I Think My Female Guppy Is Sick

[Akasha72]

bogwood covered in java moss is your friend with fry. They hide really well in there and also get food dropping in so have something to eat without ventering too far away from safety.

 

[FishBlast]

bogwood covered in java moss is your friend with fry. They hide really well in there and also get food dropping in so have something to eat without ventering too far away from safety.

Yeah but my catfish wouldn't like it taking up his space. He likes to roam around everywhere. He also already seems to think that the plant needs a little trimming... I have water sprites all over my tank now thanks to him X_X I've planted one disconnected sprite in the sand.
Another used to be hanging from the filter... not anymore. Tzuppy tore that one to pieces. It is now floating around with the rest of the pieces.

 

[Cazgar]

Omg, you did end up with a lot of fry!
Hope your Dad's tank isn't leaking as you're going to need that for some of the fry, & tbh it won't be big enough for all the fry to grow properly.
I see large & frequent water changes in your future
Keep us posted how they all get on, good luck

 

[Akasha72]

my Dad seems to think they won't all survive. I'm unsure if I'm honest. I have time to work something out anyway, but yes, I know I can't let them grow where they are.

My neighbour has 4 large angel fish and I am wondering whether I should catch a few and give him some live food - even if it doesn't feel right

 

[OldMan47]

Option 3. Buy a plastic storage tub and make believe it is a tank. It will not allow you to watch every move your fry make, as a real tank would, but it will make a safe location to grow out your fry. I have used them in the past many times as emergency shelter for unexpected fish. The fish don't really know the difference.

 

[Akasha72]

Option 3. Buy a plastic storage tub and make believe it is a tank. It will not allow you to watch every move your fry make, as a real tank would, but it will make a safe location to grow out your fry. I have used them in the past many times as emergency shelter for unexpected fish. The fish don't really know the difference.

Thanks I never thought of that. It would mean getting another heater but I guess there's always ebay for cheap heaters.

What size storage tub would you suggest?

 

[Akasha72]

I feel awful, I've just netted about 10 out of the fry tank and put them in the big tank. I've told myself that if they survive then it's fate. I know they're all gonna get eaten but I guess that's nature. I still feel terrible though

 

[Ny82]

Congrats on the fry!!! Thats excellent news. I didn't even see this thread. When I read the first page about you thinking she was sick-the first thing I thought was it's a stuck baby.
It's an incredible amount of fry, so you did the right thing. Even though you feel awful about it. My fry kept escaping out the net so I just put them in the main tank and they are fine. I have 10 which are 2 weeks old and 11 or 12 are 1 week old
Keep us updated on your fry

 

[Akasha72]

well I've now found a large-ish plastic box - it's probably about 20" across and about 12-14" deep. It used to contain all my stuff for cleaning my car so it's had car shampoo bottles and anti-freeze bottles in so I've filled it with hot water (too hot to put my hand in) allowed it to cool and scrubbed it out with a clean scourer. I then re-filled it with more hot water, allowed it to cool again before emptying. Will that be enough? I can't smell any chemicals.

The plan then would be to put some gravel in the bottom of it (just a thin layer) add a heater and my bubble stone and then the guppy fry can go in. I'll get some in and see if they have enough room. I'll probably keep a few in the fry tank as I think putting them all in would be too much. They need room to grow after-all.

Anything I've not thought of?

 

[OldMan47]

I try to use one big enough for the number of fish I need to house. Never try to fill a storage tub much more than 2/3 full since it is not really designed to hold water for an extended period. My tubs are typically about 2 feet long, 1 1/2 feet wide and 1 1/2 feet deep. That means I only fill them to about the 1 foot deep mark.

 

[Akasha72]

I try to use one big enough for the number of fish I need to house. Never try to fill a storage tub much more than 2/3 full since it is not really designed to hold water for an extended period. My tubs are typically about 2 feet long, 1 1/2 feet wide and 1 1/2 feet deep. That means I only fill them to about the 1 foot deep mark.

okay, thanks for that

 

[Rox]

Alright, here is what I did.

5 min bath in epsom salt water
3 min rinse in tank water


I'll try doing this once a day for the next few days and see how it goes.

 

[Akasha72]

hope it works out for you Rox.

Well my fry tank is starting to look a little over crowed now. There's currently Mr apple snail who's rather large residing in there. Five 4 week old (roughly) platies. Three 3 week old (roughly) guppy fry. A few platy fry that are still tiny and about a week or so old and now the new lot that were born on Friday - Argh

I have no idea how many are there now that have survived, I didn't count how many I put in the adult tank to let fate decide their chances (never seen them so guessing they were lunch/dinner/breakfast)

So I'm now setting up a large storage box as an emergency tank! I've put a thin layer of gravel in the bottom and added about 15 litres of water and some stresscoat. I have a new heater from Argos (£9.99 BARGAIN!!) and my bubble stone ready. The storage box is about half full of water and darn't put any more in.

I'm about to get the heater in somehow (not sure if the suction cups with stick to plastic?) and get it up to temperature.

Then tomorrow I can start trying to catch baby fish!!

Meanwhile: Mummy fish are all looking rather fat again - including the one that dropped the 76! I refuse to catch anymore fry for now so anymore that pop out will have to suffer their fate in the big tank... this is Miss Soppy getting tough on breeding fish lol

 

[FishFanatic04]

lol I am heading toward this stage with my platy. She never stops looking pregnant I may use this storage box idea as a hospital...I keep an extra sponge filter {$3} running in my 10g. I figured I could use that in a bin if needed.

 

[FishBlast]

Never thought I'd end up with a bin for fry. But my main tank isn't exactly ready for housing fry.
I do have a rather crazy fry in there that raced along the tank and was ignored by its parents (although kept attracting the catfish's attention when he was at the top), but since I last took a pic of him, he just went near the plant and I haven't seen him since. I also saw 3 other fry in there but no idea if they survived.

In the 10L bin I have 4 fry (were 5 but one's tail just never straightened so I had to give him to the fish ) and I finally managed to convince them to have a peck at some fine flakes. I like their colors, but the albino's the funniest, it's so hard to spot him.
I'll have to figure out what to do until they grow to a size that they cannot get eaten by their parents. The catfish is rather slow and only sees as food what goes at the top so I think they should be around 2 cm before being put in the tank.
I could use the 23L tank but then it will be hard keeping the water changes up X_X and I don't have an extra filter nor do I know how to make a pump that will extend the water filtration to a second tank (that would have been a solution to my current problem but not sure what I'd need besides an engine and two tubes).