Breeding Guppies in the Main Tank

[gto_cowgirl]

Lately i have been trying different ways to breed guppies. I wanted to save as many fry as possible so i keep the fry in a 1 gallon until they are old enough to be moved on.

First my guppies gave birth naturally inside the main tank with lots of plants and later that day i realized she was smaller so i took out all of the plants and found about 4. Then about a week later another guppy gave birth where i noticed her size was smaller so i checked the tank again by removing all of the plants and found 1 guppy.

I decided i wanted to save as many fry as possible so i tried a plastic breeder box but all i got from the next 2 guppies that stayed in there was miscarriages so i figured thats to stressful and i'm not getting anywhere.

Now i have a tank divider in the main tank ready for whenver any of them look near birth to place in there.

I want to seperate the adults and fries once i know they are there but i seem to be getting the timing wrong. I don't mind leaving the females in the main tank but then i have to stress out all of the fish by taking out all of the plants (which is alot) and looking for a couple of hours for tiny fry.

Does everyone do that (stress out all the fish by taking the plants out) or does someone know of any simplier way? I am usually gone most of the day while my boyfriend feeds the fish. He doesn't watch the fish enough to know if the females decide that day they are not eating so I can only tell when i get home and they have always been smaller by then. I don't know what the best way is. These are all very young guppies so i know their births will be smaller but i can never seem to catch them in the act and i wanted to save as much fry as possible.

 

[iloveyou]

i just heavily plant the tank, and let the guppies do their thing.... if any survive then they do.. if not.. the guppies get a healthy treat lol...

so far i have 2 fry in there now.. a 10 gallon tank with lots of fake plants/moss which provide lots of places to hide... the fry can also eat things off the plants so thats also a good thing... if you just left them and didnt take out the plants more would probably have survived... if i was you id just leave them in there and keep your guppies fed well... you should get some fry, and the mamas wont be soo stressed

 

[gto_cowgirl]

Yeah, I figured when i took out all of the plants that the babies would be seen by the parents. Maybe i could try taking out all of the adult guppies first and then the plants.

By the way, my tank is very heavily planted which makes it even more difficult. I have one very long plant that is so long the ends will float at the top giving the guppies more protection along with many little plants on the bottom. I just wish there was an easier way of doing things and get to seperate them.

I really like watching the guppy fry growing in the 1 gallon. From the first day i rememeber all the fry did was hide because they were so scared from being eaten but now they can swim around and enjoy themselves. So i really want to seperate the guppy fry no matter what. It seems more enjoyable for the fry and me in the long run.