survival of the fittest

[vildotcom]

hi,

i have 7 guppies (male and female) and 6 black mollies (male and female) with 3 white molly lyretails fry and 2 black molly fry. they are in a 29 gallon. the adults were picking on the 5 fry but they seem to have left them alone, is it cruel for me to leave them in there and let nature take its course. they seem like they will be fine. but in the future, when they have more fry.............would it be cruel to leave them in there?

 

[debiasir]

i dont tink so, my guppies have just had a batch of fry and i have left them in the main tank, all have survived and now swim happily with the rest of the fish.

the mother is still preggnant and i will do the sae again let nature take its course

 

[dwarfgourami]

I'd say no, go for it, it's not cruel. Saving all fry could also be cruel, as it is unlikely that you would be able to provide for them all adequately. You could also argue that letting less fit individuals survive and reproduce is also a form of cruelty as it will mean that the species degenerates. Remember that fish has this incredibly reproductive ability precisely because in the wild not all are meant to survive.
I will shortly have to face the same problem with my livebearers as I think my 2 female guppies are now pregnant. I have been out to buy new plants for them to hide in (sort of halfway house) and I suppose if individuals show hardy and resourceful I might transfer a few to my less dangerous tank, but I am not going to sit around with a breeding trap to save them all.

 

[vildotcom]

gotcha.