Please help! Very important!

[Alisha]

Hi everyone, I know it probably gets annoying having me post all these questions, but this one is really important! I have a 10 gallon with 6 fry and 1 female guppy *the mom* and they all get along great. But the problem is feeding. I feed them 2-3 times a day, only a few crushed up flakes, and they eat it in like 30 seconds to a minute. And I read you should feed them as much as they can eat in 2-5 minutes. So do you think I need to feed them more? I don't want to over feed the female guppy. Please, any advice would be appreciated!!!

 

[afireinside]

actually, how much do you feed them. but on the other hand, a fish that is not fed a few days is more likely to survive than a fish that is over fed.

 

[Annastasia]

Is there anyway you can seperate the mother and babies? Because they really have different feeding requirements. Fry that aren't fed properly are slower growers, and can have problems later on. And The fry need to be fed much more often then the mother, because of their smaller intestines, so it goes through them faster. And the mom can't have too much food because she could get constipated, or bloated....

Sepereation is probably the best here.

 

[Alisha]

I know I should seperate them, but I can't for 2 reasons. One reason is the mom LOVES being in with her babies, she swims around with them, and just seems to happy to be taken out. She was really sad and lonely before the fry because it was only her and 1 male. And the second is, what would I keep her in? I only have 2 tanks, the one they are in, and a 2.5 gallon that has a male betta in it. But what if I take her out while I feed them, but put her back in right after they are done eating? I don't know what to do, and yes they are growing a lot slower, they are already at least a month, and still really small, and don't have any color but black...

 

[debiasir]

My female guppy gave birth around 2 months ago. I decided that I would leave the fry in the tank. Every morning when it came to feeding I would feed the normal flakes and also crush a few flakes really small. All the fry survived and are now healthy and pretty guppy's. I am not saying this is def the way to go but it worked for me on my first ever batch of fry for any fish.

 

[afireinside]

that's what i did, cept one of my fish got dropsy, and all my other fish caught it, and died. luckly, my prized fish survived, for serpae tetras are quite hardy.

 

[IMCL85]

The fastest and easiest food for fry is egg yoo. Just boil the egg and take those yoo out. Make sure not alot just a very very little and sqeeze them in the tank.

 

[Annastasia]

Egg yolk is good for the first few days...but they need foods higher in protein, and healthier once they get older.

Alisha, if it seems to be working, great. I guess there is no way to seperate them...so the fry might not grow as fast, but just keep feeding 2 times a day, or try feeding like 4 times a day, but smaller portions. That way the mom won't really get overfed, and the fry will have more chance to get at the foods.

 

[Alisha]

Okay thank you everyone! I really appreciate it. I am just so nervous because this is my first batch of fry, and I really want the mom and all 6 fry to live. But I have ANOTHER very important question...last night when I went to feed them the mom was laying at the bottom, then I noticed when she started swimming that her gravid spot was brown instead of black and she looked skinnier. But now this morning it is back to black and she doesn't look AS skinny. Do you know what could have happened? Did she have more fry? I looked and didn't see any, so mabey she ate this last batch, but would they be too small to see when they are first born? I don't think they would...but I was just wondering what happened to her....

 

[Annastasia]

It was brown instead of black? It may have been just the light, reflecting off the fry's eyes differently. If she looked skinner, she may have been very close to giving birth, because they will look skinnier right before, as the fry are arranging themselves to be born. Or she could have had more fry, or the fry could just have shifted a bit in her stomach. Fry aren't very easy to see when they are first born, but they are visible.

 

[Alisha]

I'm pretty sure it was brown, a really light brown..and I even had my mom come up and look and she saw how light it was and she was like "She does look skinnier!" So I don't know...???

 

[Alisha]

Please help me somebody with my other new more important question about what happened to the mom??!???!???

 

[afireinside]

there is the possiblitity she'll have more fry. it must've been the light, trust me. at one point, i though one my mollies had white poo, and they always went at the top of the tank, but then it driffted down, and it was the normal color.

 

[Alisha]

Really? Oh alright then... thanks!