Fry On The Move

guppymommy · May 16, 2006

Well, I know they are young yet (about 5 -6 days old), but I moved six of my fifteen guppy fry into the tank with the two week old guppy fry to see how they do. So far, they seem to be doing fine. The older fry haven't attempted to make a meal out of them and they haven't been sucked into the filter. If they do well through the night, I'll move the remaining nine into the fry tank as well. The nine are currently in the breeder net in my 10 gallon tank. I'd leave them in there longer, but the adults seem to be annoyed by the net being in their way.

I've heard a theory that adults give off some sort of hormone that slows the growth of fry. I'm not sure if this theory has been proven, but I was wondering if it is true, will my older fry put off the same hormone and stunt the growth of the new fry I put in the tank?

lisa_perry75 · May 16, 2006

Why would adults do that? Stunting growth of fry. I think that theory sounds crap. If it is true then guppies really are stupid :lol:

jk

millym · May 17, 2006

hi
a guy who owns one of our lfs told me when i took some fry in to his shop for exchange. told me that its actually the fry that give off the hormone.the biggest fry give this off to ensure they stay the biggest ( & i guess the strongest) which is why you often get such a vast difference in fry growth - our swordie fry some of them matured quickly to about an inch long whilst others stayed quite teeny. he told me the way to prevent this is to do frequent small water changes in your fry tank.
i did this with the remaining fry in our small tank & did notice their growth seemed to be more even from then on but whether this was coincidence or not i dont know as i havent done any further research on thsi, but i trust the guy in the shop he seems to know his stuff.

guppymommy · May 17, 2006

AAAHHH and I just put my babies in with the older fry! I'll try the frequent small water changes (is daily too much?) and see if that helps! Thank you so much for this info!

Kairi · May 18, 2006

i don't think i'd worry about it. i change my fry tank about once every 3 days, but that's because it's one gallon, and there are 5 fry living there. They all grow very normally, and seem much healthier than the fry who survive. I know in my tank, the largest fry are the oldest.... but the smaller ones grow like weeds.

SnowyzMom · May 18, 2006

Well I knooooow I should leave the new guppy fry in the bigger tanks so more natural predation takes place but I'm often netting the little guys out of there and putting them in the 10 gallon with the extra male guppies. The mature males and older fry don't seem to bother the newborns at all, even the tiniest fry, and everyone seems to get along together really well and the fry grow up VERY fast. Then once the guys think the females are starting to look too cute it's off to the big tanks for the girls. I have to admit I haven't seen any of the size limiting going on but it could be true eh? I can't tell, they're zipping all over the place! :wub:

It's strange, the teeniest fry seem to know they're safe the instant they get into the male guppy tank---in the bigger tanks they're always hiding down in the java moss from their voracious mommies and everything else but the second I transfer them into the 10 gallon they're up at the surface 24/7 and having a blast, particularly with the powdered brine shrimp. :hyper: