Guppies, breeding, and feeding...

[RWaltman]

ok, so my angel fish LOVE guppy fry...and so do my knife fish and bichir (he's more interested in shrimp though)....how difficult is it to breed guppies? I heard just put a male and female together and they'll mate...what I'm wondering is if I get a breeding pair (male 2 females) can I just put them in the tank and let them breed and let the fish just pick the fry off or is this not going to work? too simple? or would there just be too many? anyone?

 

[mgamer20o0]

get 3-4 females to one male. thats the best way. i keep guppies in with my angels. as the knife and bichir get bigger they will stop eating the fry and start eating the adults.

 

[RWaltman]

yeah I'm fully aware of that...just seems like a good way to keep the angels and everyone fed on live feeders inexpensively for awhile

 

[RWaltman]

I went out and bought a dozen ghost shrimp and 20 or so guppy fry and the crew demolished them in less than 15 min...since I don't have the time to run to the LPS everyday I thought this might be an effective feeding mechanism for longer periods of time

 

[sieski]

ok, so my angel fish LOVE guppy fry...and so do my knife fish and bichir (he's more interested in shrimp though)....how difficult is it to breed guppies? I heard just put a male and female together and they'll mate...what I'm wondering is if I get a breeding pair (male 2 females) can I just put them in the tank and let them breed and let the fish just pick the fry off or is this not going to work? too simple? or would there just be too many? anyone?

wel I've had a 15 g for 2 months and had 5 sets of fry from 3 females. there are 6 females in there but the other 3 are alot younger (they were 3/8 inch fry when i got tank. i have 3 males in there. I've had 70 fry and 40 from one female (the biggest) 30 30 and 15 today! from the other 2 females who are considerably smaller. all less than a month apart. My water ph is 7.5 and a temp of 79 f. As I was a total newbie I would say they breed easily!

 

[mgamer20o0]

also should note you prob dont want to make live food like that their only food source.

 

[WhiteDevil]

Never buy the fry, just let the drops happen on their own, I have been lately leaving 1-2 females in the big tanks for their drops, mainly the ones that are new and pregnant( dont know lineage I dont want them).

Breeding them is like breeding mice. I have 10-10 gallons up and running now as well as a 15g and a 52g.
52g is the family room community tank
15g is fry grow out tank
10g's are various stages of fry and a nursery tank, two QT tanks and a partridge in a pear tree.


I feed the fish a mix of daphnia,bloodworms,beefheart,mysis,bbs and adult brine. for 20 days and then the two drops once a month they usually eat em up within a few days of dropping and then they fast the rest of the time.

 

[RWaltman]

I supplement my angel, knife and bichir's diets with tubiflex worms, bloodworms, carnivore pellets, vegetables occasionally, standard flakes and shrimp pellets in between the guppy fry and ghost shrimp...I know they aren't packed full of nutrition but the fish generally like eating the guppy fry and it keeps them held over until night feedings

 

[mgamer20o0]

just making sure. i would also try to feed the fry some good food right before you then move them over also.