will all the babies be eaten by the others??

[adi]

Hi. We have a small tank with 5 guppies in, to take in one or two guppies from my son's classroom. I didn't know that guppies with livebearers!! Last night I cleaned teh aquaium and put the fish back and this morning there were about 10 fry in the tank!! I have left them in there and come to work but someone now tells me that the adults will eat teh babies!! eeek! I didn't know this (or even know that the females were pregnant...) There are many plants and shells in the aquarium - do you think at least one or two of the babies will hide and avoid being eaten?? My kids will be so disappointed if they all get killed, although at least I know what to do next time. Did NOT expect them to be breeding!! just goes to show that pets are a real investment even if they are only guppies!! I can now see the house filled with tanks
ANy comforting advice for me??
Thanks
Adi

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

if there are plenty of hiding spots then a few will survive... the first few days they will stay in hiding and not venture out much..so they should be ok

 

[sushi]

I've got my first batch of fry. They're about 10 days old or something. They didn't come out from hiding in the java moss and ferns til they were at least a week old. I think that they just know that they are or aren't safe to come out.
I went to my lfs and they've got there tank with 30 or 40 platties in it. it's got no gravel, just a peice of wood, and 2 or 3 java ferns. I noticed about 10 fry, a little bigger than mine (1cm long) swimming around. So I think you should have at least a few survive. iF you keep the adult fish well fed, apparently they don't try and eat the fry. it's only when they get really hungry. at least that's what i've read on here.
Good luck with them. it's a cool thing for kids to be able to watch. it may help them appreciate nature and all that. hope this helps you. i would give more info, but i'm a beginner myself.

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

if they all get eaten which will most likely happen ... prepare for more in 4-5 weeks .. my advise if you want to raise the fry is to get a cheap smaller tank just for them and do some reading on when to notice the female is close to having her babies and put her in the smaller tank by herself to have them, then put her back after shes done and for the fry tank i would suggest dark stones for blending and some hiding spots (bushy plants etc)

 

[Stryker]

A well established tank with java moss and fern will allow for several fry to survive. It happens in my oldest tank. Really, you only probably want a few out of a batch, unless you plan on having more tanks.

The java moss is superb!! it gives the fry somewhere to hide, and it snares small particles of food and harbours micro algae etc for them to eat.

 

[adi]

You may be right that it would probably be good if a few were eaten, but it seems kind of barbaric!!! I'm afraid I live in France so I wonder what this Java moss is called in French?? I'll try and find a picture of it for demonstartion purposes!! I have nice leafy plant and a spindly one with grassy leaves, told these were good for colder tanks. I have couple of females...gulp. I had better have a good look at their tummies when I get home and get going on a "maternity ward". hee hee there were only 8 or 9 babies so maybe a couple had already been munched, eurgh what a thought. everyone has had great advice though, very cool of you all.

 

[GuppyDude]

all i can say is in a small tank witha dults fry dont stand mucha chance. but hey its possible

gl