Guppy Fry

[djdestructo]

Well tonight my guppy gave birth to 9 little ones, I took them out of the main tank and placed them into a small 3 gal (to get them to a safe place) the only problem is that the 3 gal does not have a heater. Will it be better to just leave them in the main tank and let nature take its course or will they need the heater ?

[santiago]

You should get a breeders box and then you can place them in the main tank and you will have more survivors.

[jarrodaden]

As a sidenote to this question, what is likelihood of getting a boy / girl pair with luck of the draw at the LFS? I am guessing they try to purposely try not to do this to stay in business. My question is directed at all species and not just guppies. Specifically, I have 6 cardinal tetras. I can't help but wonder if I will have more one day.

[Aphotic Phoenix]

I would recommend letting nature take it's course. Female guppies can hold sperm for months, and you'll just keep getting more and more babies to take care of!

[casemarten]

If you plant your aquarium, especially with floating plants, the fry will do OK in the main tank.

My experience is that at LFS they usually have the guppies separated by sex. You can always ask for one sex or another, they have always been willing to do so for me for my platies, mollies, guppies, etc.

I used to breed guppies and they're really quite easy to breed. As long as you have a male and a female you will keep getting more babies. They're SO fun to watch change as they develop their colors.

[Juzah]

I would only go to the effort of establishing another tank if your purposefully attempting to breed them, because as aphotic said you will literrally end up with hundreds of em!! the aquatic rabbit/hamster. lol. And as was also said above plant life in ya tank will help their survival rates if you wouldnt mind a few making it through to adulthood, Java moss/fern and other dense plants serve the purpose.

If you want specific sex's when buying i advise you look it all up yourself and pick out your fish yourself - been in to many shops where the man behind the counter didnt really have much of a clue and just blagged it.

[KarlTh]

As a sidenote to this question, what is likelihood of getting a boy / girl pair with luck of the draw at the LFS? I am guessing they try to purposely try not to do this to stay in business. My question is directed at all species and not just guppies. Specifically, I have 6 cardinal tetras. I can't help but wonder if I will have more one day.

Unlikely. They're extremely hard to breed. Most fish will not reproduce successfully in the home community aquarium; the shops are not worried about that.