POLL: Guppies: Feeding Fry as Food or Buy All Same Sex

[fish4phil]

When buying or planning to buy guppies and you don't want to have fry grow up for fear of overstocking/lack of aquariums/etc., do you buy mixed sexes and plan on all the fry being eaten, or do you stick to all male/all female?

 

[The Trooper]

At the moment i am considering the same. But i will probably opt for mixed, let them breed and any fry that reaches maturity will be re homed.

And i meant to vote other as well....

 

[HN1]

Unless you have other tanks with fish that will eat fry you will end up overstocked eventually. They will not eat all their fry themselves if they're fed.

 

[giffmastaflex]

You could always sell them to a lfs

 

[HN1]

You could always sell them to a lfs

This isn't always an option and guppies would be an especially tough sale unless they are a high quality (high dollar) strain. Guppies wholesale around a dollar and aren't usually in high demand.

 

[twiddlemuffin]

Honestly when I did have guppies, I wasn't worried about the babies/gender because I had fish that would eat the fry if they saw it. They never got past 3 days old.

 

[Stewy]

Ask your LFS first. Mine is pretty good about taking them off my hands. They don't give me much, usually about a buck per six in store credit for generic guppies, but its a couple bucks that I don't have to spend on food and such. I would definitely get mixed sex though...they are much happier.

 

[freckles]

The vast majority of the fry do get eaten even if there's nothing but other guppies in the tank, but eventually you WILL be overrun with them! The number of guppies builds up very slowly at first but then there seems to be a critical point and BAM you have 100 of them overnight!

Definitely make sure you have some way to rehome them if you do get mixed sex!

 

[GodFan]

Mine always got eaten. Get a few ghost shrimp tp pick off he survivers.

 

[Tleyton]

I have 5 males currently for the same reason...no fry , plus I think their prettier and have bolder colors.

 

[ArtistGardener]

I had guppies for years and always enjoyed the interaction between the sexes. Most of the fry were eaten, but I rehomed the ones that grew up. Occasionally there would a gorgeous male I would keep. I think my independent fish retailer would take them.

 

[GodFan]

I think we are fogetting to mention the fact that male guppies harrass each oher in the absense of females.

 

[Tleyton]

My males haven't harassed each other at all. Maybe I'm just lucky though.

 

[twiddlemuffin]

I think we are fogetting to mention the fact that male guppies harrass each oher in the absense of females.

Really ? I've never had a problem.

 

[GodFan]

Ive always been told that. However coke to think of it I think I had more of an issue with my male endlers.....

 

[flitabout]

The few that would make it in my tank if they make it to adulthood I would take them to my lfs that is always willing to give me store credit for them.

 

[TOMatt]

I had the same concern when I put 6 Platies in my tank. I made sure that they were all female, to avoid the male aggression and loads of fry. Still, the females can become pregnant long after the males have been separated...
In a year, i've probably seen at least a dozen fry appear in the tank (although none of the Platies have seemed obviously pregnant). Only 2 have survived to become large enough to be safe.

Looking back, i don't know that i should have focussed on all female. I doubt you'll get overstocked with fry. Not to mention that it's probably adding a healthy diet variation when they get eaten...

 

[fish4phil]

Not to mention that it's probably adding a healthy diet variation when they get eaten...

Is that true? Is fry as food a healthy variety from flakes and pellets?

 

[wildroseofky]

I keep trying to get female guppies because I want fry but they all grow up to be male. At the local pet store the guppies cost between $4-5 dollars. Even at Walmart they go for around $3. My local shop takes my extra mollies and has agreed to take my extra guppies if I ever get any. She gives me a lot of store credit. I even got a dwarf puffer for 15 Mollie fry. All my guppies have been free after trade ins.

 

[Luananeko]

I've always kept all male groups of guppies and haven't missed the girls at all. When kept in all male groups you still see the same interactions you would see if you kept them mixed because the males are so single minded that they even do their breeding chases with other fish in the tank despite the fact there's no chance of fry Even if kept in an all male guppy tank with no other fish, they'll tend to pick a few males of the group, declare them girls, and chase them much to the target's annoyance (usually the largest males get picked for this). Typically no harm is done as long as you have a decent sized group to diffuse their attentions, and you get a much more colorful display than you would have if you had mixed sexes. Plus no matter how many fry-eaters you have in the tank, you will always have fry survive unless you go for minimal decor and no live plants for them to hide in.