My guppy just had fry!

[$eaba$$]

My guppy just had fry when I was at school. I was able to save 7 of them. I keep them in a 2.5 minibow. Is that big enough? Also, what should I feed them. They stay mostly near the bottom, and when I tried to crush a couple of flakes and feed them, but they probably didn't see them. The Petco manager said that powdered egg is good. What do you guys suggest? Also, I have an otocinclus in the 2.5 my my 6 puny fry, is that ok? One more thing, . My 2.5 minibow came with an undergravel filter, and yesterday I went to buy one of those elite mini submersible filter. Is that an ok filter. I was wondering if I should have the intake thing for the filter near where the water shoots our from the ug filter, or not?

Thanks!

[br553]

I've always fed my guppy fry tropical flakes ground almost to a powder. They may not show intrest the first day or so but soon enough they will get quite an appetite

[$eaba$$]

Thanks for the information! Good to know!

[jm1212]

1) they shoudl be ok with the oto.
2) a 2.5 gallon will be ok for a while, but what you should do is get a bigger tank, but then transfer everything in the 2.5 to the new tank, along with the fish, to ease the cycle of the new tank and make it much smoother (of course that when the fry are bigger)
3) powdered egg type foods that you make in the microwave are for baby birds not baby fish. even if you meant powdered egg itself, a gel fry food will work best, or finely crushed flake food will work best. they are probably still in a bit of shock, and they should start eating in the next few days.
4) the only good internal filter that i can think of for fry is the Whisper Internal 3i, and that is bacause it runs on air power instead of an impeller. if you get one, you need to keep the place where the water exits above the water level of the tank for best filtration.
5) keep the filers' outtake apart IMO

[$eaba$$]

You don't think mine's good enough?

[Aussie_hippie_2]

1. hard boil an egg
2. take the yolk out and put it in a zip-lock bag with a few drips of water
3. smoosh it VERY finely
4. add a few drops each day.

It's basically liquid protein.

[fballguy]

Your filter will probably filter the water good enough, but you have to be very careful with filters that have impellers when dealing with fry, as they can get sucked up by the filter and killed by the impeller. That's why the whisper 3i would be better. But if you get a piece of sponge from a fish store(not kitchen sponge) you can put it over the intake so they don't get sucked up. Water has to be kept very clean for fry, as they are pretty delicate in their early stages of life. I change water every day with mine. Do you have a heater on you 2.5? If not, I strongly recommend you get 1. I did not use a heater the first time I raised guppy fry and I lost 60 out of 75 fry because of it.

EDIT:I forgot to mention feeding. I use just regular flakes that I ground up to powder so the fry can fit it in their mouths. The egg yolk method also works very well.

Also, another reason for daily water changes is that guppies release a growth inhibiting hormone into the water and will stunt if water is not changed frequently. (another thing I learned the hard way)

I would remove the otto and keep just the fry by themselves. Ottos need to be in groups and a 2.5 can not hold more than 1. Plus it will make it easier to keep the water clean without it.

[$eaba$$]

Thanks for the tip, but could you also answer my other questions? :)

[fballguy]

What else do you need to know?

[$eaba$$]

About the egg yolk, how long does it last in the fridge in a ziplock bag? And I need to add a little bit fo water everyday you say?

[fballguy]

The egg yolk will probably last a couple of days.

Don't add, but change about 50% of the water every day.

[$eaba$$]

And why change water that often and that much?

[fballguy]

And why change water that often and that much?

I told you in my big post. Read through that.

[bettagurl]

I use a box filter for fry,feed the crushed flakes and a little egg yolk,but the water will get dirty so be prepared for alot of WC's.congrats on the new babies.

[mtiller]

back when i did the guppy thing, i didn't even use a filter (yeah i know, tank did get dirty-very dirty under the marbles;they poop soooo much!) but placed a whooole lot of anacharis in the tank with them. i fed them BBS (baby brine shrimp) and later on the powdered food when they colord vibrantly. i originally had 15. only 3 survived the longest (snails went on a sleeping guppy fry killing rampage;mom overfed my fish and the water became basically putrid, only allowing the bottom dwellers and two neons to survive) but died.

