Guppy Breeding ... Load Me With Your Knowledge

[Antony]

ok so the title says the most of it but i'll explain the basics ..

The tank is a fluval roma 90
live plants (unknown types really)
gravel based floor
branch of some sort of driftwood
artificial tree stump
interpet pf3 filter (for the time being)< replacing with the ex700 i have at some point.

stock:
5x female guppy 6x 5x female guppyI lost one
3x male guppy
1x albino rainbow shark (i know,not suitable ect. ect.)
1x rummy nose tetra (lonely, i know..although he schools with the girls) Re-Homed
1x powder blue Gourami (dwarf) Deceased
1x Banjo catfish
2x Guppy fry (female)

temp :25*c

thats about all

so whats next? (don't say get rid of the shark, that's already on the horizon)

Let the information sharing begin!

 

[pkppv]

pretty sure it just happens. About a month after the males and females are united, there should be babies. Watch the females bellies, the bigger, the closer to birth. Square belly means birth will come VERY soon. Also, there will be a dark spot on near the sexual organs that will grow as the birth approaches. If you just let it go, you will have many fry eaten, but you should probably have a few survive. If you want a lot to survive, seperate the female just before she gives birth or the fry soon after she gives birth. Do not use one of those tiny breeding traps, they stress the females out like crazy and often kill them.

 

[Antony]

cheers
i had that bit already but you put it into words better than i had it down
i have one of theese at the moment as a temporary but im thinking about a 8"x 8" net isolation that i have been designing http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/fish-breeding/marina-floating-3-in-1-breeding-trap.html

any good at all?

3x my females are heavy pregnant already although i think one is infertile or shes just had a miscarage (pinky, orange gravid spot was normal when i got her) from lfs-home transport

cheers
i had that bit already but you put it into words better than i had it down
i have one of theese at the moment as a temporary but im thinking about a 8"x 8" net isolation that i have been designing http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/fish-breeding/marina-floating-3-in-1-breeding-trap.html

any good at all?

3x my females are heavy pregnant already although i think one is infertile or shes just had a miscarage (pinky, orange gravid spot was normal when i got her) possibly caused by lfs-home transport

 

[pkppv]

Well im not really for the use of traps like that, as they drastically increase the death rate of the mother, but may very well increase the survival rate of your fry (more fish in the end? haha) Its really up to you on that one. As for infertility, i have no idea. Im sure someone will answer that soon enough.

 

[Antony]

way i figure is all fishes lives are worth the same although to be more productive and practical the mother is more important being as she is already sexually mature wheras with the fry i will have to wait much longer before they can either be sold / passed on ,traded or bred along although a minimum fry loss would be ideal

 

[Cazgar]

You could always use a divider in your main tank to put the female in if you want to save as many fry as possible.
Be aware, many Lfs won't take guppies or platys as they're so plentiful.
I'd check before you start or you'll end up overrun with them.

 

[Antony]

many Lfs won't take guppies or platys as they're so plentiful.
I'd check before you start or you'll end up overrun with them.

already struck up a good'ish deal
i get to trade them in at a worth of 50p each to spend in store
after so long of course i'll move on to other live bearers or the moscow blue i'm still trying to find with no luck

 

[OldMan47]

If you intend to branch out, why not start with an easy goodeid instead of guppies? Things like Characodon lateralis would not compete with the normal supply source for your LFS and should give you a far better return in terms of value per fry raised. They are almost as easy as guppies but simply are not seen as often because they never caught on in the huge fish farms. There are pictures of lateralis here.

 

[pkppv]

cool looking fish!

 

[This Old Spouse]

Very nice fish! Wish I could get some ...

But the OP already has his fish, right? And guppies it is. After going through a stage of raising guppies, I'd suggest just leaving everyone in the same tank without separating them at any time. Many of the fry will be eaten, but likely several will survive. Just provide lots of vegetation for them to hide in and the numbers will increase.

Raising guppies just to get a few pence to spend in the store seems a bit like running a puppy mill.

 

[Antony]

Very nice fish! Wish I could get some ...

But the OP already has his fish, right? And guppies it is. After going through a stage of raising guppies, I'd suggest just leaving everyone in the same tank without separating them at any time. Many of the fry will be eaten, but likely several will survive. Just provide lots of vegetation for them to hide in and the numbers will increase.

Raising guppies just to get a few pence to spend in the store seems a bit like running a puppy mill.

I like that fish it's very nice but i'm going with the guppies to gain a bit of experience in the subject before i move on to the yet still elusive Moscow blues
Im going at it with the approach of letting them give birth in the community and then moving the fry to a trap... until i set up a 4th tank for growing anyways
The whole puppy mill is one way to look at it although i am planning on keeping a few of them for myself and a friend the whole lfs deal is just in-case it gets a bit out of hand :L call it a part time dummy run if you will..

on the same note i'd just like to say i got my first drop between 11pm and 2:30am on the 3rd-4th of December although due to it being un expected there was only 2 good fry left and one that may possibly be for culling but we'll see how she gets on in the next week or so .. all else fails its food for the puffer
In-case your wondering why the low birth rate my guppy community stocking is now updated ^^^

 

[Seed_Lord]

Getting them to breed is childs play, using breeding traps can stress the females i wouldnt use them, what i'm planning on doing is setting up a 5gal birthing tank, with a mesh hammock sorta thing big enough for fry to get through but not the females, and put moss in there, so naturally they SHOULD go into there for the cover, will keep it bare bottomed and have a plant in a pot in a corner to give the females some security, with a sponge filter, hopefully will work a treat

This is a molly so they are bigger, unless the female guppy is fully grown dont think this would happen so easily, but reason you should give your breeding technique a good think, maybe keeping the lighting subdued when you know they are close

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDV9FCswPSk

'Raising guppies just to get a few pence to spend in the store seems a bit like running a puppy mill'

Don't really understand this? None of us would have fish short of catching them from the wild if everyone thought like this

 

[Antony]

My fish are only getting 8 hours of day light now instead of the 14 as normal and then i flick it down to less light than a tea candle to make up the other 6 hours there used to via an in direct 25w strobe mounted 2ft directly above the tanks lid .... works like a dream

 

[Antony]

btw is it wrong that video made me lol slightly
i bet the dude who filmed it was like ... noooooooo!
muhahahaha

 

[Cazgar]

I've had 2 guppy drops that I know of
Left in the community tank, only 2 have survived, but a I don't want to be over run with them, that suits me.
I'm surprised your Lfs will give you anything for them as the get such good deals from their suppliers.
Are you sure you really want to breed them as you will need lots of tanks, meaning lots of heaters, filters etc? Meaning more electric bile, the money you get back won't offset the cost unless you have a commercial set up