PENEJANE Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 ummm heres another question. When a female guppy is close to dropping her fry will she more than likely run away and find a quiet spot to do so? I have a large ornament rock with a cave like hole in it and I have noticed (only with in the last 30 mins) that she is in there and pops her head out now and then but back ups and goes back in. Once again all the other guppies seem fine. Just curious thats all as if she is about to drop then I would like to keep an eye on her. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 When they are about to drop the other fish really start hassling her as a) they know live food is about to appear b) the males will want to fertilise her again :lol: If I was her I would hide too. As long as there is lots of fine leaved plants (Java moss is great and so is sprite) some of the fry have a chance of surviving. Since you are going to go through this every 4 weeks or so you will get used to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted April 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Thanks for that. Just after I done that last post she came out of the cave and is swimming around with all the other fish again Its almost as if these things are more unpredictable than my own unborn child Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted April 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 hey there guys. Sorry for not being about over the last couple of days but having some real internet issues. I would like to ask if when the female is ready to drop her fry will it be all the fish that follow her about or just the males? I was guessing that the males are trying to get a little frisky with her. I would also like to know, how do I know when she has had babies? If none survive (if it happened during the night) are there any signes that she is no longer due/pregnant? I don't have much in the way of plants but is there any chance that maybe the odd couple will survive? and if any babies are about in the tank what do I look for?? would they sit at the top or would they hang about the bottom of the tank by the plants? Sorry for all the quesitons yet again but I am almost more excited about the birth of these babies than I am my own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 The fish will follow anyway. You will know if she has dropped (which she may not do all at once) as she will be thinner. The fry will try and hide in the plants or stay close to the substrate for camouflage. Then again, they will also scoot about all over the place and get picked off by all the other fish :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted April 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 Woke up this morning to see little baby fry swimming about my tank and as I watched I saw the mummy fishy give birth I was like but as I started counting I noticed that the number was getting less and less. I don't know how many are going to survive. None of the fish have been following her. Everynow and then one of the other fish will swim past and the fry will skurry about and they will go after them. Most times tho the little fighters manage to get away but I don't know for how long. I hope to keep at least a couple as I have got a 90ltr tank which I feel should be able to hold almost 20 guppies. I wanted to go and get a breeding net thingy but have no idea how much they cost as I spent my extra bit of money yesterday buying paint for the baby cot Now I wish I hadn't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 A net costs very little. Don't worry as she will produce more every 4 weeks or so. Adding more plants will help too. Have you any spare wool about? You could make spawning mops for the fry to hide in. Get some wool (doesn't matter what colour but green would look better than fluorescent orange ) and wrap it 15 - 20 times around a paperback book. Longwise or widthwise doesn't matter, it just alters the length of the strands. Get a small length of wool and thread it through one end of strands wrapped around the book and tie it tightly in a knot. Now cut through the strands at the opposite end of the bit with the knot and you should have a pile of loose strands held together at the top with a knot. Tease the strands out a bit so they are finer and fluffier and put it in the tank. The fry will be able to hide in it. I tie a small square of polystyrene to the knot end to make it float knot end up and strands hanging down. You may have to push and squeeze quite a bit to waterlog the wool enough to get it to sink at first but it will eventually do so. This might be a quick and easy solution for you. These mops are used by fish breeders with spawning fish like killies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted April 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 wow caryl thanks for that. I shall keep it in mind but umm this is going to sound blonde. You lost me after the wrapping the wool about a book! lol But its all good I went out and got a breeding net (not the hard plastic ones) and caught 4 babies. If any more survive then they are little fighters but I will only keep these 4 for now. I have noticed that they squeeze up behind the filter (between filter and glass) and none of the other fish can get at them there. I am more worried of them dying from not eating anything so I got some special baby food (my lord that cost a bundle) so I will feed the ones that I caught this and basicly let the others fend for themselves. I know it sounds nasty but you can't catch them all lol I would also like to know how old do the babies need to be roughly to be big enough to be let go