Need Advice.

[jamiequin]

right. i am new to fish tanks. had koi ponds for years tho. well, i have 2 tanks, one i was hoping for my main tank and one for a fry tank but im not sure if they are big enough? i want to breed guppies . my main tank is 72 litres- 19 gallons and my small fry tank? is only 12.4 litres- 3.5 gallons. what do you think? any advice on breeding guppys in general would be great

 

[theotheragentm]

How many Guppies were you thinking? You can breed Guppies with two fish only, but what did you have in mind? When you said breeding Guppies, are you trying to raise a line? That's probably going to require more room as you are specifically trying to get certain fry to survive. The tanks are fine sizes for housing Guppies, but what else did you have in mind?

 

[jamiequin]

How many Guppies were you thinking? You can breed Guppies with two fish only, but what did you have in mind? When you said breeding Guppies, are you trying to raise a line? That's probably going to require more room as you are specifically trying to get certain fry to survive. The tanks are fine sizes for housing Guppies, but what else did you have in mind?

i was thinking about 5 females and 3 males? i alredy have a 3 inch common pleco in there. i am just doing it foe fun realy, and just to get me started. my friends are willign to take them off my hands at a certain size if i dont want them any way. so can u advise me on how to get them to breed? thanks

 

[theotheragentm]

Provide clean, warm water for them to breed. Guppies breed and eat in nature. It may take a bit of time as my readings and experience show that Guppies tend to be a bit more finicky with mating, whereas Platies I have are pregnant all the time.

That Pleco is going to get way too large for the 20 gallon. Plan for a tank upgrade with that guy.

 

[jamiequin]

Provide clean, warm water for them to breed. Guppies breed and eat in nature. It may take a bit of time as my readings and experience show that Guppies tend to be a bit more finicky with mating, whereas Platies I have are pregnant all the time.

That Pleco is going to get way too large for the 20 gallon. Plan for a tank upgrade with that guy.

i keep reading about 1 live meal a week? to help them breed? how long do you think i have with the pleco? you talking months or years?

 

[theotheragentm]

Live meals are always nice for fish as a treat. It doesn't mean they won't breed without it though. What the live meal does do is it provides fresher, more natural food for your fish. The more natural things are, the better it is for the fish. It reduces stress. Stress is what limits fish from thriving vs. just living. So clean, stable water conditions and good feedings are pretty much all you would need for your fish to thrive. When livebearers thrive, they mate.

As far as the Pleco goes, I am not positive as I do not have one myself. I have seen so many pictures of these guys getting quite large. Based on standard twenty gallon dimensions, I would probably put him into a new tank when he hits about six inches.

 

[jamiequin]

Live meals are always nice for fish as a treat. It doesn't mean they won't breed without it though. What the live meal does do is it provides fresher, more natural food for your fish. The more natural things are, the better it is for the fish. It reduces stress. Stress is what limits fish from thriving vs. just living. So clean, stable water conditions and good feedings are pretty much all you would need for your fish to thrive. When livebearers thrive, they mate.

As far as the Pleco goes, I am not positive as I do not have one myself. I have seen so many pictures of these guys getting quite large. Based on standard twenty gallon dimensions, I would probably put him into a new tank when he hits about six inches.

ok, thank you for all your help, i am going to get my fish tommorow hopefully, if the nitrite level has gone down, at the minute the nitrite level is 0.1 i cant get it down and i am impatient i want fish haha, i have done half water changes to try and help but has made no difference. any suggestions? anything i can do tommorow to lower it?