New To Guppies...

[PlecMama]

So can I have just a pair or will he chase her to destruction? Having read that they breed 40 at a time, I don't really want any more I can see how that could get out of hand real fast.

My friend is selling them £1 a male 50p a female....I was wondering if I can just get a pair to see how they go?

Thanks



Sue x

 

[Annastasia]

It's usually not a good idea. All of the male's attention will be on that one female, which can greatly stress her out. If you don't want fry, why don't you try all male Guppies? You need to have at least 5 to spread out aggression. Lots of plants and decorations help too. But what size tank are we talking here?

 

[sekhmut0402]

Not really a good idea to have one of each - the poor female would probably not survive. It's advised to have three females to each male. Are you sure guppies are the fish for you?

 

[Jayrod7]

you usualy want atleast 2 females per male. just find some good homes for the extra gups you dont want

 

[thefishykid]

i have a 20g tank with just guppies male and female. i let them breed as my lfs takes all the fry and i get credit i have a 15g tank and i\all it is used for is fry i have about 25 in there nowthey are fasanating little fish and good for learningi have 4 males and 3 females to every mele it works for me

 

[thefishykid]

i didnt mention i have been breeding guppies for 10 months and never had any more than 15 from 1 female yes you can get more but most people that i speak to have had between 5 and 20 so 40 is a fluke

 

[PlecMama]

Ok that's cool, I didn't mean we don't want babies, that's the point of putting boys and girls together I meant we don't want billions of babies....I have to rehome them all at some point so if I get three girls and a boy, I was thinking I could potentially have 124 in a week....but if that isn't likely, I'll get a few more and see how it goes, I can always split them up if they set off production like a factory.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Ok that's cool, I didn't mean we don't want babies, that's the point of putting boys and girls together I meant we don't want billions of babies....I have to rehome them all at some point so if I get three girls and a boy, I was thinking I could potentially have 124 in a week....but if that isn't likely, I'll get a few more and see how it goes, I can always split them up if they set off production like a factory.

Now for the good news: lots of guppies eat their babies. In my tanks it's survival of the fittest. With 2 female+1 male platy and d guppies from starting the present tank, the survival is 14 young platies and 1 guppy (should have been 2 but had to euthanise one due to illness). But it is an unpredictable business: some people never see anything of their fry, others are overrun.

 

[sekhmut0402]

Mine keep breeding and breeding - I keep them in a seperate tank until they're big enough for me to know what they are, and if I want to keep them or not, and the rest are sold.

 

[PlecMama]

Well, the gups arrived tonight, we got three girls, one boy and three tiny babies that sneaked in with them - he just left them in. I think one of the girlies is preg already, she looks a lot fatter then the other two. The male has a fire red tail so it's easy to see who he is, but the babies...well, they could be anything.

How exciting, I may be a fish momma soon.