What Can I Do With All These Guppy Frys?

[The Haunt]

Right! So, I had maybe 15 fry from my Mom's tank that she put into my new tank when we took hers down, along with 3 male guppies and 1 female. Yesterday, I looked at my tank.... She'd dropped AGAIN! -.-; The female guppy, I mean. Anyways, now I have maybe... 15 more frys?

What can I do with them all? There's so many! D

Also, how long does it take for them to grow? I think the ones from my Mom's tank are maybe... 2 or 3 weeks old? 4? dunno

 

[mattlee]

give them away and let it be a lesson in keeping mixed sex livebearers together

 

[The Haunt]

I have two tanks, so is it a good idea to maybe put male guppies in one and females in the other? xP Or I might get another Betta for that one, a female.... :'3 Then she can eat all the fry! XD

 

[OldMan47]

You can try the betta trick but I would not count on a betta controlling your guppy fry population. I find my only option for controlling guppy populations is to remove all adults from the tank regularly. Isn't that what club auctions are for? Even doing things that way, a guppy tank will become quite heavily populated in about 4 to 6 months.

 

[The Haunt]

I'm not in any fish clubs.

 

[elisew]

Unfortunately you have yourself a species that are like proverbial rabbits!

Even if you separate the males from the females, the females will probably continue to drop fry for a few months yet. I believe that the females actually 'keep hold' of sperm and will pop fry out over and over again (even with no males nearby), which in turn will leave you in the postion of continually removing the fry.

I`d suggest the same as Matt, give the fry away, even if it`s to your lfs. You never know they may give you some small amount of credit for them but don`t bank on it.


It would still be a good idea to separate the 2 sexes though or even give the females away?....no more babies at all then

 

[The Haunt]

How long do they take to grow up? I want to wait until they're all grown up and colourful before I give them away! :3 The reason being is, you see, that I recently got three new beautiful male guppies, and I think the fry might be from those!

 

[AstonN24vantage]

What can I do with them all? There's so many! D

why not just keep 'em?

 

[The Haunt]

I don't have a tank big enough...! D:

 

[nessar]

Also having 3 males and only 1 female isnt advised, as the males will harrass the female. I'd give the female away.

 

[OldMan47]

You can, of course, keep as many or as few fry as you wish. The idea of going to only males in the tank will certainly stop the population explosion. All females means you can look forward to disposing of some fry for about 6 more months and then the females will run out of stored sperm packets.
Fry will take about 3 months to mature enough for you to be able to tell if your favorite new males were the parent for your fry. By then each of your females should have dropped fry 2 or 3 more times. If you do not remove any fry, the population expansion will slow or even stop as there become so many predators that fry simply cannot survive. By that time the tank will be quite crowded but it can be maintained at that level.
You need not be a club member to sell fish at a club auction. Auctions are fund raisers for the clubs and most welcome non-members selling their fish. The club keeps a percentage of the price. I will be selling a few of my different livebearers at a club auction about 50 miles from my home in a couple of weeks. I am a member of a completely different club but I also visit 2 other clubs for the opportunity to sell off some of my surplus fish.