New to tropical fish keeping breeding

[Guppys34]

Hi all am new to this fish keeping/breading I have 12 guppys mix of males and females 6 platys 4 females 2 males 5 tetras and 2 african dwarf frogs one of guppys gave birth day after I got them and I've noticed one baby left and one baby platy do the fish eat the baby's what can I do to stop his happing

 

[fluttermoth]

I'm afraid fish do eat their fry; even the mother fish can turn around and eat her own babies when they're newborn. Most fish aren't very clever, and livebearers haven't evolved any way of caring for their babies.

What you need to do is make sure the fry have plenty of hiding places; fine leaved live plants are best, as they also provide microscopic foods for the fry, as well as cover.

If you can't get live plants, fake ones will do. Whichever you choose, try and make sure they reach to the top of the tank, as livebearer fry prefer to stay near the surface.

 

[Colin_T]

If there are not enough hiding places for the baby fish, then other fish or frogs in the tank will eat them.

Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides) is a floating plant that can also be grown in the gravel. It is an ideal plant for baby livebearers like guppies, platies, swordtails and mollies.

You can buy a breeding net (like the one in link below) that hangs inside the aquarium, and you scoop the baby fish out in a small container of water and put them in the breeding net until they are big enough not to get eaten.
https://www.ebay.com.au/i/281406873541?chn=ps

lol Fluttermoth, you keep beating me to the response

 

[Guppys34]

Thanks guys just ordered a breeding box next question is when should I move mg pregnant females to the breading box I really want to keep my fry safe this time I have African fern in tank but it's not enough as only have 2 fry left from first female I think my 2 frogs have got most of them so hoping that box arrive quick at ll be able to save these 2 before the next lot of fry

 

[Byron]

Placing the female inside one of the breeding nets/boxes is not advisable. When fry appear, they will usually remain near the surface if there are floating plants, and you can more easily net them out and put them into the net/box. But not adult fish.

You are going to have a lot of fry before long, from the guppies and platies, since you have male and female of both. They will not all get eaten, but the other problem is what to do with those that survive. You don't mention the tank size, but dozens of fry every month from all these females can get to be quite a problem.

 

[Guppys34]

Hi yeah I have 200l tank at moment all have another on way but obv need to cycle first so it's big enough I think other one smaller only 100l

 

[Colin_T]

If you have an established power filter on the tank, you can take some of the filter media from that filter, and put it in the new filter on the new tank. This will help cycle the tank in a few days.