How well planted is the tank?
When to Release Baby Guppies?
One of my female albino red lace snakeskin guppies had fry about 2 weeks ago. They've been in a breeder net since then. The problem is that the females are extremely aggressive and try to eat the fry. The fry are now active and free-swimming.
Most of them are around the size of the female's mouths, or slightly larger. There's some larger ones and some smaller ones.
When would you say they're safe to release? It used to be a heavily planted tank, but many of the plants rotted for some odd reason. I have another tank that is being cycled right now that may be ready in about three weeks for the babies, but I'd like to let them swim freely before then.
When do most people let their fry swim around the main tank with baby eaters?
Most of them are around the size of the female's mouths, or slightly larger. There's some larger ones and some smaller ones.
When would you say they're safe to release? It used to be a heavily planted tank, but many of the plants rotted for some odd reason. I have another tank that is being cycled right now that may be ready in about three weeks for the babies, but I'd like to let them swim freely before then.
When do most people let their fry swim around the main tank with baby eaters?
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I had one of my females pop out 5 fry 3 weeks ago and another female 15+ fry last week. All were in a lightly planted 10g along with 2 other females and 3 males. No chasing at all with 7 adults.
As far as waiting for a tank to cycle. People don't give some fish enough credit. I separated the fry and put them in a 15g 2 minutes after set up then moved them over to another newly set up 10g a few days later. Just this morning, I set up another 20g high and once again moved the fry into the new uncycled, unheated and unfiltered tank.
As far as waiting for a tank to cycle. People don't give some fish enough credit. I separated the fry and put them in a 15g 2 minutes after set up then moved them over to another newly set up 10g a few days later. Just this morning, I set up another 20g high and once again moved the fry into the new uncycled, unheated and unfiltered tank.
@AGUILSR3, maybe the fish can survive the cycle, but the ammonia burns their gills and is probably quite painful. It's really best to not subject them to that, even if they can survive it.
You said fry are about the size of her mouth? Wait until at least most of them are twice the size of her mouth, if possible. They should be all right, as long as the females don't just attack them anyway.
You said fry are about the size of her mouth? Wait until at least most of them are twice the size of her mouth, if possible. They should be all right, as long as the females don't just attack them anyway.
Yeah, I'm definitely not going to do that. I don't wanna lose the fry! They're super important to me since these are extremely nice guppies.@AGUILSR3, maybe the fish can survive the cycle, but the ammonia burns their gills and is probably quite painful. It's really best to not subject them to that, even if they can survive it.
You said fry are about the size of her mouth? Wait until at least most of them are twice the size of her mouth, if possible. They should be all right, as long as the females don't just attack them anyway.
Thanks, I'll wait until they're double the mouth size.
you need a tank for fry breeding nets are not that good for them. they get dirty and stagnant easy and can really stunt fry. get a 10 gal tank stuff it with horn wort and a sponge filter and let the females have fry in that and then move them back to the tank later on
That's why I posted this, I kinda wanna move them out. I've noticed it is stagnant and dirty.you need a tank for fry breeding nets are not that good for them. they get dirty and stagnant easy and can really stunt fry. get a 10 gal tank stuff it with horn wort and a sponge filter and let the females have fry in that and then move them back to the tank later on
As a rule, no argument to the above.@AGUILSR3, maybe the fish can survive the cycle, but the ammonia burns their gills and is probably quite painful. It's really best to not subject them to that, even if they can survive it.
But where the ammonia would be coming from in a brand new tank?
Dechlored water? Decaying food or plants? From 20 guppy fry in a 20g tank?
v3
All you need is a 10 gallon, a nice seasoned spongefilter, some plants, I used java moss java fern and water sprite in a bare bottom tank, I did 50% water changes every week. Raised 100s of guppies this way. Fed them microworms and hikari fry bites, twice a day.
I have a 75g with nothing but Guppys. It is a planted tank and for the most part, the fry survive. I have never seen anything that looks like pursuit of fry in the tank. It may occur, just have never seen it.
