Hello all!
So I have guppy fry that I’ve raised, I don’t know how old my oldest batches are exactly, probably 5-7 months by now, but a lot of them are still small.
I will be frank, my guppy tanks are overstocked. I have a 30 gallon for my male guppies and a 20 gallon for my female guppies. Problem: my ladies have dropped significantly more female fry, or the female fry have a higher survival rate. I’m talking like maybe a 3:1 ratio and yet it’s my ladies with the smaller tank. I’m talking with my sister about getting them a bigger tank. We have room for, at most a 45 gallon with its stand and whatever tank can fit on the bottom of that stand. Right now I have the 29 gallon on a stand and the 20 gallon underneath it.
My oldest male fry have grown no problem; many of them are bigger than their parents.
My female fry though… not a single one has grown to the same size as their mothers. It’s kind of pathetic how much bigger the mothers are. They seem to all reach the same size before they stop. I would say they’re about half as big as the moms and I’m not sure what to do. I should probably start selling them, but the thought of getting rid of fish I’ve carefully raised for 6 months Is quite depressing, especially since guppies bought at fish stores never seem to live very long (I’ve read your lucky if you get 6 months from a store bought guppy and the longest luck I’ve personally had with one from the store is 8 months) and the thought of possibly shortening their expectancy also hurts… but I’m also aware my over stocked tanks don’t help in that department. When fry first started appearing I was planning on selling them when they got big enough; but they aren’t getting big enough.
I change the water frequently but I don’t have a set schedule. I feed my adult tanks once a day. And I only have 4 adult female and 4 original adult male guppies. The rest are their armies of children to which I’ve lost count, but it’s a lot and it’s ridiculous.
Is there anything I can do to help the ladies growth with my current set up? Or will I have to sell them small or buy a new tank?
I lightly circled the one adult male that is currently in my female tank for size comparison. My adult ladies are in a separate birthing tank.
Edit: if I counted right I counted 61 female guppies in the above photo and that makes me nauseous at keeping them in a 20 gallon
So I have guppy fry that I’ve raised, I don’t know how old my oldest batches are exactly, probably 5-7 months by now, but a lot of them are still small.
I will be frank, my guppy tanks are overstocked. I have a 30 gallon for my male guppies and a 20 gallon for my female guppies. Problem: my ladies have dropped significantly more female fry, or the female fry have a higher survival rate. I’m talking like maybe a 3:1 ratio and yet it’s my ladies with the smaller tank. I’m talking with my sister about getting them a bigger tank. We have room for, at most a 45 gallon with its stand and whatever tank can fit on the bottom of that stand. Right now I have the 29 gallon on a stand and the 20 gallon underneath it.
My oldest male fry have grown no problem; many of them are bigger than their parents.
My female fry though… not a single one has grown to the same size as their mothers. It’s kind of pathetic how much bigger the mothers are. They seem to all reach the same size before they stop. I would say they’re about half as big as the moms and I’m not sure what to do. I should probably start selling them, but the thought of getting rid of fish I’ve carefully raised for 6 months Is quite depressing, especially since guppies bought at fish stores never seem to live very long (I’ve read your lucky if you get 6 months from a store bought guppy and the longest luck I’ve personally had with one from the store is 8 months) and the thought of possibly shortening their expectancy also hurts… but I’m also aware my over stocked tanks don’t help in that department. When fry first started appearing I was planning on selling them when they got big enough; but they aren’t getting big enough.
I change the water frequently but I don’t have a set schedule. I feed my adult tanks once a day. And I only have 4 adult female and 4 original adult male guppies. The rest are their armies of children to which I’ve lost count, but it’s a lot and it’s ridiculous.
Is there anything I can do to help the ladies growth with my current set up? Or will I have to sell them small or buy a new tank?
I lightly circled the one adult male that is currently in my female tank for size comparison. My adult ladies are in a separate birthing tank.
Edit: if I counted right I counted 61 female guppies in the above photo and that makes me nauseous at keeping them in a 20 gallon
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