Raising Guppies?

[adgolde]

How would i go about raising my own guppies, im going to use them as feeder fish. What do i need to buy, is there some sort of egg i buy or do i just need to get a male and two female guppies and let them have at it? please whoever has any info on this please share.

[Harlock]

How would i go about raising my own guppies, im going to use them as feeder fish. What do i need to buy, is there some sort of egg i buy or do i just need to get a male and two female guppies and let them have at it? please whoever has any info on this please share.
Basically all you need is a male and 2 or three females in a tank. Also, a growout tank is really recommended because guppies will eat their own fry. Doesn't do a lot of good to get guppies to raise feeders but only end up feeding the guppies. I'd say a couple of ten gallons with some sponge filters would do nicely. I have heard of folks having a breeding trio in a 5 gallon, ubt water quality is more of an issue then.

[adgolde]

well i have a 55 gallon which im going to put some sort of carnivore in, and i also have a 10 gallon tank, which is what im gonna use for my "breeding tank". how can i tell a male guppy from a female and visa-versa. also could you give me a good carnivorus fish that would be able to live in a 55 gallon tank when its fully grown (other than piranaha)

[Harlock]

Sorry, I'm not that up on fish that take live food. Hopefully someone else can help you out there. Just ask at the store. Usually male guppies are smaller, more colorful and have bigger tails while the females are bigger, have a rounder shape to their bellies, are less colorful and have smaller tails. Most stores keep guppies separated as they can get overcrowded in a hurry.

[jonathan03]

You might try some cichlids if you want to feed live food. Another option although its really hard to care for is an archer fish. They shoot down insects by spitting water at them. They can be fed other live foods too. They can be tough though. I'm not sure how experienced you are.

Get some java moss in your breeding tank. The fry can hide in it.

[adgolde]

alright thanks

[daveedka]

Although most folks tend to agree that guppies eat their own fry, any guppy tank with two females and a male will become overcrowded quickly. I seldom if ever see my even chasing fry. I do agree with the java moss suggestion. it's a great plant for the fry, and it houses high levels of infusoria which the fry will eat.

If you prmary goal is rapid guppy reproduction, one male will be enough for 10 females, but you would need a bigger tank for that many adult fish as well.
Dave

[adgolde]

is a 10 gallon enough for 1 male and 4 females, once they breed i can stick them into my 55 gallon, that is if they do eat there own fry, and i might go with the java moss suggestion, but is my 10 gallon big enough for all that?

[Harlock]

The ten gallong would house the adults and java moss. There will be a lot of babies, and that's why I recommended the grow out tank in my first post.

[CHARD]

how big do the fry have to get before the parents will leave em alone?

They have lil plastic boxes you can attach to the side of the tank, inside the tank...Is this the grow out tank you speaking of?

Im going to start a guppy tanks as well.....

How often do they have babies?

[Harlock]

A grow out tank is a separate tank that houses fry. Now that I am thinking about it, since these are feeders anyway, maybe the best idea is simply to have a trio or even 3 females and one male with some plant cover. They have a gestation period of around 4 weeks. Mom can have as little as two (when she is young and immature) to as many as 200 fry. (this is the main reason I thought of a grow-out tank in the first place. As the females get older and bigger, brood sizes increase dramatically so, with 4 females you could feasibly end up with 400 fry easy). So, you are looking at lots of feeders. ;)

[texas]

I think the grow out tank that was spoken of would probably be a seperate tank all together for the baby fish. The tiny acrylic holders on the side are ok but they can get overcrowded quickly and I can't shut the lid well with one in it. They are cool for the fish to give birth in though. I use one for the moms to give birth in and then take my guppy babys to the grow out tank.
My guppies birth about every 4-5 weeks.

[CHARD]

so THAT MEANS i NEED 2-1OGAL TANKS! ****..I dont think I have the space for that... I have a 125g. plus 2 10's is alot for me..I can squeeze 1-10gallon in..

[Harlock]

so THAT MEANS i NEED 2-1OGAL TANKS! ****..I dont think I have the space for that... I have a 125g. plus 2 10's is alot for me..I can squeeze 1-10gallon in..
Then go with a trio of guppies, give them some hornwort (just leave it floating, don't bother with attaching it to a decoration or planting it in the substrate, an it makes a thick hiding place) and java moss and let the guppies get to work. Given a few months time you should have had a few broods and they should start getting a bit bigger. Water quality will be an issue as the tank starts filling up, but plants help, as I stated before. Hornwort is very good at removing excess nutrients in the water. Just stay on top of the water as poor water quality could lead stress and numerous other problems. What's the good of raising your own feeders if they are prone to disease and might carry something into the main tank? ;)

[pbecot01]

It was suggested to me to get a 55 gallon trash can, put a filter and a heater in it, and toss the guppies in there... assuming that if you are using them as supper for another fish, you don't want to get attached lol... I didn't do it though.