If you are trying to save every single fry that pops out, place in a separate tank. If you wouldn't mind losing a few, if they did get eaten, then let the mothers be. Most people aren't ready for how many babies you end up with when you're saving every single one of them.
If you are trying to save every single fry that pops out, place in a separate tank. If you wouldn't mind losing a few, if they did get eaten, then let the mothers be. Most people aren't ready for how many babies you end up with when you're saving every single one of them.
You can also do 100% water change every day and never have a tank cycle, which is basically what you're doing by moving them from one new tank to another every few days... the ammonia never had a chance to build up so of course they'll survive. It's still not recommended to give people bad advice because when their fish dies they get pissed off and drop out of the hobby, when with a little better advice they could be successful and enjoy the hobby like the rest of us.As far as waiting for a tank to cycle. People don't give some fish enough credit. I separated the fry and put them in a 15g 2 minutes after set up then moved them over to another newly set up 10g a few days later. Just this morning, I set up another 20g high and once again moved the fry into the new uncycled, unheated and unfiltered tank.
As far as moving guppies - they breed fast enough that I don't bother separating them. As long as there is enough plants for them to hide I don't bother and I still have an increasing number all the time. I've only ever witnessed one or two fry get eaten. Survival of the fittest!
I agree 100%. I was just expressing my experience with my guppy fry. With a name like GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy, I'm sure he'll do whatever is in his fry's best interest.It's still not recommended to give people bad advice because when their fish dies they get pissed off and drop out of the hobby, when with a little better advice they could be successful and enjoy the hobby like the rest of us.
So I added a total of 6 of the 11 to the tank and I'm left with the 4 that were smart enough to hide in the plants.
They were double the length of the female's mouth. The adults chase them, the fry freak out and swim into the substrate, then the adults eat them.
The other 4 have been alive and well in there for days and they know to hide in the plants. I'm just at a loss because they literally seem like they should be treated like male bettas until they're adults. I can definitely see the adults I have attacking and killing one just half their size... They're vicious buttholes.
I guess make a separate fry tank and let them grow up in that, but I don't want to. Asdfghjkl; wat.
Anyone have ideas of the size at which they'll 100% sure definitely be safe? Because they aren't, and all of them are over 1 centimeter now (I measured them).
They were double the length of the female's mouth. The adults chase them, the fry freak out and swim into the substrate, then the adults eat them.
The other 4 have been alive and well in there for days and they know to hide in the plants. I'm just at a loss because they literally seem like they should be treated like male bettas until they're adults. I can definitely see the adults I have attacking and killing one just half their size... They're vicious buttholes.
I guess make a separate fry tank and let them grow up in that, but I don't want to. Asdfghjkl; wat.
Anyone have ideas of the size at which they'll 100% sure definitely be safe? Because they aren't, and all of them are over 1 centimeter now (I measured them).
how heavily planted is your tank? I've never removed guppy fry even before I had a planted tank as long as they had stuff to hide in. They breed so fast and have so many babies in each batch that I've never really worried about the adults eating babies, most of them are smart enough if they make it past the first few minutes (before they learn to swim) that they will be OK.
I have 20 frys along with rasboras and momma guppy and all survived. Maybe because I feed a lot.
any pics of the tank?I have a 75g with nothing but Guppys. It is a planted tank and for the most part, the fry survive. I have never seen anything that looks like pursuit of fry in the tank. It may occur, just have never seen it.
any pics of the guppies?Yeah, I'm definitely not going to do that. I don't wanna lose the fry! They're super important to me since these are extremely nice guppies.
It's because of the strain. To start off, albino guppies are baby eaters. This particular stain I have is very aggressive, even to each other. I have a tank right next to it with less plants and puffer fish, and my 2 female endler-guppies have overpopulated the tank. The puffers don't even bother the newly born fry, even if I don't feed them for a while.
It's just the particular strain!
