Lots And Lots Of Fish Fry

[Howard0]

So my friend asked me to look after his 10gallon tank while he was gone for the week. He asked me to drop in a pinch of food every other day.
There looks to be 2 Velvet Wags and at least 6 guppies.
 
Everything was fine for the first few days.
Third day, I woke up, took a look in the tank and noticed a dozen+ little fish swimming around.
 
What do I do. Can I just leave them there?

 

[Maehlice]

If your friend didn't intend to breed fish, you can just leave them alone.
 
It's a sad and cruel thing, nature.  If you leave them in there, expect many of them to be eaten or to die of starvation.
 
To give them the best hope of survival apart from segregating them, pulverize some of the fish flakes into dust when you feed the tank.
 
I accidentally bred two platies last year and still don't really know how they survived.

 

[Dreamer03]

Do they have lots of hiding places, that might make their chance of survival better, or a breeding box? Maybe a separate tank? Also, can you call your friend and ask if he wants the fry or not. If he doesn't then just leave them there.

 

[Howard0]

I don't think he has his phone on him.
There's a ridiculous amount of plants/algae in the tank.
I feel like some might have been eaten as I can only see half a dozen or so now.
 
I've kind of taken this wine glass I have and, after half an hour of excruciatingly annoying tag, managed to cup it over 7 of the fry. It's resting on the gravel so water flows into and out of the glass but the other fish can't get inside.
 
How long can they live without food?

 

[fluttermoth]

Fry can't go without food for very long.

I wouldn't keep the fry in the wine glass, they'll be better off in the main tank. If it's well planted some will survive, and a ten gallon tank wouldn't be big enough for keeping all the fry those fish will produce anyway.