I did think that it should be possible to build a divider that would allow the fry through but no adults... so that you could have a lot of adults on one side and just scoop any fry out of the other to feed the big tank.

[Harlock]

It was suggested to me to get a 55 gallon trash can, put a filter and a heater in it, and toss the guppies in there... assuming that if you are using them as supper for another fish, you don't want to get attached lol... I didn't do it though.

I did think that it should be possible to build a divider that would allow the fry through but no adults... so that you could have a lot of adults on one side and just scoop any fry out of the other to feed the big tank.
That is certainly a possibility, but the big question is would the fry move horizantally? Most of the fry I have had usually drop down and end up near the bottom. They don't move around a whole lot so as not to attract a lot of attention to themselves. Still, it could be worth an eperiment to see just how well it works.

[adgolde]

ok so your saying i need two 10 gallon tanks, i dont have room, i will barely have room for the 10 gallon im going to setup, let alone a whole nother one. are there anymore alterantives?

[Harlock]

Rubbermaid plastic containers are another option. You have to be careful with heaters of course, since you're dealing with plastic. They come in large sizes and can make a fry growout tank. Just how many feeders are you wanting? I think that's the best question to answer. If it's a few per week, may as well buy them. If it's 10 or more a week, then really, the room will come in handy. Again, you can raise fry in a 10 gallon with the parents if there is heavy cover, you just have to be very aware that water quality can be a big issue in a tank like that.

[adgolde]

so your saying i could house my fry and adult guppies in a 10 gallon, i would just have to have heavy planttage, and do many water changes to keep the water quality good..

[Harlock]

Yes. A trio or pair would be okay, but I wouldn't go much more than that if I were raising fry in the 10 gallon too. Have you thought about a 20 gallon high? It's the same width and length as a 10, just twice as tall. You might get away with four females and a male in that.

[adgolde]

its funny you mention that, i just gave my old 20 gallon high away... :soda: if i put one male and two female in the 10 gallon and they mate, they wont eat there eggs will they?

[Harlock]

I can guarantee you with 100% certainty that no breeding pair will ever eat their own eggs. They are livebearers.

[adgolde]

livebearers meaning?

[Ems]

livebearers meaning?

They don't lay eggs, the fry that come out are free-swimming.

[adgolde]

so once the "fry" comes out of the female, its already swimming? no way, thats amazing, so they wont eat there own children. what do the fry eat? will they eat flakes? or shrimp pellets?

[Harlock]

They bear live young; they are born complete and whole, right from the mother, free swimming. No visible eggs. All done inside the mother. When you see the gravid spot, those are developing baby guppies and they are born all tiny and free directly into the tank right out of the mother.

[Ems]

lol yes. No hatching required. They come out of the mom and are able to swim. Thats why it's kind of hard. Some will get eaten within seconds of being "dropped"

[Harlock]

so once the "fry" comes out of the female, its already swimming? no way, thats amazing, so they wont eat there own children. what do the fry eat? will they eat flakes? or shrimp pellets?
Fry eat fry food. You can buy fry food from your LFS. They have liquid and powdered versions. personally, I find that grinding up regular old flakes int powder works just as well. Use the end of a toothpick as a sort of spoon, as a pinch would be too much. They will also feed on the microfauna on your plants, etc. Also, guppies will eat their own children, hence the need for all the cover for them to hide in, or a separate tank to raise them in.

[adgolde]

so they will eat there children then, since they are live bearers right? so thats why i need plants so they can hide in them. ok so i can just grind up some fish flakes and get a little toothpick and drop the ground up flakes in the tank and they will eat it, thats it? that seems to easy. once the fry come out of the mother are they able to swim awawy or does it take a little time for them to swim and take cover? also is it just the mother that will eat them, will the male eat the fry also?

[Harlock]

so they will eat there children then, since they are live bearers right? so thats why i need plants so they can hide in them. ok so i can just grind up some fish flakes and get a little toothpick and drop the ground up flakes in the tank and they will eat it, thats it? that seems to easy. once the fry come out of the mother are they able to swim awawy or does it take a little time for them to swim and take cover? also is it just the mother that will eat them, will the male eat the fry also?
I know it sounds too easy. Breeding guppies istoo easy. That's why they are used as feeders. I promise if you grind up the flakes very fine, they will eat it. They are easier to feed in a separate tank (I know, you don't want to hear it, but it has to be said). They are born able to swim. Some catch on to this fact quicker than others. Some will dart right away as they drop and others will sit there a second. And, not only the mother will eat the fish, but the father, and anything else in the tank is liable to eat them as well. This includes dragonfly larvae, frogs, ghost shrimp...