I've got a 15 gallon community tank with the following inhabitants:
-1 Balloon Molly
-1 Pearl Molly
-1 Dalmation Molly
-1 (Unidentified) Molly
-2 Male Swordtails
-6 Guppies (4 female, 2 male)
-3 Corydoras
Plus:
-1 one-month old guppy fry
-6 one-week old guppy fry
On the weekend (Saturday March 7th), I awoke to discover that my guppy had released her second batch of fry. I managed to find 6 fry in the tank. 4 were alive and well, and were safely caught and put in a breeders trap. 1 was already dead and laying in the gravel, and so was given a porcelain burial. The final fry was caught in the net, but managed to escape before I could scoop him into the breeder trap. I spent an hour searching the tank for him and couldn't find him. I assumed that he had been gobbled up by one of my other fish. On Thursday night, I was sat watching my corys, who were behaving abnormally, when a moving speck in my plastic plants caught my eye. Who was it? The illusive escaped guppy fry. I quickly managed to scoop him up and drop him into the breeder trap. He was considerably smaller than the other fry, but the same length, which lead to my assumption that he was from the same grouping. Today was tank-maintenance day. I pulled out my gravel siphon and began working my way through the gravel in the tank while my brother sat fascinated with the waste-water. As I went to go dump the waste water, he told me that he thought he saw something move in the water and that he wanted me to go through it slowly instead of dumping it all out.... Just in case. I didn't really think much of it, but anything to please the nine year old. I used a small cup to remove the water a little bit at a time, and what do we discover? Yet another guppy fry. I've got no idea how he managed to survive in my tank with all of the big fish looking for a quick meal, but he did. I scooped him out and added him to the breeder trap with the rest of the fish. He's even smaller than the one I found on Thursday night, so I'm really hoping that he'll survive. So from a batch of fry that I thought I'd only saved 4 from, I managed to get 6.
So, here's the questions. My one-month old fry is actually about 6 weeks old. In the past week or so his fins have developed to show that it's a male, and he appears to be developing a little bit of colour. I'm looking to get him out of the breeders trap that he's currently in, but I'm terrified that he might get gobbled up by my other fish. Is there an age that is recommended to release them into a community tank?
Also, I'd like to set up a 10 gallon guppy fry only tank, and was told that for a filter, my best option would be a sponge filter. I figured that to have it ready for the 10 gallon, I'd run it along side my power filter in my community tank. Is this a good idea? How long should I run it in my community tank before I move it into the 10 gallon tank? Is there anything else I should do to the 10 gallon tank to prepare it for inhabitants? I'd rather not run on guesswork and then lose my fry.
Another question; About how big/old would an older guppy fry have to be to see new guppy fry as "food"?
(When we started the 15 gallon, my parents had never heard of cycling a tank. They just went out and got the water conditioner, treated the water and then dropped in a pair of mollys and a pair of guppies. We managed to keep fish in the tank with minimal losses, adding new fish once a week for the first month of the tank running, and never had any issues...)
-1 Balloon Molly
-1 Pearl Molly
-1 Dalmation Molly
-1 (Unidentified) Molly
-2 Male Swordtails
-6 Guppies (4 female, 2 male)
-3 Corydoras
Plus:
-1 one-month old guppy fry
-6 one-week old guppy fry
On the weekend (Saturday March 7th), I awoke to discover that my guppy had released her second batch of fry. I managed to find 6 fry in the tank. 4 were alive and well, and were safely caught and put in a breeders trap. 1 was already dead and laying in the gravel, and so was given a porcelain burial. The final fry was caught in the net, but managed to escape before I could scoop him into the breeder trap. I spent an hour searching the tank for him and couldn't find him. I assumed that he had been gobbled up by one of my other fish. On Thursday night, I was sat watching my corys, who were behaving abnormally, when a moving speck in my plastic plants caught my eye. Who was it? The illusive escaped guppy fry. I quickly managed to scoop him up and drop him into the breeder trap. He was considerably smaller than the other fry, but the same length, which lead to my assumption that he was from the same grouping. Today was tank-maintenance day. I pulled out my gravel siphon and began working my way through the gravel in the tank while my brother sat fascinated with the waste-water. As I went to go dump the waste water, he told me that he thought he saw something move in the water and that he wanted me to go through it slowly instead of dumping it all out.... Just in case. I didn't really think much of it, but anything to please the nine year old. I used a small cup to remove the water a little bit at a time, and what do we discover? Yet another guppy fry. I've got no idea how he managed to survive in my tank with all of the big fish looking for a quick meal, but he did. I scooped him out and added him to the breeder trap with the rest of the fish. He's even smaller than the one I found on Thursday night, so I'm really hoping that he'll survive. So from a batch of fry that I thought I'd only saved 4 from, I managed to get 6.
So, here's the questions. My one-month old fry is actually about 6 weeks old. In the past week or so his fins have developed to show that it's a male, and he appears to be developing a little bit of colour. I'm looking to get him out of the breeders trap that he's currently in, but I'm terrified that he might get gobbled up by my other fish. Is there an age that is recommended to release them into a community tank?
Also, I'd like to set up a 10 gallon guppy fry only tank, and was told that for a filter, my best option would be a sponge filter. I figured that to have it ready for the 10 gallon, I'd run it along side my power filter in my community tank. Is this a good idea? How long should I run it in my community tank before I move it into the 10 gallon tank? Is there anything else I should do to the 10 gallon tank to prepare it for inhabitants? I'd rather not run on guesswork and then lose my fry.
Another question; About how big/old would an older guppy fry have to be to see new guppy fry as "food"?
(When we started the 15 gallon, my parents had never heard of cycling a tank. They just went out and got the water conditioner, treated the water and then dropped in a pair of mollys and a pair of guppies. We managed to keep fish in the tank with minimal losses, adding new fish once a week for the first month of the tank running, and never had any issues...)
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