I've Got Babies!

[fish_keeper2]

ive been having to keep my guppies in a temporary set up till i can upgrade one of my ten gal tanks and am able to set up a guppy only tank. anyway its a 5 gal with 1 fancy male and 2 male wild type guppies and 1 female wild type. anyway the wild types are fry that raised since last summer that i got at a lfs being sold as feeder guppies. when i went to do my partial water change today i found 3 babies. they are a few days old already cuzz the egg sacs are gone. funny thing is they are very brave and dont hide much and the adults arent even try to eat them. also the female isnt stressed out at all like you would think. ive never been this lucky with guppies ever. *knocking on wood* im so excited though

 

[BettaUK]

and I just can't hide it; no no no no no I'm about to loose control and I think I like it!

Sorry just what came into my head reading the end of your post Sorry it's my weekend and i'm on the wine before a night out on the town!

Glad your guppies are breeding well.. and best of luck with the fry.

 

[Annastasia]

You only have one female and three males? That's not the best ratio, which may have been why you weren't getting fry. The female was probably pretty stressed out from all three males on her. I'd seperate her if you can, because stress isn't good for them.

Congratulations on the babies though.

and I just can't hide it; no no no no no I'm about to loose control and I think I like it!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought of that!!

 

[fish_keeper2]

i know its not the best ratio at all but its just temporary. as soon as i get on of my ten gal tanks upgraded(which will be soon hopefully) they will go in there and ill get about 5 or more females. everytime i tried to breed guppies i never had the ratio right and i gave up trying because the female died soon after giving birth. this was way before i came here and learned lots. now hopefully once i get them in a bigger tank i will have lots of success. i havent had fry because i havent had any females in quite a while untill i got those fry back in the summer being sold as feeder guppies which now they are grown up.

 

[Annastasia]

Ah, okay, I'm glad to see you're aware of the situation.

It doesn't surprise me the females usually died after birth. That's usually brought on by stress, or possibly birthing troubles, which can also be brought on by stress. I think stress was your problem there. I think 6+ females and 3 males in a 10g is going to be pushing it, myself. I'd stick with maybe just a trio, or possibly 2. The more room and hiding places you can give the females, the better off you'll be in terms of stress and birthing.

Feeder Guppies are great Guppies to breed. They haven't been inbred much, as all of the Fancies have, so they are hardier. If the female got pregnany by the Fancy, it will strengthen up the Fancy line. But it also may dilute the Feeder line. Anyhoo, when you start breeding, try not to let any/much inbreeding go on.

 

[fish_keeper2]

if i keep just a trio would i be able to have anything else in the tank. what would you suggest?

 

[Annastasia]

It'd be personal choice, basically. Just not anything nippy, or that has the potential to be aggressive. Pygmy Cories could be cute. Some small schooling fish might be okay, but it'd had to be pretty small to fit a school in. I'd recommend Endlers, but you don't want those breeding with the Guppies. What kind of fish are you looking for? A single one, a group? Bottom feeders, middle swimmers?

The most important criteria I'd see for picking a fish though, is something that won't eat fry. And a lot of fish will.

 

[fish_keeper2]

not sure what im looking for. guess ill just go over what i have available to me and are calm and peacefull.

 

[Annastasia]

Your best bet would probably be to see what fish are avalible to you, then research them and see if they will work.

I think some kind of smallish Cory, especially Pygmys, would be very nice in there. They are active little fish too, they don't stay on the bottom all the time (well, at least the species I got didn't).