Michelle.g Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 Hi. A friend of mine wants to breed guppies. She has had them in a community tank for a long time but has recently moved four pregnant female guppies to a tank of their own. Within 24 hours she had lots of young guppies swimming around, but the adult guppies eat them. Should she take the adult females out of the breeding tank? How can she avoid the babies getting eaten? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatito Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 can remove or separate the mummy, or give them plants etc to hide in. Someone else will probably have better ideas tho - i have a pregnant female but when she pops her sprogs it will be my first lot of guppy babies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle.g Posted May 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 There are plants to hide in, but the babies swim around close to the gravel at the bottom of the tank. How about those breeder trap things? Sorry I don't really know how they work or anything :oops: I have only ever bred egg layers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted May 21, 2007 Report Share Posted May 21, 2007 I would suggest she drops just one preggie female in the tank and waits till she drops the young and then take her out again. Once the young grow a little (a week or two) they will be safe with the next female. The young guppies wont eat the fry from the next spawning untill they get near full grown. Once they get to 1/2 grown they can come out of the breeding tank and go with the other fish. Doing this means you save most of the fry and you can have a spawning every few weeks. Doesn't take long to build up the numbers Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishtv Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Hi there, IMO the breeding traps dont work. Each time I seem to put a guppy in them they panic and abort. And i know its a matter of timing but being a beginner with them I found it very difficult. I set up a small tank with java moss, indian fern and lots of places to hide. As soon as u see fry take the mum out! I hope it works for you! Lana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Breeding traps only work if you place the female in right when shes ready to deliver her fry. Have lots of floating plants at the top and lots of hidey holes on the bottom of the tank as well. The fry pretty much always sink when they are first born until they get their balance sorted out. Ianabs suggestion is good as is fishtvs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 At the moment I'm in the process of making a tank with "V" section thru the centre. The idea is that as mum pops them, they sink, go thru a purpose made gap in the bottom and to freedom and away from danger. The water space looks like an "M" shape with the top of the "M" spread for water purpose. I also have provision for three dividers thru the annex part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatito Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Breeding traps only work if you place the female in right when shes ready to deliver her fry. How do you know? i got this female already pregnant from jansens just over a week ago - she is looking lots bigger, darker area etc, but not sure how close she is... I don't have a guppy breeding trap, but i have one of those floating hatcheries with the grill separating the top 2/3s from the bottom 1/3 - i think this should work for guppies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keri Anne Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Plant, plant and more plant. Floating plant on the top, java moss on the bottom and more plant in the middle. That's the advise I was given when I started breeding guppies and for a beginner it's the best advice you can get. Over time you'll learn to pick when a female is going to drop etc bit that's the best way to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 Yup, if you have heaps of plants and feed them well you will get good success without having to remove the adults. But this is my unplanted guppy tank - and I was given 12 of them about a year ago. The biggest adults are in my other tanks, these are all less than 1/2 grown, but even at that size they start breeding, so there are still heaps of fry in the tank. None of them are big enough to hassle the fry yet though :roll: Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle.g Posted May 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Wow, that's alot of fry. Thanks everyone for your help. I will pass the advice onto my friend. They already have fry so maybe some more plants will offer the fry protection from the Mum's. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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