First Guppy Breeding Tank

[Zorak]

I just got a new 25tall, in which i decided to have guppies. My ultimate goal is to get my live plants established and enough folage for fry to hide in my water moss i have. In the mean time i want to try to breed in my fry pen i bought. I keep my water at 78 and have a regent 30/40 filter pumping, which i don't have a sponge for(Do i really need this?). Right now i have 7 females and 3 males. I keep my water very clean and monitor levels regularly. I will post pics below
My tank

My questions are; Do i need the sponge on my filter? Are there any supplies i am missing?
Can someone post a picture of a female who is ready to give birth? I have one female that looks very plump and i have moved her into the net.
Any tips on getting my tank to the point where i will have enough surviving fry that i will be having to selectively remove offspring? How long would it take to achieve this considering what i have?
What kind of lighting would be optimal keeping in mind that i am trying to grow 3 different kinds of live plants which require good light.
Any other suggestions/comments are welcome too.

 

[wwestar2000]

Heres a horrible pic but guppies are tricky both of my full grown females have lookeed pregnant for 1 month and a half and still neither has given birth. oh wait its not letting me put a pic oh well i tryed.

 

[Annastasia]

Okies..let's start from the beginning...

Do i need the sponge on my filter?

I'd say yes. Sponges are good. They are a major part of filtration, usually, so I would reccommend one.

Are there any supplies i am missing?

It sounds like you have everything, but if you don't have a heater, I'd get one.

Any tips on getting my tank to the point where i will have enough surviving fry that i will be having to selectively remove offspring?

Not have the parents or any other fish in?

Okay, seriously...to do that, you will need to have a LOT of hiding places. And make sure they get enough food. And it may not ever happen, because some parents still eat the some of the fry.

How long would it take to achieve this considering what i have?

Uh...a while. Unless you get a lot of bigger plants, soon. And you can buy caves and rocks and wood and things though. That will help with the hiding places. I also reccommend if you want live plants, to have dense ones, with lots of little hidey holes. Floating plants too.

What kind of lighting would be optimal keeping in mind that i am trying to grow 3 different kinds of live plants which require good light.

Preferably about 2-3Watts per gallon. I find double-light hoods to be good, because you can put in 2 different light bulbs, and therefore get different spectrums.


Other tips...

• Make sure you have room for all these fry! Your Guppies can have lots of fry, and they will KEEP having fry their whole life. That's a lot of fish!
• If you are putting the mother in a breeding net, don't leave her in there more then 2-3 days. It can greatly stress her out, and cause her to abort the fry.
• Feed the fry often. 3 times per day, mimimum. Good fry foods are Tetramin Fry, Hikari First Bites, or Baby Brine Shrimp. They can move onto Flakes and Freeze-dried, Frozen, or Live Brine Shrimp, Bloodworms, Tubifex Worms...etc. after a few weeks.

 

[Zorak]

What kind of light do i need? That double fixture sounds expensive. Can i get by with just the standard light that came with the hood?

Here is a pic of the female that looked to me like she is going to give birth

 

[fantasy fish]

she is far away from giving birth, i'd say another 3 weeks or so. In the mean time put her back in the community tank so she doesn't get stressed out and die

 

[Zorak]

Thanks i will set her free... Are there good artificial plants that are like a moss or something suitable for such purpose?

 

[fantasy fish]

I just use tall and feathery looking artifical plants incase i don't see the fry. otherwise i put them in a separate tank.

 

[Annastasia]

Yes, you can get by. For some plants that may not be enough light though, and it will also take the other ones longer to grow.

As said already, she is far away from giving birth. She will be VERY fat when she's close. She'll look about ready to pop.

 

[fantasy fish]

this is a little off subject but i was wondering if u like your 25gal tank tall, i have the same tank as u do but i don't really like my 25gal tall. My dad bought it for me and i didn't get to see it and say if i liked it before it was bought. So just wondering if u like it.

 

[Zorak]

this is a little off subject but i was wondering if u like your 25gal tank tall, i have the same tank as u do but i don't really like my 25gal tall. My dad bought it for me and i didn't get to see it and say if i liked it before it was bought. So just wondering if u like it.

Yeah I didn't know they made a 25g that has a 12"x24" base. I went to the LFS looking for a 20g to put on the stand where i had a rediculously old metal frame 15g. So after having that ugly tank anything is a great improvement. I am more into cichlids but when i saw this 25g tall i thought guppies with tall plants. Not sure if i can speak for the future but so far i love it and have had many complements about it from friends. I think it being so tall makes it look almost bigger. Right now i got this tank and a 29G with an evil Flowerhorn in it who will be more than happy to help me deal with excess guppies.

 

[afireinside]

why don't u have a pre cycled five gallon tank all set up for ur baby guppies? that's what i have set up just incase some of my fish have babies.

 

[sylvia]

You should have 2 females to every male or the female(s) will get stressed from being chased around all the time. It looks like you have 2 males and only one female. You need to add at least 3 mroe females or take a male out and replace him with a female. Don't add anything if the tank isn't cycled yet though.
Also, having the sponge (filter media) in the filter is essential. All the good bacteria that make cycling possible will grow there. Some also grow in the gravel but it is that sponge that houses the majority of them.

 

[Annastasia]

Sylvia, in his first post he says

Right now i have 7 females and 3 males.

So I think he has a good amount. About 2 females per male...

 

[Zorak]

I know about cycling this is my first guppy tank not my first tank. I thought the sponge meant something to put on the intake to keep fry from getting sucked up; i have more than enough filtration with a filter rated for a 40g. What is the sponge because my filter has 3 stages of filtration.

 

[Zorak]

why don't u have a pre cycled five gallon tank all set up for ur baby guppies? that's what i have set up just incase some of my fish have babies.

I have an old 15 gallon with cycled water in it used for a hospital for my african cichlids. And i can easily get my ph down in it, do i really need to do this though? I have a large breeding net.