How to make sure guppy fry will survive?

[joelfernandes]

Hello all.

Today I woke up with a very pleasant surprise of 3 baby guppies in a 29-gallon tank. It was early, and I sure was not ready for it. By the time I came back home with frozen brine shrimp, all the fry were gone

Currently, I have six guppies (2 males + 4 females), two neon tetras, two mollies, and a small angelfish. What's the best course of action to give better chances to the little fish? I have some fake dense plants where they could have gone to hide, but that didn't cut it, or perhaps not enough... (picture attached below).

Also, I'm not even sure if mommy guppy is done giving birth. I don't know how many truly came during the night, either. She does still seem a bit big to me (picture below).

Thoughts?

 

[Back in the fold]

You have a nice bright light on your aquarium so get some hornwort and / or water sprite and let it get thick and bushy. The fry need cover to hide from hungry adults. Also, get some fine fry food and keep it handy.

 

[Slaphppy7]

The angel is probably the culprit...can you rehome it?

Also, you have soft water fish (neons, and like all tetras, need to be in large groups) and hard water fish (guppies, mollies) in the same tank...what is the hardness of your tap water?

 

[Sgooosh]

like slaphppy said, the fish have different water requirements,
but to make the babies survive, you should get a separate container in the large tank and scoop the babies in

 

[joelfernandes]

Where I live (Newmarket, Ontario), the water is known to be quite hard, to the point that all houses here have a water softener system that covers the whole house. When I started the hobby, my local fish store suggested I use water that bypasses that system, and for me, that means I need to go to the backyard to get water for every change, but that water is quite cold, so I end up having to mix with hot water from the house (which is soft).

Here's how that hard+soft water tests (what I end up using when doing water changes):
KH - 11 drops (API test). I believe this would be 196ppm, according to this chart.
GH - 7 drops (API test). I believe this would be 125ppm, according to this chart.

As for the existing stock, I only have two tetras now. I used to have a third one, but it got the neon cotton-mouth-type disease, and unfortunately, I had to euthanize it, as eventually, it was not able to eat. Since I only have these two tetras, I might move them to a new smaller tank and get a few more tetras.

As for making sure the fry can make it, are there specific containers out there for this? Should I put the mommy guppy in the container before giving birth? If so, won't she eat the fry?

 

[Essjay]

If the GH test took 7 drops, that is softish water not hard. That's good for tetras and angelfish but not guppies and especially not mollies which need much harder water.


If you have a water softener, depending on the type it may not be good for fish. Many types use salt to soften hard water and this type swaps the hardness minerals (calcium and magnesium) with sodium. Fresh water fish have not evolved in water with a lot of sodium and it stresses their kidneys.
You do need to decide if you want to keep hard water or soft water fish. If you decide on hard water, use the bypass tap and boil some bypass water to warm it. If you decide on soft water fish, again you need to use the bypass tap but use pure water such as reverse osmosis to reduce the hardness and mix to exactly the same amounts outside the tank at every water change. Again, you'd probably need to boil some of the mixed water to warm it.

 

[joelfernandes]

Since what I have the most are guppies, mollies, and swordtails (totaling 12 fish), it might be better to have harder water than softer.

I tested the water without adding any warm water from the house, and I got 12 drops with the GH. When I did the test earlier today, I probably added too much warm water, more than usual. I didn't measure the temperature as I usually do when doing water changes, but it did feel a bit too warm. I decided to test the water from the tank, and it turned green on the 9th drop, not 7. I did a water change about 3 days ago.

For completion, I did the same with water just from the inside, and the first drop was immediately green, I didn't even have yellow once.

On that water hardness topic: winter is coming and soon I won't be able to get water from the backyard. Is there any products out there I can add to the water to give back hardness?

 

[Essjay]

The problem is that you shouldn't use water that's been through the softener.

Is there no way you can use bypass water and boil some of that to get the water change temperature right? I use cold water from the kitchen and that's pretty cold even in summer so I boil a kettle of water to add to each bucket of cold water.

12 drops = 12 dH, which is still a bit on the low side for mollies.

 

[GaryE]

The thread has veered off from the OP's question. I doubt any of the fry have much of a chance in there. Angels are micro-predators, and every fish you have will eat guppy fry. The only chance would be to note when she dropped, and have a second tank at the ready for the next batch.

 

[joelfernandes]

Essjay - I will follow your suggestion and start boiling the water instead of mixing it with the inside water. Thank you!

@GaryE - Thank you! Yeah, I did spend some time yesterday researching, and by the looks of it, they never stood a chance. I already ordered a breeding box which should arrive soon. I'll make sure to move a female guppy to the box before giving birth. The challenge will now be figuring out when is the right moment.

Followup question: It's been more than 24 hours since I saw the last fry. The guppy still looks quite large to me, almost the size she was the night before having fry. I only saw 3 baby fries, so I'm not sure how many came out. Is it possible that she still has baby fry inside?

 

[emeraldking]

Those fry will probably hide in that green fake plant.

Followup question: It's been more than 24 hours since I saw the last fry. The guppy still looks quite large to me, almost the size she was the night before having fry. I only saw 3 baby fries, so I'm not sure how many came out. Is it possible that she still has baby fry inside?

That could be the case. Not always will a pregnant female guppy drop her fry on the same day... Eggs that have more nutrients in them in comparison to other eggs of the same batch, will hatch sooner. For the embryos develop and grow faster than other embryos.

 

[joelfernandes]

Thank you, @emeraldking. Unfortunately, none of the fry made it, and I only saw 3 of them. She does still seem bloated, and I did get a breading box to give fry a better chance, but at this point, I don't know if she's even going to have more or not. As I said, she still looks quite big to me, but I'm still very new to this.

Perhaps I should just leave her alone until I see a sign.

 

[emeraldking]

Thank you, @emeraldking. Unfortunately, none of the fry made it, and I only saw 3 of them. She does still seem bloated, and I did get a breading box to give fry a better chance, but at this point, I don't know if she's even going to have more or not. As I said, she still looks quite big to me, but I'm still very new to this.

Perhaps I should just leave her alone until I see a sign.

Yes, just let her be...