The tank is heavily planted. Not like I just dumped guppy grass in there or anything, but I packed it with one plant that has always been a weed for me, and it's very pretty too. It's a large-leaf stem plant. I also have some floating stem plants on the surface where the 4 survivors are hiding right now.
Just curious when they physically cannot eat them anymore because I have more babies on the way and I'm gonna need to release the others soon. I've even witnessed the babies attacking each other... They're evil fish.
It's just the particular strain!
The tank is heavily planted. Not like I just dumped guppy grass in there or anything, but I packed it with one plant that has always been a weed for me, and it's very pretty too. It's a large-leaf stem plant. I also have some floating stem plants on the surface where the 4 survivors are hiding right now.
Just curious when they physically cannot eat them anymore because I have more babies on the way and I'm gonna need to release the others soon. I've even witnessed the babies attacking each other... They're evil fish.
You are right on about the issues with the albinos. I've raised a LOT of different strains of guppies in my years, and would agree with the advice most have given in 95% of cases as far as just heavily planting the tank and enough will survive to be ok. The 5% though are the albino strains. I've had several different strains, and they are brutal baby eaters. And I think the red lace snakeskins might just be the worst of the bunch. I had females that routinely dropped 50+ fry that I could move into a 10g by themselves with TONS of hornwort for protection, and if I wasn't home as those babies dropped, I could end up with one or two surviving babies by the time I got home from work. It was ridiculous!
So that said, for the albinos, a 2nd tank was absolutely necessary because I couldn't reintroduce the babies to the main tank for quite some time, and leaving them in the breeder box did not allow them to develop properly regardless of how clean I kept it. As you noted, they can even be aggressive in a group of similar sized fry. I kept a divided 20 long for raising babies - one (smaller) compartment for the newest fry (primarily so they didn't have to work too hard or compete with larger fry for food), and the larger compartment for everything else. I didn't move them back to the main tank until they were about half the size of the breeders, showing some of their adult color, and were sexable.
But for whatever is in the main tank, large leaf plants aren't really much help. You need to create areas that are easy for the fry to get in and hide and not be seen - and that are harder for the adults to access. You really need lots of guppy grass or hornwort or cabomba or similar that they can really get up into. Lots of the same type of stuff floating in the tank is even more helpful than stuff planted in the substrate as fry tend to go up in my experience.
Ultimately, I decided the albinos were too much work and now just have blue grass and blue moscows. lol!
So that said, for the albinos, a 2nd tank was absolutely necessary because I couldn't reintroduce the babies to the main tank for quite some time, and leaving them in the breeder box did not allow them to develop properly regardless of how clean I kept it. As you noted, they can even be aggressive in a group of similar sized fry. I kept a divided 20 long for raising babies - one (smaller) compartment for the newest fry (primarily so they didn't have to work too hard or compete with larger fry for food), and the larger compartment for everything else. I didn't move them back to the main tank until they were about half the size of the breeders, showing some of their adult color, and were sexable.
But for whatever is in the main tank, large leaf plants aren't really much help. You need to create areas that are easy for the fry to get in and hide and not be seen - and that are harder for the adults to access. You really need lots of guppy grass or hornwort or cabomba or similar that they can really get up into. Lots of the same type of stuff floating in the tank is even more helpful than stuff planted in the substrate as fry tend to go up in my experience.
Ultimately, I decided the albinos were too much work and now just have blue grass and blue moscows. lol!
Albinos are the prettiest of the guppies to me... I may just pack the tank with lots of floating plants and hope for the best with fry. Don't really have room for a 4th tank lol.
In the mean while, I'll raise them in breeder nets for a month after they're born.
In the mean while, I'll raise them in breeder nets for a month after they're born.
Packing the tank with floating stuff definitely helps the situation! It doesn't make for the prettiest display, but it gives the fry (of any strain, but particularly albinos) the best chance at survival. I try not to keep mine in breeder nets beyond about 2 weeks, and routinely clean the nets/swap them back and forth between nets to make sure they're in a clean environment. As you've seen, those nets can get icky in a hurry!
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