Many, many, many guppy fry

ggk

New Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2003
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
I have a 10 gallon tank with well over 100 guppy fry and they just keep having more. We feed them flake food and blood worms occasionally. They babies swim freely and don't seem to be bothered by the adults (although I realize alot of babies could have been eaten without my knowing it). Anyhow, my question is, will they eventually quit reproducing with such regularity as the tank gets more and more crowded, or do you think they will start dying? Also, what is the best way to clean the gravel with so many fry of different sizes in there? :unsure: Thanks for any advice.
 
My experience with this is that it's a true experiment in Darwinism - survival of the fittest. I used to just let my guppy tanks go natural ie. I didn't put females in breeding boxes to try and save fry, but I didn't remove any fry, either. I figured that the adults would eat most of the fry, and only the strongest, fastest ones would survive. This is true, in the beginning. Eventually, however, you end up with so many females who are giving birth within any given few day span, that there are more fry than the adults can eat. My personal experience is that as the strongest fry grow and start to use the space/oxygen/food in the tank, the weaker fry and adults die to make room. It's not at all pleasant to find dead or dying guppies every day, so the 'natural' thing wore thin with me. You have at least a couple of options. If you have other fish, they'll gladly help with population control. If this seems cruel or unappealing to you, you can start taking the juveniles to your lfs (if they'll take them). When I say juveniles, I don't mean tiny fry, but young guppies already showing colour and easily sexed. Alternatively, you can start setting up new tanks every few weeks to accomodate your guppies!
 
Thanks aquanut. You are probably right on all accounts. What if I put my male guppies in the tank with female platys and the male platys in with the female guppies. Will this stop the breeding or do they mixbreed?
 
I think you'd be 99.9% safe with that plan. I'm not 100% positive that the guppies and platies won't cross breed. I know that platies, swords, and mollies all will. The resulting fish are usually deformed, unhealthy, or at the very least, sterile, so they cannot reproduce. It would certainly make for better population control than leaving them all with their own kind!
 
ggk,
Separation of the sexes is how I try to control guppy breeding. I learned the hard way that fry as young as 3 months will also give birth, so you have to be diligent about moving the growing fry as soon as you can sex them. I have guppies in every tank :D except the puffer tank.
 
Thanks for your help. I just found out a friend is wanting to get rid of her 60 gallon tank. Is this too too big an undertaking for a newbie who already has 2 10 gallon, and 2 beta bowls. Wow, how addictive this new hobby is! :thumbs:
 
Get the sixty gallon!! The bigger the tank is, the easier it is to maintain and stabilize. You'll never look back. Welcome to the addiction! :hi: :lol:
 
:hyper: YOU ARE SO LUCKY!

I would absolutly love to have a 60 gallon tank just handed to me!
I only have one 10 gallon tank and one betta bowl, i am trying to get another tank but gosh they are so expencive for all the things that the fish need to survive!

If i were u, i would defidently take the 60 gallon tank. Then I'd be best friends with ur friend FOREVER! :p
 
The 60 gal tank isn't mine yet. She actually works w/ my brother & he was telling her about my population explosion. I don't know what all is included, if anything. Why are they easier to maintain? I was worried they would make more work because of their size.
 
It's easier maintaining a larger tank because the larger volume of water is a little more forgiving of overfeeding and delayed tank maintenance :) . It is a bit more work to handle the larger amounts of water during maintenance, but if you overfeed, I feel you have a large enough volume of water and nitrifying bacteria to handle it. Experts will jump in and give you more information. I am a relative newbie myself, but I have learned tons of info from this site. :D
 

Most reactions

Back
Top