will my fry survive?

[mad cam]

My 3 female guppies and my baloon molly are all pregant and ready to drop.

Last time the gave birth i put them in the breeding nets, but had lots of still borns and the fish that were born we weak, only 2 survied from about 30 but sadly there gone too now, one died and the other was eaten by my big angel fish.

because of what happened with the nets and the still borns, is it worth trying my luck with the fry in the main tank, i was thinking about putting loads of bushy plants and small places for the fry to hide.

my tank is about 110litres and has the following fish in:

3 female guppy
1 male guppy
1 female balloon molly
1 common pleco
2 glass cat fish (which i very really see)
1 angel fish ( about 3 inches in size)

it a big ish tank, with very few fish in.

will puting loads of plants in give my fry any chance of survival.

any advice would be greatful.

cheers

 

[Mickslack]

My 3 female guppies and my baloon molly are all pregant and ready to drop.

Last time the gave birth i put them in the breeding nets, but had lots of still borns and the fish that were born we weak, only 2 survied from about 30 but sadly there gone too now, one died and the other was eaten by my big angel fish.

because of what happened with the nets and the still borns, is it worth trying my luck with the fry in the main tank, i was thinking about putting loads of bushy plants and small places for the fry to hide.

my tank is about 110litres and has the following fish in:

3 female guppy
1 male guppy
1 female balloon molly
1 common pleco
2 glass cat fish (which i very really see)
1 angel fish ( about 3 inches in size)

it a big ish tank, with very few fish in.

will puting loads of plants in give my fry any chance of survival.

any advice would be greatful.

cheers

[snapback]898901[/snapback]​

the chances are they will still get eaten it all boils down to survival of the fittest! thhey tend to get eaten as they are weak through in breeding which you tend to get from the pet shop (unless wild) what i do is use a breeding rap but surround it with weed this prevents the fry getting eaten and reduces stress for them to survive in a main tank you really need a species tank they never do well in a community.

 

[dwarfgourami]

It's difficult to pronounce on how hardy any one guppy is going to prove; some strains do seem to weaker than others. I'd give them a go in the main tank with lots of plants; that way the strongest and brightest will get a chance to survive, and at least you won't be stressing out the pregnant females.

All my fry got eaten until I replanted the tank (c. 50 % plants), now I have 3 platy fry from first batch, 6 from second, and two guppy fry; obviously only a small proportion, but very fit and healthy-looking fish. You could always try to be at hand with a net to rescue a few fry into the breeder net as they are born (I did that with my first batch of platies).

If your fry were still born this may have been because the female was stressed out by the breeder net.

My 3 female guppies and my baloon molly are all pregant and ready to drop.

Last time the gave birth i put them in the breeding nets, but had lots of still borns and the fish that were born we weak, only 2 survied from about 30 but sadly there gone too now, one died and the other was eaten by my big angel fish.

because of what happened with the nets and the still borns, is it worth trying my luck with the fry in the main tank, i was thinking about putting loads of bushy plants and small places for the fry to hide.

my tank is about 110litres and has the following fish in:

3 female guppy
1 male guppy
1 female balloon molly
1 common pleco
2 glass cat fish (which i very really see)
1 angel fish ( about 3 inches in size)

it a big ish tank, with very few fish in.

will puting loads of plants in give my fry any chance of survival.

any advice would be greatful.

cheers

[snapback]898901[/snapback]​

the chances are they will still get eaten it all boils down to survival of the fittest! thhey tend to get eaten as they are weak through in breeding which you tend to get from the pet shop (unless wild) what i do is use a breeding rap but surround it with weed this prevents the fry getting eaten and reduces stress for them to survive in a main tank you really need a species tank they never do well in a community.

[snapback]898943[/snapback]​

 

[nmonks]

Hello,

Definitely use a breeding trap, at least to begin with.

Angelfish are very good at hunting down small fish (a major part of their diet in the wild). Supposedly, angels will follow mollies and guppies while they're dropping babies, snapping them up like sushi on a conveyor belt.

Glass catfish are predators, and will take baby guppies at night without a second thought.

