Breeding Guppies for a frog...

[cataphract]

I recently have been granted responsability of a argentine horned frog, and when he gets older he is suppoed to eat guppies. my question is: what are some general tips/tricks for breeding guppies and what size should i allow the fry to grow to to be edible to my frog, what is the average size of feeder guppies?

Thanks for any tips!

 

[guppymonkey]

For starters never ever get breeder goldfish or guppies to feed to the frog! They are usually kept in nasty conditions and could get the frog sick or give it parasites. Most frogs (even carnivorous ones) eat other things than just fish, its usually a good idea to vary their diet so they get a balanced nutrition and guppies can be fattening I have heard.

It takes awhile for guppies to grow up. It can take a few months for them to grow to over an inch long.

 

[cataphract]

I was planning on buying a few guppies (2 females and 1 male) from the pet store i work at, then breed them to get feeder guppies to feed to the frog. He eats crickets, mealworms, earthworms, kingworms and pinkies (when he is bigger) as well, but i thought feeder fish would be a good idea because i can assign a class to look after them. (The frog is owned by my teacher (gr. 11 biology) but is my responsibility.) I'm trying to add more variety to its diet, as well as give some younger students a make-shift course in fish breeding.

 

[guppymonkey]

If you have students take care of them it would only add to your troubles, they would probably end up killing them and would also freak out when you tried to feed the fish to the frog eventually. Its quite easy to become attached to pets, especially if you have had a part in raising them from babies to adulthood.

 

[AquaNut]

If you have students take care of them it would only add to your troubles, they would probably end up killing them and would also freak out when you tried to feed the fish to the frog eventually. Its quite easy to become attached to pets, especially if you have had a part in raising them from babies to adulthood.

I couldn't disagree more. I think a guppy tank is one of the best science lessons available. It's a great way to get students interested in chemistry, biology, botany, and zoology. These are not little children. Those who are squeamish need not watch the frog eat the guppies.

To answer your question, guppies need little incentive to breed for you. As you said you work at a pet store, I'm going to assume that you know about cycling a tank before putting the guppies into it, or are prepared to do daily water changes if you're going to try and cycle it with the guppies. If you're not familiar with fishless cycling, I encourage you to look into it before buying any fish. Guppies like their water to be slightly hard and alkaline, but are hardy enough to tolerate much softer water. I recommend using salt in a guppy tank; you'll find that you'll be confronted by far less ich and fungus, with guppies being particularly prone to the latter. Guppies also benefit greatly from live plants in the tank. If you're going to let the females give birth in the tank, which I recommend, the fry will appreciate dense plantings for hiding in. Keep the water nice and warm and feed them well on a high quality flake food with frequent supplements of brine shrimp and bloodworms or mosquito larvae. (just think of all the science classroom experiments waiting to happen! I see brine shrimp hatcheries and decomposing leaves feeding bloodworm colonies ) They'll produce plenty of healthy fry for you every month. In all honesty, you could do much less than this and the guppies will still breed, but surely you want to do what's best for the fish.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[spanky_pp_]

I recently have been granted responsability of a argentine horned frog, and when he gets older he is suppoed to eat guppies. my question is: what are some general tips/tricks for breeding guppies and what size should i allow the fry to grow to to be edible to my frog, what is the average size of feeder guppies?

Thanks for any tips!

Firstly id like to admire your enthusiasm to provide students with such and interesting subject to look into.
I also totally agree with AquaNut...
I had a massive Tank at the back of my biology classroom which has British native river fish in it. It was the centre of most of our biology lessons. Its a great way to inspire students into actually viewing foodchains as they happen, instead of just read and write about them.
Our teacher added some frogs spawn into the tank to, and soon we had 100's of tiny frogs jumping around our lab!!! Ahhh. I dont really advise you do this, as you then have to collect the frogs, or kind them jumping along the lab floors.-great fun.

Ive had guppies for about 7 years now, and i find them the easiest to look after. I prefer the natural approach. Its low maintanance and soooo easy. I cant stress it enough. Purchase two males 5 females, and wait. In the same tank, have lots of plants to provide carbon dioxide, pond snails, which will do all the clearing up for you. Have a smaller tank ready for you to transport all fry into once born, so you dont lose any from being eated by parents to reduce competition and extra nutrition of course. feed to the frog when you think fry are big/small enough to fit into the frogs mouth. It shouldn't take to long, and once you have your guppies settled in and breeding, you firstly wont be able to make them stop, but you will also not have to do much more. P.s i never bother to clean my tank or change its water, i do top it up, and i have had fish for a while now, and it seems to really work for me, no matter what i have in my tank out of the live bearers... hope that helps. sorry about the essay!

 

[colin5861]

Oh my god - you nasty man . How dare you feed living beings with feelings and thoughts and things to a horrible nasty froggie. Surely you realise that it is not nice to do this and you can probably educate the frog to eat soya meal.

If you must feed the poor little guppies I insist that you take each one to the vet to ensure that they are put to sleep in as painless a way as possible.


Sorry folks - I've been reading too many threads lately. Tree hugging must be infectious




Colin

 

[AquaNut]

Colin, thank you for the best laugh I've had in ages.

 

[spanky_pp_]

yeah quite funny poor little guppies!

 

[joshua]

but honestly, even live fish go into that flake food of yours.. but it's kinda sad to see the fish die in front of you (doesn't matter if someone else does it) hehehe