Guppies Breading

[Tim Axten]

I have about 15 guppies that are around 3 months old and they have started breading. I Stupidly though it would be interesting to learn about them as I go along until i noticed some females clearly pregnant. I realise I can’t let this go on and have done my best to separate the Males but I’m pretty new to the hobby and it’s hard for me to tell when they are so young. My question is what do I do now ? They were completely unexpected and I really don’t want to keep them all as I want other things in the two tanks.

 

[CryptFan]

By now all the females will be pregnant so no need to seperate males until later if you have correct proportions.

 

[Retired Viking]

My guppies have now over 60 fry in my shrimp/guppy tank. I took most of the adults out since they were going after my shrimp. I am now deciding if I should let them swim with my turtle since they are feeder guppies or give them to my bother-in-law. They really do breed faster than rabbits. My shrimp/guppy tank is only about 4 months old. It will soon be a shrimp only tank.

 

[Tim Axten]

By now all the females will be pregnant so no need to seperate males until later if you have correct proportions.

Wdym by correct proportions? And should I let them eat the fry ? How small are the fry going to be as the females are so young ? Or will they just have less.

 

[Tim Axten]

So

My guppies have now over 60 fry in my shrimp/guppy tank. I took most of the adults out since they were going after my shrimp. I am now deciding if I should let them swim with my turtle since they are feeder guppies or give them to my bother-in-law. They really do breed faster than rabbits. My shrimp/guppy tank is only about 4 months old. It will soon be a shrimp only tank.

So it’s ok to let them keep reproducing ?

 

[Retired Viking]

At first my guppies had just a few and seemed to leave them alone but now a dozen of so fry show up at a time. My guppies were young when I added them to my shrimp tank. I started out with 8 guppies. As far as reproducing that is up to you but they have started to overrun my 30 gallon tank.

 

[Retired Viking]

Some people just buy male guppies so they do not run into that problem. I just bought some cheap feeder guppies to help do a silent cycle on a planted 30 gallon tank. I would have just purchased 5 male fancy guppies but the LFS only sells them in pairs of 1 male to 1 female so I bought the feeder guppies instead. The LFS did not want to get stuck with a tank full of females and will sell females separately. I ended up with 1 male and 7 females.

 

[Tim Axten]

Some people just buy male guppies so they do not run into that problem. I just bought some cheap feeder guppies to help do a silent cycle on a planted 30 gallon tank. I would have just purchased 5 male fancy guppies but the LFS only sells them in pairs of 1 male to 1 female so I bought the feeder guppies instead. The LFS did not want to get stuck with a tank full of females and well sell females separately. I ended up with 1 male and 7 females.

Alright, I think I’ll keep all the females and rehome the males. unless there is a reason people normally go for all males ? Thanks for all you’re help.

 

[Essjay]

Wdym by correct proportions?

it is usual to have a lot more females than males to stop the males pestering the females all the time. With more females than males, each female gets time out while the males pester another female.

 

[seangee]

Alright, I think I’ll keep all the females and rehome the males. unless there is a reason people normally go for all males ? Thanks for all you’re help.

People usually keep the males because they are much more colourful.
Something you should be aware of...
Females store sperm packets for up to 6 months and can use these to fertilise eggs every month for 6 months after you have removed the males. Rehoming the males now is not going to stop you from getting a lot more guppies.

 

[Tim Axten]

Okay thank you all

 

[MicktheFish]

I have the same problem bought half a dozen six months ago now they are breeding like mad trouble is you cant tell the sex until its too late and they are breeding seriously thinking of culling some.

 

[Retired Viking]

I took all the adults out of my shrimp tank to slow the breeding down and stop them from going after my shrimp when they molt. I can really understand why people only want males, I just notice a new batch of fry in the tank. Must have over 60-70 nowI put the adults in my RES tank for the time being. The turtles so far have left them alone.

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

this will help too many will cause imbalance in your tank they will chew on each other tails. dead fish spread sickness in tanks and can cause massive problems.

here's what u can do please know that some of these are inhumane. . .
I'm going list ideas from humane to inhumane. Im not going say what's right or wrong. And that's not open to discussion as these are pets. I have seen people do all sorts of things and my view is strictly objective.

1. gift or sell to the pet store
2. gift or sell to a friend
3. look away as one fish eats another
4. flush in toilet
5. let your tank go until everything dies.