The more plants you have, the better. Floating, fine-leaved plants are optimal; the babies hide on top of them in the thin layer of water between the plants and the air. For a few weeks, even pond weeds will survive long enough in a tropical tank if that's all you can get easily and cheaply (but watch out for stowaways like snails and predatory insects). Anyway, floating plants will give you fish some safety until you find them and rescue them, but I doubt they'll protect them for the three or four months you'll need to raise them to angelfish-proof size.

There's no intrinsic reason a breeding trap will kill or weaken baby fish. I have 14 baby halfbeaks in one right now, and they are a lot larger and more delicate than baby mollies. So the fact you lost so many first time round was probably just bad luck.

The alternative (and you're going to hate this) is buy another small aquarium for the babies. If you take fish breeding at all seriously, doing this is the only effective solution. Remember, it needn't be expensive -- a 5-10 gallon tank, an air-powered filter, and a heater are all you need. No hood, no lights, no gravel, no canister filter.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[mad cam]

Hello,

Definitely use a breeding trap, at least to begin with.

Angelfish are very good at hunting down small fish (a major part of their diet in the wild). Supposedly, angels will follow mollies and guppies while they're dropping babies, snapping them up like sushi on a conveyor belt.

Glass catfish are predators, and will take baby guppies at night without a second thought.

The more plants you have, the better. Floating, fine-leaved plants are optimal; the babies hide on top of them in the thin layer of water between the plants and the air. For a few weeks, even pond weeds will survive long enough in a tropical tank if that's all you can get easily and cheaply (but watch out for stowaways like snails and predatory insects). Anyway, floating plants will give you fish some safety until you find them and rescue them, but I doubt they'll protect them for the three or four months you'll need to raise them to angelfish-proof size.

There's no intrinsic reason a breeding trap will kill or weaken baby fish. I have 14 baby halfbeaks in one right now, and they are a lot larger and more delicate than baby mollies. So the fact you lost so many first time round was probably just bad luck.

The alternative (and you're going to hate this) is buy another small aquarium for the babies. If you take fish breeding at all seriously, doing this is the only effective solution. Remember, it needn't be expensive -- a 5-10 gallon tank, an air-powered filter, and a heater are all you need. No hood, no lights, no gravel, no canister filter.

Cheers,

Neale

[snapback]899858[/snapback]​

thanks all for your advice,

i want my babies to survive, i think i will go for the birthing tank, as i have a small old tank (my first tank), still in the loft. i think i will get it out and hopefully save my babies.

I just hope the babies stay in the mothers until i get home from work new week!, otherwise i will have to wait for the next batch.

 

[Cajun Tuna]

Okay, this sounds like what I need to do too, but what is a 'breeding trap'? Mine have been having babies, but I think they are being eaten. Guppies, platies, mollies, red tail sharks, and swordtails in together.

Oh, I ) am not trying to hijack your thread Mad Cam, but we seem to have the same worry. I will also see about getting a small tank for the babies.

What do we feed baby fish?

 

[nmonks]

Hello,

A breeding trap is a floating or fixed "box" that goes inside your aquarium that provides a refuge for very small fish. It is typically made of transparent plastic or netting.

They can also be used to isolate pregnant livebearers, but this can be risky, especially with species prone to abort their young when stressed (e.g., mollies and halfbeaks).

The advantage of using a breeding trap are that it uses the same heating and filtration as the main aquarium (so the babies aren't "shocked" by being moved). The disadvantage is that they are very small and can only be used for a few days or weeks, depending on the size and growth rate of the fish.

Essentially they are a stop-gap between saving your fry and then finding another tank to grow them on it. I consider them highly useful devices but certainly not substitutes for a second quarantine or breeding tank.

It's just possible in some communities to release the baby fish after 2-3 weeks into the main tank, where the other fish are non-predatory, e.g., Corydoras, plecs, mollies, and so on. But most other fish, e.g., barbs, characins, cichlids, gouramis, etc., will simply eat livebearer young given half a chance.

As and when you do set up a breeding tank, don't forget filtration! This may mean taking some "live" filter medium from you old tank to instantly mature your new one. A common mistake is to dump the baby fish into a spotlessly clean new tank, only to have them die because the nitrites and ammonia sky-rocket.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Cajun Tuna]

Thanks Neale, I will see about setting this up tomorrow. I have a baby shark in there that I'd really like to save. I am very proud of my grandshark.