What to do with my filter

[IOU1]

Today I have set up a 50L glass tank for my guppies to (hopefully ) breed in, once I find females (I think albinos females on the importing list).

Anyway, my filter that sucks up the water has quite wide spacing and I was thinking the guppies could be sucked up by it So is there a way of changing that? :-?

I was thining of some stretched filter wool over the suction that would stop the large gaps for them to get through, how does this sound :-?

Thanks

[fishboi]

are we talking about a HOB filter ? if so yes filter wool would be fine i've seen a lot of ppl done this before but it would slow the turn over.

i just have a large sponge filter on mu 50L

[IOU1]

It is a hang on back filter How do you mean 'it will slow the turnover'? I have no idea when it comes to filters

[Tsarmina]

i have never had a problem with guppies or fry getting sucked up the intake of a HOB. and only once on an internal (fry was born just above intake :roll: )

[SpidersWeb]

I found those cheap BioClear air powered sponge filters can be pulled apart and the sponge used on the intake for most HOB (it stretches a bit).

[AMAZONIAN]

Hi IOU

Your Hang On filter is perfectly OK for a "Live Bearer" Breeding tank.

If I can suggest what I do then you will not have a problem.

Take the Pick Up End off the long Pick Up Tube. That's the bit with the slits in. Get a small piece of Filter Wool and place that in the "Pick Up End" and then place it back on the Pick Up tube, and turn the filter back on.

The flow rate will be very slow and you will have to clean the filter wool occasionally but you wont have to worry about sucking up the fry.

Good Luck with your efforts.

[fishboi]

How do you mean 'it will slow the turnover'?

basically what AMAZONIAN had said, it will be slower at turning over the water. wont matter though it just getting it that extra clean going though the fine wool which at the end will give u the same result.

[alanmin4304]

If you wish to avoid restricting the flow rate on the filter you can place mesh over the entrance but that can often cause a problem by sucking the fry up to the mesh. You will then need to increase the size of the inlet to decrease the velocity but maintain the flow rate (like the end of a gravel vac). This worked for me on an external canister filter by using a gauze covered funnel jammed in the end of the hose.

[IOU1]

Thanks for your help :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Keri Anne]

Or the easy option.... Petware double sponge filter on an air pump. Clean one sponge when you do a water change, clean the other one when you do the next water change.

[Devon]

Bro just put a stocking over it.

[AMAZONIAN]

The simplest of all so as not to confuse the issue :oops: is to turn the damned filter off.

Let the fish have their young and then think about cleaning the tank. :roll:

[alanmin4304]

I agree with Amazonian. I have my breeding females in a large trap permanently and with no filtration. That way they are not stressed by moving them and the fry can be undesturbed for a few weeks until big enough to sefely move. I regularly siphon off the gunge and do regular 50% water changes every day or second day. Feed heavily and have a few snails to eat the excess food.

[AMAZONIAN]

Thanks for the support Alanmin.

I hope by now the matter of filtration when raising fry has run it's course and ended up in the appropriate filing bin. :roll:

Some of our enthusiastic younger members aren't aware of what it was like in days when there was "NO SUCH THING AS A "HANGON" ON FILTER", AND can't get used to not using all the trick Sh.t modern gadgets.

I am pleased that I still do it the old way, as by reading a lot of the posts on here there are very few; as I read, that have the "REARING SUCCESS" that I do by using the old methods. :oops:

Get real hobbyists.....Go back to the basics and forget the high priced modern toys. :roll:

An old saying that is appropriate... IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT.

NOW I reckon I got something started!!!!!. We'll see :roll:

[IOU1]

Thanks, I might turn it off when (if) any young come My guppies seem to love the flow of the water and are always swimming into it. Thanks again for everyones help and ideas.

[Alan]

Gee Amazonian and Alan, you are really showing your age.

By the way, what are hang on filters.

Heating those slate bases with those kero lantens sure made a mess of the white ceilings tho, hey??

Alan 104

[AMAZONIAN]

Nice one Alan

But hey you would also have to agree that we oldies are the ones that have the information to pass on to the newbies; Correct?

And yep the ceiling did get a bit black from Kero.

Funny thing to, as an aside Alan,, The best Cichlid breeding tanks have a "SLATE" Base.

[alanmin4304]

One of the reasons I don't use filters with guppies is that they do better in clean water low in nutrient. A filter removes the lumps and converts many wastes into soluble material. The only way to strip nutrient is to remove it with water changes (ask a discus breeder) Many people breed guppies but not many people breed good ones. You need to get some size on your females before they are gravid or all their energy goes into babies rather than growth. If you wait you will end up with more babies in the end. Likewise a good male guppy has a good body size as well as a good tail. Heavy feeding and lots of water changes--listen to grandad

[AMAZONIAN]

Thanks Alanmin.......

[Keri Anne]

So in conclusion:

There is more than one “right†way. We all have our own opinions based in part from what we have read or been told by others and in part on our own experiences. As far as I can tell all of the techniques explained above are good and work at least for some people. I guess you’re just going to have to experiment and decide what works for you.

Good luck.

[Alan]

I have been told that the BEST way to get the size etc onto guppies that as babies, when you pass left to right of them, you feed them, and when you pass right to left you water change them.

Heaps of food and heaps of water changes.

Alan 104

[alanmin4304]

There is more than one right way but the best way is the one that works best for you. When I was seriously rearing guppies I used to make up a batch of food and freeze it into small ice cubes and put in a new one each day and remove the remains of the old one, that way they can feed all they want and grow like mad.

[Seth]

I have left guppy fry in a tank all togeather with lots of plants and basically no water changes well one every 2 months maybe and a once a day feeding. And they grew slowly and the girls got pregnant early and they didnt get very big full stop.

I have also put a batch of guppy fry from the same stock into a small tank with a sponge filter and have fed once a day heavily but with about 4 three quarter water changes a week and the growth was amazing seemed to get bigger 3 times as fast.

So ill listen to the older guys on here any day.