tank. The babies are cute but three females and a male will fill a 29 in the blink of an eye. Add breeding guppies and you have disaster brewing.

 

[mariah]

So much depends on your maintenance of the tank, how quickly you're able to rehome the young, whether you can afford to run out and get another tank for the males so you can control the production of babies, the ratio of males to females, etc, etc. But, you don't want a breeding tank that's stocked to the brim with no tank space for juveniles that have outgrown the baby tank. It's just poor planning. They breed insanely fast and it's so ridiculously easy that the fish sell for a dollar at the pet store. How much do you expect to get for the babies? If you had a predator fish to feed, then that would be different. That's a solid plan for the young. Just don't count on being able to sell them unless you've already made an arrangement with a retailer.

I just would hate for you to make the same mistakes I did as a tween with my first tank. The babies are cute but three females and a male will fill a 29 in the blink of an eye. Add breeding guppies and you have disaster brewing.

Yes i had guppies over a year ago. I started with a few females and ended up with about 200 in a year. I had separate tanks for the females, males, babies, and babies just before they got color. I was able to sell them along the way and sold the 100 left in about a week when i decided i was done. I did have more in the tanks then there should have been but i didn't really know back then. I never tested water or anything. I had like 20 guppies in a 10g. I ended up with 101 in my 55g when i got it new. I just put everyone in that one tank that i had. I am actually surprised that over that year i only really had a few die. They never had any diseases or problems either. This second time around has started horrible already...