Advice On A Breeding Tank

[Cooper2085]

Basically i have some guppys, i dont want all the fry to be eaten. I have a 16" x 12" x 12" ish tank.

How would i set it up? What filter, what food for fry, any gravel and plants?

Any advice appreciated

 

[dogboy]

hi i have 4 fry tanks for cichlids, they are a bit bigger than your tank but cichlids are bigger too, i have gravel and rock structures for the female and her fry to hide in and a simple corner filter, you know plastic container, filter wool, bubbles and perhaps some charcoal. i have a small heater also but dont need in australian summers. with guppies you could use a plant like java moss for the fry to hide in and i believe they either eat the plant or micro-organisms growing on it. i feed the cichlids the flakes i use for the parents but finely ground up, i dont know if this works with guppies so try the java moss or wait for a guppy expert. i have also heard of people using plastic pot scourers which have been boiled to soften and sterilise which they then tease out to provide protection for the fry. i would also use water from the tank the female comes from when first setting up

 

[Cooper2085]

I will just add that the only plants i want to use are plastic, my LFS has some "matting" which could cover the whole floor of the tank and is around 1.5" high.

 

[Cooper2085]

Anyone here who has bred these before?

 

[Colin_T]

Put a thin layer of gravel in the tank. Add a corner sponge filter and have some floating plants in the tank. If you have a light on the tank then use live floating plants like water sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides). If you don't have a light on the tank then use plastic or artificial plants. Have a few plants on the bottom too if you can. Java Moss is good for this.
Guppies are not renowned for eating their young and if they are well fed the female will ignore them completely. Try to have the filter mature with a fully developed colony of good bacteria. Place the female in the tank and leave her until she has the young. If possible leave her there for a week or more to recover before putting her back in with the male.
The other way to breed guppies is to have a planted tank with females only. Once in a while you introduce a male and let him do his bit. Then remove him to his own tank until needed later. The females will give birth in their tank and the young can be kept with them until old enough to sex. Then the young males are removed and surplus fish sold off or moved into bigger growout tanks.

 

[Cooper2085]

Thank you! Thats exactly what i needed to hear.

So sponge filter, some floating plastic plants, some weighted plastic plants and a thin layer of gravel... time to go to my LFS

 

[Colin_T]

If you are buying a new filter put it into the main tank until it is needed. This will give it a chance to develop some bacteria that will help keep the water clean. It will take about 3-4 weeks for the filter to become fully colonised with good filter bacteria. If you can have the new sponge in contact with an established sponge in another filter it will take less time.

Now is probably a good time to get some microworms and brineshrimp eggs. The microworms will live in icecream buckets containing a thin layer of cooked oatmeal and bakers yeast. You get a starter culture and make up new cultures every couple of weeks. When the worms start to crawl up the sides of the bucket you can wipe them off with your finger and feed them to the baby fish.

Brineshrimp eggs can be hatched in saltwater/ seawater. Put a small amount of eggs (1/2 level teaspoon or less) into a 2litre icecream bucket containing 1litre of saltwater. Have an airstone bubbling away in it and keep the container on the fish tank or somewhere warm. The eggs hatch quicker in warm water. Use a plant mister to wash the eggs off the sides several times a day. Within a day or two the eggs will have hatched and you will see tiny little orange things in the water. These are the newly hatched shrimp and are called nauplii. Take the airstone out of the bucket and let the water sit for 5-10 minutes. The nauplii will gather at the surface and can be sucked out with an eye dropper or plastic syringe and fed to the baby fish. The adult guppies will eat them too. Replace the airstone and start a new lot of eggs every few days.
You can buy decapsulated brineshrimp eggs and they are hatched in the same way but you don't have any egg shells to worry about once hatching occurs.

 

[Cooper2085]

Yeah i will rinse a filter media over the new sponge to speed things up ^^

Is there anywhere you can buy the baby food? I dont really have the space to keep all the buckets and ice cream tubs!

 

[MHunt]

Yeah, the best way to raise the fish is a nice simply set up tank. An air powered sponge or box filter. either bare bottom or a fine layer of gravel. Add some plants for hiding places. Real ones are best as they help keep the water nice for the fish.

 

[Colin_T]

Is there anywhere you can buy the baby food? I dont really have the space to keep all the buckets and ice cream tubs!

The local aquarium shop should sell brineshrimp eggs. They should also be able to get in starter cultures fo microworms. If not then contact your local aquarium society. Someone there will have a starter culter you can get.
The microworms don't take much room. Most people keep them on the stand under the tank.
If you don't use live or frozen food the baby fish will grow really slowly.