Survival Of The Fittest/overstocked?

[pippoodle]

two questions in one thread

1.i now have my guppies and they are breeding like mad (those boys sure are horny) so i know i'll be getting some babies in 4 weeks or so
I dont really want another tank and also have white cloud eggs in the baby net so no room for fry at the moment i know i could get another breeding trap .

The thing is by the time the babies arrive the tank wil be fully planted so supposing i left it to survival of the fittest as i have pure guppies and i would like the strongest to survive as i couldn't bare to cull any .
Is letting nature take its course frowned upon in fish keeping ?


2.Juwel rio 180 141x51x40cms running the juwel compact internal filter and stingray 15 filter

In the tank i have

9 white cloud minnows
10 pure guppies


i will be gradually introducing

4 golden white clouds (might get some long fin minnows aswell) ,
2 female plays
1 male platys
6 pygmy corys ---- DECIDED AGAINST THESE
6 neons

So would i be overstocked with the above list
any comments appreciated

Thanks Sarah xx

 

[jonnyf84]

1.i now have my guppies and they are breeding like mad (those boys sure are horny) so i know i'll be getting some babies in 4 weeks or so
I dont really want another tank and also have white cloud eggs in the baby net so no room for fry at the moment i know i could get another breeding trap .

The thing is by the time the babies arrive the tank wil be fully planted so supposing i left it to survival of the fittest as i have pure guppies and i would like the strongest to survive as i couldn't bare to cull any .
Is letting nature take its course frowned upon in fish keeping ?

Not in my opinion, your never going to get a right answer with this one but i think (especially with livebearers such as platys and guppies) its the only option and is one that i don't have a problem with as long as the fry are given a chance, a heavily overstocked tank with no cover is just plain unfair, the other option is to buy fry and grow out tanks - this just isn't practical or financially possible for most hobbyists. Let the fittest survive and let the others become nutritious snacks for your other fish - no problem IMO.

2.Juwel rio 180 141x51x40cms running the juwel compact internal filter and stingray 15 filter

In the tank i have

9 white cloud minnows
10 pure guppies


i will be gradually introducing

4 golden white clouds (might get some long fin minnows aswell) ,
2 female plays
1 male platys
6 pygmy corys
6 neons

So would i be overstocked with the above list

Slightly overstocked yes, however if you have good filtration and do regular large water changes you will be fine, stocking of a tank (to a extent) is largely down to the aquarist - if your willing to put the work in then been slightly overstocked is not a problem.


Jonny.

 

[pippoodle]

thanks for the reply

1.The tank will be planted weekend (plants are currently being quarenteend) and hopefully the plants will have grown enough for the fry to hide if not then this lot of fry will have to go in the baby net and from then on if the tank has filled in enough with plants i'll do the survival method


2.i'm now thinking of an extra colony of blue tiger shrimp instead of the corys or a colony of CRS so the corys are now off the list

 

[jonnyf84]

sounds good, get some floating plants for livebearer fry, they instinctivly head for the light when born (at there most vulnerable), the best quick fix plant wise is Cabomba, available in almost any fish store, its actually a weed but looks nice and grows like nothing else, another good thing about this is that it is often sold as a large plant, its very 'bushy', cheap and will provide plenty of cover for your fry.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

fine on both counts!

a lot of people have this with livebearers, just leave them be and you'll get the odd one or two coming through but not many.

using the 1" per gallon guideline then the tank is roughly full with all that in it (not worked it out exactly, just a rough mental estimate so sorry if my maths turns out to be duff!), however once the tank is mature and stabilised providing the filtration is up to scratch you can increase it to somewhere around 1.5" per gal so I'd say start off with around two thirds of that, add the delicate stuff (neons, corys/shrimp) after 6 months or so, then over the next few months you can comfortably add maybe 2 more groups of small fish or just increase the shoal sizes

 

[pippoodle]

fine on both counts!

a lot of people have this with livebearers, just leave them be and you'll get the odd one or two coming through but not many.

using the 1" per gallon guideline then the tank is roughly full with all that in it (not worked it out exactly, just a rough mental estimate so sorry if my maths turns out to be duff!), however once the tank is mature and stabilised providing the filtration is up to scratch you can increase it to somewhere around 1.5" per gal so I'd say start off with around two thirds of that, add the delicate stuff (neons, corys/shrimp) after 6 months or so, then over the next few months you can comfortably add maybe 2 more groups of small fish or just increase the shoal sizes

the stingray 15 filter (300lph)is cycled as is came straight from the other tank as did the gravel and some water
the second filter the juwel compact (600lph) has sponges in it that were sat in my other fish tank for 6 weeks cos i thought i was going to buy a juwel so just bought some sponges and sat them in the tank waiting until i found one at the right price
all tests are still perfect i know its only wednesday but seems ok so will add the plants and later tonight cos they've been in soaking for a week in quarenteen (dont know what hubby put in with them but he's better at the plant side than i am so i let him get on with that ) so i can arrange them tonight

hubby going to do the normal 25% water change Saturday (depending on results if they are bad will do more)) and see how things are cos kids want a fish if all are ok i said they can have a platy each but if the tests are not good they will have to wait
They've had fish since they were born so they know the routine lol

amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20
ph 7.2

 

[jonnyf84]

also try common waterweed (readily available) and Dwarf Hygrophila - these will come in useful when your fry are searching for food on the substrate - also after time they can grow to quite a height.

Good luck,

Jonny.

 

[pippoodle]

also try common waterweed (readily available) and Dwarf Hygrophila - these will come in useful when your fry are searching for food on the substrate - also after time they can grow to quite a height.

Good luck,

Jonny.

not sure what any of those plants are lol
i need to google cos i usually just buy a bulk lot of plants and then after a week put them in the tank where i want them

i have got some riccia and netting for a nice little carpet and some vallis comming i know what they are lol
i also know what java moss and marimo balls are but thats my limit


when i plant the tank later i will take pics of the plants so maybe someone can identify them for me

 

[jonnyf84]

[URL="http/i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo357/f...-polysperma.jpg"]http/i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo357/f...-polysperma.jpg[/URL] - hygrophila-polysperma

[URL="http/i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo357/f...r84/Cabomba.jpg"]http/i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo357/f...r84/Cabomba.jpg[/URL] - Cabomba


I can't rate the Cabomba highly enough, they will grow in pretty much any condition and provide un-rivalled cover for fry.


Jonny.

 

[Amunet]

I do this and I don't see anything wrong with it. It helps prevent tanks from being overstocked, and if 1 or 2 survive, well then good for them.
I did it in my 28gal. Got 2 female dwarf platy to begin with but 1 died, and the other gave birth to a few fry (at least 1).
The 1 remaining one is hiding out in the big bush of hornwort in the tank. It's already grown quite a bit just from eating whatever it can. I haven't been actively trying to feed it or save it, but I guess its own instincts have been good enough so far

 

[Spishkey]

i wish plants like that caboma were ready available over here, we get nothing like that. all the lfs's here try to palm you off with submerged house plants. anyone got some spare 'weeds' they fancy sending me lol!

 

[pippoodle]

i wish plants like that caboma were ready available over here, we get nothing like that. all the lfs's here try to palm you off with submerged house plants. anyone got some spare 'weeds' they fancy sending me lol!

just been sorta confirmed on plants section
i have caboma already in the tank lol