My livebearer breeding tank

[superjalami30]

I've had this tank for about 1 1/2 years now.
At one point it was very heavily planted but one day I decided to unplant it for awhile and I havent made up my mind yet on what I want to do with this tank.
I'm thinkun 'bout turning this tank into a cichlid tank and moving the guppies into two seperate 10 gallon tanks.

Inhabitants:
Guppies and platys, Malaysian snails, 3 ADF, 2 bronze cory's, 1 swartz cory, 1 pepper cory, and 1 clown pleco.


Little crowded, but all is fine.

 

[afireinside]

that tank is way, way, WAY TO CROWDED!

 

[superjalami30]

You dont have to yell at me
I know it is.
I didnt want to say this, cause I really dont want to offend anyone.....

But if I have to be honest, I breed guppies and platy's to feed my clawed frog, so if being too crowded diminishes they're nutrition value then maybe I should set up another tank.
I dont think so.

But, you are completly correct, it is overcrowded.
I wouldnt say "way, way, WAY TO CROWDED"
I feed them all enough, change the water (10%) twice weekly, continually clean and maintain the aquaclear 150, and the powerhead with filter used in this tank as well (tonnes of filtration), use real plants, have a great in tank cleaning crew.....AND I havent lost a single fish in over a year ( a few in the beginning natrually)

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

 

[Annastasia]

How many gallons is it? Sometimes all the fish come to the front when you take pictures, to see if you have food or something. I agree it looks overcrowded...but you never know.

I personally think it sounds like superjalami30 knows what he is doing...and he seems to take good care of it.

Very nice tank, too! I absolutely LOVE the way it looks. I wouldn't change it much at all...

I do agree it looks overcrowded, though. Ever though of seperating the Guppies and Platies, or getting rid of one or the other? Oh yeah...and Cories should be in groups..preferably at least 3 per kind.

 

[superjalami30]

It's a 25 g

No, I agree with oppositearmor, it is overcrowded.
Just not way, way, WAY TO CROWDED.
I have been thiking lately about not breeding the platy's anymore, they just dont reproduce enough or fast enough.


There's 1 adult female, 10-15 juvenile (3-5 months old), 10-15 2-3 months olds, and 20 fry in the traps.

I am in a bit of a bind currently as my clawed frog isnt up to tip top shape as of late.
you can read all about that here:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=95039

My lfs and superpet have agreed to start buying my guppies after I brought them several to look at.

Believe me, I do take great care of my fish, all my other tanks are not even close to being overcrowded, and still get pretty much the same regiment of cleaning and maintenance.
I take being an aquarist seriously, yes I do things that another might not, but I compensate for it however I can.
I'm no expert mind ya.

btw, I actually do have three cory's, a bronze, swarzt and a pepper.

doh, now its even more crowded than I first said

 

[afireinside]

ya know, u just live north of my state, if u can ship in teh us, u can give some guppies to me.

 

[Annastasia]

btw, I actually do have three cory's, a bronze, swarzt and a pepper.

You have three Cories total?

What I mean, is for each kind of Cory, they need at least 3, because they will not school outside their type. For instance, 3 Bronze, 3 Peppered, 3 Albino, 3 Pygmy...all kinds need their own kind to school with.

Edit: And Platies are usually bigger breeders then Guppies...so since you are overcrowded, they may not be producing the normal amounts of fry. They may be a bit stressed out, so they are aborting fry. Or they are eating their fry.

 

[superjalami30]

hehe.
Actually I'm going to rochester Minn on july 6th.
I dont think I'll be able to hook up with ya, cause takin a bag of guppies all the way there in the van "would" be cruel.
heh

I've never shipped anything before and have no idea what I need to do when it comes to that option.
But if I ever get in the buisness of shippin, I'll keep ya in mind.

Are you guys gettin the 30 degree weather there?
It was 33 here yesterday and 29 today, tommorow 27 and fri 26.
Freakin hot!
Had to buy another fan to help cool my tanks!
Primarily my goldy tank.

 

[superjalami30]

btw, I actually do have three cory's, a bronze, swarzt and a pepper.

You have three Cories total?

What I mean, is for each kind of Cory, they need at least 3, because they will not school outside their type. For instance, 3 Bronze, 3 Peppered, 3 Albino, 3 Pygmy...all kinds need their own kind to school with.

Edit: And Platies are usually bigger breeders then Guppies...so you may be overcrowded, otherwise they would usually be having more fry. They may be a bit stressed out, so they are aborting fry. Or they are eating their fry.

OohHhHhhhh, I see what you mean about the cory's.
k, that I didnt know.
hmmm, my lfs store will let me x-change fish so I will do that this weekend.
Thats good to know, thanks Annastasia.

I've always been told by the lfs that guppies are prolific breeders, much more so than all the other livebearers, and I presumed that was correct.
My platy has between 4-10 fry, and thats in a trap, I know she may get some of them though, so that number could be as high as 15 or more.
My guppy females have between 15-30 fry each and every time.
I honestly didnt know platy's breed more, more often.

 

[afireinside]

hehe.
Actually I'm going to rochester Minn on july 6th.
I dont think I'll be able to hook up with ya, cause takin a bag of guppies all the way there in the van "would" be cruel.
heh

I've never shipped anything before and have no idea what I need to do when it comes to that option.
But if I ever get in the buisness of shippin, I'll keep ya in mind.

Are you guys gettin the 30 degree weather there?
It was 33 here yesterday and 29 today, tommorow 27 and fri 26.
Freakin hot!
Had to buy another fan to help cool my tanks!
Primarily my goldy tank.

ok, sadly i only know farenhiet, and around here, we have been getting around 68-80 farenhiet.

 

[Annastasia]

Not more often...they take longer to have babies...but usually they have about the same amount of fry, or more then Guppies, because they are bigger. I still agree that Guppies are very prolific, and probably the best fish to use for your purposes though.

And good to know about the Cories! I'm sure they'll be much happier.

 

[superjalami30]

Oh ok I see.
Now it makes sense.
My female platy is still quiet small (maybe 4 months old), that would be why she has smaller batches wouldnt it?

 

[Annastasia]

Oh yes, definately. If she is that young...and she's having that many fry already, she'll probably be a big fry producer when she's older and full grown.

 

[abstract]

it's just my opinion, but it doesn't look very crowded for a livebearer tank

 

[Erised]

I absolutely love that tank!! Also, I have to agree with abstract, it doesn't look that crowded for a livebearer tank at all, specially not if you're keeping up with the water changes. Sure, when using the 'inch per gallon' rule you're overstocked, but all those fish are light on the bioload, and it's simply impossible to not have an overstocked tank with livebearers ... I think it looks lovely and that you don't have much to worry about!

Besides, you seem to have a place for the guppies to go already anyway (or rather, 2 )