A Couple Of Questions On Guppies

[twinkle9]

How old is it before guppy babies are big enough to be put in the community tank I only have a few adult guppies and 2 catfish.

Also what age is a guppy an adult?

 

[confusion]

For your first question, I would say between 2 and 3 weeks old, they can go into a peaceful tank.

I believe guppies and most other livebearers can start breeding somwhere around 5 or 6 months old, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Kame-San]

I was able to release my guppy fry into the tank at 2 and a half weeks. They were in a breeder net in the tank from 2 weeks so they would grow faster (warmer water...), which made them big enough to be released at 2.5 weeks. It depends on how fast they grow. ATM, I have a different batch of fry at 2.5 weeks and they aren't nearly big enough yet, so it just depends on the guppy.

Guppies reach maturity around 3 months, which is when they can start breeding (though females will get pregnant much younger, it's not healthy).

 

[twinkle9]

Thanks so much that is a great help

 

[Annastasia]

The rule of thumb is when they are too big to fit in the largest fish's mouth. However, if you're keeping them in a breeder net/trap, they can only stay in there for 2 weeks max, otherwise you risk stunting them.

 

[magafish18]

i agree annastasia

 

[skater1293]

about a month is fine just for the parents
but other kinds of fish, obvisly its got to be bigger than the fishes mouth
depending how big the other fish your talking about

yeah and wamer water bought 78-80 can help fry to grow faster

 

[paw-paw]

I dont wanna start a new topic so here is my question...
I have around 15 fry guppies and one adult fenale guppy, along with two otocinclus. I had 8 guppies but others died because of some disease - they died within a week when I bought them from a pet shop...
Anyway - the first day I got them home (the aquarium was cycled and everything) I noticed some baby fish, so I went to the store and bought breeding net. I put babys in, after about a week, when only two adult guppys remained I also noticed some babys and coleted them. Than only one guppy remained, and she had babys. The babies are in a breeding net, all together, although there are enormous differences among them...
The oldest babies have their tails colored (yellow). Anyway they are about 4 weeks old (the oldest). But the problem is that yesterday I tried to release two of them, and when "mum" spoted them she darted to eat them! I tought they were too big already! I thought she eat the first one and manage to rescue the second one but then I found the first one hiding in the plants. So thanks god they were both safe and sound...
How do I know when tp release them? Shouldn't they be old/big enogh? I mean their tails are already colored and they are much bigger than their younger "siblings"...
I am feeding them Mikropan (food for baby livebarers), occasionally some spirulina tabs (I gave them that twice, along with mikropan), daphnia. I also give them fish vitamin every second day...
So when will they be ready to swimm with their mum?

 

[skater1293]

i would turn up your heater (if you dont have one already) to about 78-80 degrees
this would help the fry to grow faster

i would just leave them in their about a month or longer
so their bigger than all the fishs' mouths in the tank your about to put them in with
so probroly just keep them in a breeding net or for a longer period of time
if you dont have many plants and places for them to hide in they will most likely get eaten

so doing all of this more and more will increase chances of more surviving (like the temp, plants, keep in breeding net longer)
hope this helps
if not let me know B)

 

[ibbledibble]

keeping fry in a breeding net/trap for longer than a few weeks can severely stunt and/or slow their growth.
if you put them all into the tank but provide plenty of hiding places (bushy plants, floating plants, caves ect) then the majority of them will survive, especially as you only have 1 adult at present. the fry tend to be very fast moving, and as you have observed, will generally escape from the adult anyway.
if you have other fish such as tetra's in the tank they will eat large quantities of your fry, but a few should survive even so, with only guppies its not really a problem at all. i had a large guppy community, i never removed the fry to a breeding net and i still had more fry surviving than i could handle. (i started off with about 4 fish and they just kept reproducing.)