Foster Daddy

[Pinkiee]

On Saturday last, my female guppy had about 19 fry, I managed to get her into the birthing tank in time.
When I thought she'd finished I put her back in the big tank. Tonight I noticed 3 fry in the big tank in a plant. My male Betta also seemed to be hanging around in that plant. Now everytime one of the other fish go near the vicinity he chases them off flaring away then blows a few bubbles. The babies are swimming round him quite happily and he makes no move to eat them. Its so cute to watch...

Anyone else ever had an experience like it??

 

[jayjay]

might sound stupid but are you sure they are guppy fry??

do you have any female betta in the tank??

it might be that their actually his fry??

anyway sounds good hope they grow to be adults what evr they are.lol

 

[Pinkiee]

Yeah i'm sure they are guppy fry,there is no female betta
Sorely tempted to get a breeding pair but trying hard not to think about it.

 

[jayjay]

then well done i've never heard of it happening before.

he must be looking for love but that was the closet thing he could find awwwww.

hope he protects them well.

what else do you have in the tank and how big is it?

also i wouldn't reccommend getting a breeding pair of betta's it's hard work looking after the fry because of amle having to be split etc....

and the male may be to aggressive towards the female.

hope that helps you.

 

[Pinkiee]

I must admit I would hate it if they got hurt, which is more than likely.

My tank is a 215L (dont do gallons but about 56 I think) bow fronted tank.

I have 5 platties
numerous guppies in different stages of growth
1 clown loach
1 male betta
pair of black mollies,
6 neon tetras
1 zebra danio (bully boy)
1 silver tipped tetra
9 glo-lights
1 honey gourami
1 rummy nose
a couple of bronze cory's that are in a spawning tank.

The things I have 1 of usually means that I lost at least one or more soon after purchasing them but luckily I guarantine all my new fish.

Fully stocked I'd say

 

[jayjay]

if you don't wana see them get hurt you could put them in the breeding trap you used for the guppy if you wanted but then if you wanted them to grow well their going to need more room then that.

you got quite a selection of fish

i used to love my clown loaches they were around 6-7 inches long. my fav fish they were.

but i don't have any loaches at all now, in any of my tanks.

good luck caring for your new little babies.

 

[Animation]

I have 5 platties
numerous guppies in different stages of growth
1 clown loach - Should be in groups of 3+
1 male betta - If you ask me his fins are likely to get nipped in with theese fish
pair of black mollies,
6 neon tetras
1 zebra danio (bully boy) - Danios should ideally be in groups of 5+
1 silver tipped tetra - This tetra should be in a group of at least 5
9 glo-lights
1 honey gourami
1 rummy nose - Rummynose again should be with at least 5 others of it's kind
a couple of bronze cory's that are in a spawning tank. - Cory's should be in groups of 3+

Hey,
I'm really sorry to pick holes- i know it's not the nature of the thread just i think it's good to let people be aware of some of the problems they may have in the tank. I think you should perhaps sell and the restock some of your fish. It will make the fish alot happier and will look nicer as the fish will be more lively.

As for the guppies.
Congratulations. Think it's great that certain fish can get on with babies- I know it's not always apparent but fish really do have different personalities
James

 

[jayjay]

i agree with animation with the facts that the tetra and bottom dwelling fish (clown loach and cory's) should be in shoals to get the most out of them but pinkie did say that some had died i duno how many but.....

the zebra danio would be aggressive on its own i found that with 1 i had on its own once.

my advice would be get rid of the tetra and danio on there own and add 2 clown loach. as they i think more than the cory like to be in groups i had 5 clown's together and they showed why their called clowns and they intreacted together alot swimming up to greet me etc...

but i still like the fact a betta will defend fry that aren't its own.

 

[ElectricMayhem]

That's such a cute story! I bet he'd make a good daddy

 

[Nevergone815]

do you keep a head count on the fry? make sure he isn't taking midnight snacks. i think it is great that he is gaurding. if you plan on breeding as long as he gets the concept of a bubble nest it seems like he will be a good daddy.

when it comes to stocking, i really don't see a whole big problem there. i have had bettas in with community fish, i keep 2 blue longfin danios in a community, i have 1 emerald-2 panda-1 peppered cory in one tank and they get along fine- before i got the last 3 there was only the emerald and he was doing great by himself, i have a dwarf guorami on its own and so on. it just matters what works in your tank. if the danios and tetras are doing fine on their own (though i DO suggest you up the dossage onb these) then its ok by me. the cories being in pairs isn't all that bad- at least they have company. clown loaches though do like to be in groups and because of their larger size this usually poses a threat to people. they do have a slow rate of growth though. clown loaches are fine on their own, but the name appears more as the group size increases.

 

[GuppyDude]

Very interesting. I dont think i have ever heard of a male betta careing for fry that were not his own. But i have heard some pretty astonishing stories about bettas before, so i definately beleive it. The only thing i would worry about is if he desides to take them into his mouth for transportation, im not sure how the guppy fry will feel about that