in the tank? and when will their colours start to show and the sex? Cheers a heap. This is sooooooo exciting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 Before I got my breeder thingy (which must be the wrong sort cos it has big slits along the bottom that I am sure the fry would slip through) I separated the fish using one of those Glad plastic containers...it might work as an emergency breeding box anyway....but if you put the lid on it you will have to pierce some holes for air and allow a few millimetres for air.... that way you could turf the mother out as soon as she has finished spitting our babies as she is sure to eat them the second they are born. I don't recommend those containers for a long term hospital visit but until you get a net thing or even a breeding box thing (mine only cost about $5 and I think the net thing is even cheaper). Having said that...I hate leaving them in the breeding box too long as they don't like it...I have missed two lots of babies now (guppies and Platties) by letting them out of the breeder thinking they had been in there long enough and weren't 'ready' .... next time i looked they were skinny fish...and no sign of babies lol DAMN! (I will be quicker next time ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted April 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 yeah I know what you mean. When I was watching this morning there was about 10-15 babies flying about but by the time I droped my eldest off to kindy and got to the pet store there was only 4 left so I grabed them and put them in the breeder net. Since then I have discovered that there is another baby or two swimming about the tank so we will see how they survive Now that I got babies I can't help but sit and look for a good half hour at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 I know some people reccomend the Net breeders, but i dont, this is why: The framing on the inside can crush the fry, when they hide under or beside them. breeder boxes do not have this, and you can clearly see the fry by looking into the tank, rather than having to look in the top. The net keeps all crap and un eated food inside it. where as with the breeder boxes they have small slots in the bottom, which you can just lift slightly out of the water and put back in for a water change and clean! The nets can only be placed were there metal clips alow, and to a certain water level, breeder boxes float, can be moved to any position in the tank, and sits on any water level. Fry can be picked of through net breeders by bigger fish such as angels, but they cannot be caught through the breeder boxes. I know some say that they can be picked of through the slots in the bottom, and that is true with the big breeder boxes, but if you get the guppy breeder boxes, (i will find exact brand soon) the slots are too small for this, and i have watched my angels many times try get at fry and never had success. These breeder boxes are smaller, and are a little bit more expensive ($10) but i think the above warrents enough reason for purchaseing one or two. I am always useing mine, to grow up very small fry and other things. If it were me i would never purchase another net breeder. however some people sware by them, in the end it is up to the aqauriest, and ill leave it at that. Shae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted April 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 thanks for the info Shae. I had a look at the breeder boxes and all they had at the shop were Betta boxes so I kinda didn't have a choice but to get the breeder net. I have noticed that another guppies vent at the back is really big so I guess that she is also due to drop with in the next 24 hrs. I noticed this with my bigger female last night and when I woke up they were there lol. Seems as I only have guppies in my tank I can't see the breeder net being a major problem. I also doubt that the pet shop will take back any babies either so I can only keep a very small amount. I won't be collecting babies from every fish that drops fry but now and then I will grab the odd couple and play the waiting game of finding out what colour and sex it will be Once again thanks for the info. Now to go and look up fry development so I can find out how long it will be till they can swim with the big ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted April 5, 2005 Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 I think you will be able to keep a lot more then 20, my guppy tank is 122x40x40cm (got 160ltrs) and i've got 150 or more guppies and around 30 swordtails with no probs. They do vary in size from fry to adult but looks awesome. It's amazing how many can cram into one corner when it comes to feeding time though LOL. I would probably stock 40-50 maybe more in a tank your size depending on surface area. What are your tank dimensions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PENEJANE Posted April 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2005 my tank is 60cm long x 50cm high x 30cm deep. I have been told that it holds 90 ltrs = 23 US gallons. I know I could probably have more than 20 guppies in my tank but I didn't want to go overboard either lol. The 4 that I have now I will look after untill they are about 6 weeks old. If they are big enough by then I will remove the breeding net. I just hope that they ain't all males or I can see my females going absolutly mental! lol so hopefully out of the 4 I got (also noticed that there are another 2 in the tank) I will have either a good mix or all females I shall keep you posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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