Andrew_W Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Hey there, I'm new to the forum and the Aquarium game. Currently I have had my tank for almost 3 weeks, and have 2m 3f guppies and couple of fighters. Last night one of the guppies gave birth, and before I could get home from work with a breeding net, my fighters had eaten all but one of the fry, which I don't really mind...But I have a Gold/Yellow female which has a red tail (apparently rather rare?) and she should be giving birth anytime now, and these fry I would like to keep alive. So whats my best option. -put one of the fighters into the breeding net, and let the fry fight against the filter and other fish -put the female in the net, and let her give birth in the net, and risk her eating the fry -leave them as is, and catch the fry (which are so hard to find) and then put them in the net? also, how often and how much do I feed the fry? tank is 60L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 The other guppies (including mum) will also eat the fry. Best bet is lots of fine leaved floating plant for the fry to hide in then catch them and put them in a net. You could net mum but it may stress her and cause her to abort and she would eat the fry herself anyway :roll: She will drop fry every 4 - 6 weeks anyway so you won't have a shortage :lol: Feed them little bits and often, say 3 - 4x daily if you are home to do so. Crush flake food for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 What a gorgeous tank! Nice choice of plants for a tall hex! The ambulia can and will eventually make a "thicket" for the fry to hide in, but that takes time and the floating tangle of plants will starve the lower plants from light. Best to set up a little species tank if you want to breed anything seriously. The val, ambulai and red stuff looks happy, but you might want to add a fertilizer ball by the roots of that crypt. It's very light and needing more nutrients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskas Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 You could try putting the female in a net with some fine leafed plants, like java moss, this will give the bubs a place to hide out from mum. Easier to hide from 1 adult than lots. Another thing you could try is to put some larger sized pebbles on the bottom of your tank. This will create small gaps that the fry can hide in but for the adults is a bit of a squeeze. Remember to put the female in the net just before she gives birth to reduce the amount of time she spends inthere. Although upon saying this i have kept guppies for a few days in a net and they have been fine. The yellow/gold females with red in their tails are very pretty i have one and a couple of fry who look to be of similar colour For feeding the fry - just crush up some of the flake/granules to a smaller size if you are worried they are not getting enough. However i just leave mine and they seem to eat leftovers, the bits the adults spit out, as well as nibbling at the food along with the adults (obviously near plants wehre they can quickly swim away). Love your tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_W Posted April 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 What a gorgeous tank! Nice choice of plants for a tall hex! The ambulia can and will eventually make a "thicket" for the fry to hide in, but that takes time and the floating tangle of plants will starve the lower plants from light. Best to set up a little species tank if you want to breed anything seriously. The val, ambulai and red stuff looks happy, but you might want to add a fertilizer ball by the roots of that crypt. It's very light and needing more nutrients. Thanks, I'll look into getting fertilizer for crypt (thats the dead looking plant in the centre foreground?), could a lack of nutrients also account for one of the red plants growing faster than the other? OK, so its been a day and I still have one fry alive I added a small amount of gravel to the breeder net, with a plant and some lose float greenery, and if I can I'll try to get the mum in there to give birth. Which brings me to a new a question, what are the main indicators that she is about to give birth? Thanks for the comments and sugguestions. -Andrew- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Which brings me to a new a question, what are the main indicators that she is about to give birth? Watch the "Gravid Spot"... the dark bit near the vent. The darker it gets.. the closer she is. Quite often you can actually see the eyes of the young peering out Bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 You may find in about a week that you do have some fry still alive in the tank - they are very good at hiding. Heres hoping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 you can buy little guppy breeding tanks that float in your tank you could put mum in there and once she gives birth remove her. I think these tanks have two sections so the fry can go into another section from mum. all the best with your future fry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsarmina Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 just be wary of using breeding traps as the female may get stressed with being in such a small place, and she may abort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_W Posted April 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 Cheers for the feedback, one of the females spent the night in the breeder net, she seemed to be fine, took her out during the day though. I also bought some dense floating grass today for the fry to hide. On the plant issue I couldn't get any fertilizer balls today, but I did some liquid stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keri Anne Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 Plants, lots and lots and lots of plants. About a year and a half ago I was going away for over a week and had nobody to look after my fish. I scored a whole heap of plant from my LFS and just chucked them all in the top of the tank. (No planting.) I created a layer about 6-7cm thick of plants at the top of the tank. When I cam e back I stared to remove some of the plant and found over 100 babies!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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