help me pls

[ice_chong]

can i put four pregnant guppies together in a breeding box? coz four of them have really rounded tummy and looks like they aer going to drop anytime... or should i just leave one of them in the box and the other three in the community tank?

thanks

 

[Mr Miagi]

I would maybe put two in. Many ppl dont use those boxes at all.

But regardless, if the two still in the community tanks fry get eatin, you will have heaps to raise in your breeding box from the other two. Goodluck!

 

[Annastasia]

I wouldn't put 4 in a breeding box. In fact, I wouldn't put any in. If you put them in too early, they can get very stressed out, and abort the pregnancy. It would be best if you had an extra tank you could put them in. If you don't, I'd just leave them in the community, and catch the babies as you see them. Then you could put them in a breeder net, and feed them separately.

 

[mrplaty]

I would put one in the breeding trap now if it is big enough because i have put a guppy in a breeding trap a week before she dropped and she was still happy because my breeding trap is large!!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree only put one in at the most in a breeding net but with 4 pregnant platys i expect you will probably get more fry than you can handle- what if they each produce 15-20 fry each? That means you could get 60-80 fry to raise.
In this case i would sugest you just buy a heap of fine leaved live plants and create some some heavily planted areas in the tank which should create enough protection for a large portion of the fry to survive but it depends what other fish you have in your tank as some are more prone to eating fry than others.
When the fry are born just pop em in the breeding net.
It would probably be best though you buy an extra net though as they are only suited to holding 20 fry at the most and even then you cannot raise them to a decent size before they outgrow the net.
When you set up the net, put it where there is good flow from the filter but try and place it where it is not directly under the tank lights and put a stone in the bottom of it to help weight it down a bit and put a peice of plant in the make the pregnant fish feel more at home.
I think breeding nets are no less stressful for the pregnant fish than the fish giving birth in the main tank- the pregnant fish can more than often get chased around by other fish while she trys to give birth in their attempt to eat the fry or any afterbirth although even so livebearers can still die from giving birth if they are expecting a huge load of fry and do not have the strength to deliver them. The way i see it is at least in a breeding net the mum fish can give birth in safety away from the other fish.

If you would like more fry in the future i would advise you you get a spare breeding tank; a 10gal should be good. Tanks are much better for raising large numbers of fry(say 20+) and are easier to maintain when you have large numbers of fry in comparison to using breeding nets.
The tank can also be used as a quarentine tank when you don't have fry in the spare time and can also be used to isolate heavily pregnant fish to avoid less stress for them.
You can keep it cycled in the mean time when its not in use by just having some corys in it depending what size tank you go for- corys don't eat fry so they can also be kept in there when you do have fry .