[$eaba$$]

Yeah sorry fballman, I missed your long post. I must have clicked on this post right when you put it up. And thanks for the information! Also, I don't think it should be a problem that they get sucked into it because firstly hey are like always in the other side of the tank, and secondly, the intake holes are very small. They could probably only fit through with a small squeeze. Also, Is it good to have gravel and like 2 plastic plants and a little house thing. Well actually I need the gravel because it also had an undergravel filter. Also, there is some algae in the tank, so the oto helps a lot. And bettgurl, this may sound nooby, but what exactly is a box filter?

[bettagurl]

I meant corner filter,it is what I use for my betta fry.

[fballguy]

Gravel and plants are good. The guppies will appreciate them to rest on and hide around.

Oh yea, I forgot to say congrats and good luck!

[mtiller]

i use a really small turtle box filter that i wrapped twice in the footie part of the stocking. now food collects on the front of it and my lazy betta fry eat off that. the filter cost like 10-12 dollars.

[$eaba$$]

Thanks guys! Also, how does a corner filter work?

[mtiller]

mine has suction cups on the back of it that i just simply place underwater (of course) on the side of my 10g. plug it up and voila~it works!

[fballguy]

Thanks guys! Also, how does a corner filter work?

They use an air pump that make bubbles to push water through the filter. They are dirt cheap too. My LFS has a kit with a filter tubing and air pump for like 8 bucks.

[justintoxicated]

i just use a regular filter with sponge over the filter for mine. I left the sponge on the intake after finding fry in my canister...

Spong over intake tube works fine, and regular powdered fish food is fine as well.

I had to seperate my male and female guppies because they can have 100's of fry at once and i don't have a 100 gallon tank to keep them in... In fact I'm currently looking for a new home for the fry that I have... Every time I sell them to a petstore it seems like 1/2 of them die before tehy are sold. LFS's don't seem to care at all about guppies, if they live great if not oh well. Most won't even buy them off me even though they are way better than anything they have in stock...

[$eaba$$]

Does it do as good of a job as an undergravel filter? And how big are they about? Could I fit one in my 2.5 gallon minibow fry tank?

[fballguy]

Yes it will fit, and will work better than the UGF. But you already have that elite internal so just put a sponge over the intake and you are good to go!

[$eaba$$]

Thanks for the information. And about the heater, I don't really think I need one now, because I live in California. It is kind of winter now, right, and during day, I have light on, which heats up to about 80 degrees, and at night it cools down to about 73. Is it ok if there is a decrease like that so rapidly? Well by rapidly I mean over many, many hours. But if I really do need a heater, what would you suggest for my 2.5 minibow?

[fballguy]

For fry 73 degrees is pretty low. They are delicate in their young age and do best in 80 plus degrees. You can get small heaters for up to 3 gallons at walmart or petsmart for 6-15 bucks.

[$eaba$$]

Could you give me some online links to some that you know are good and cheap.

Thanks!

[$eaba$$]

When I do my water changes, I'm going to do them about every two days, how do I make sure fry doesn't get sucked up?

[fballguy]

Just watch and be careful. Syphon the water into a bucket just in case, then you can net them out if you accidently suck it up.

[$eaba$$]

thanks!~

[Aussie_hippie_2]

About the egg yolk, how long does it last in the fridge in a ziplock bag? And I need to add a little bit fo water everyday you say?

Sorry, what I meant was only add a few drops of the yolk into the tank each day. It dirties the tank pretty fast.

[$eaba$$]

Yeah, I put way too much yolk in my tank haha... It dirtied it up somewhat. Luckily Ihave a filter though and also an undergravel filter. How do you suggest I feed the fry??? Like just put a tiny bit of yolk on a spoon or how? How much water should I mix the yolk with?

Thanks!

[$eaba$$]

Yeah, I put way too much yolk in my tank haha... It dirtied it up somewhat. Luckily Ihave a filter though and also an undergravel filter. How do you suggest I feed the fry??? Like just put a tiny bit of yolk on a spoon or how? How much water should I mix the yolk with? Also, when should they start growing some more, and how much? Got them yesterday.

Thanks!

[guppygirl123]

I feed my livebearer fry with baby food from Hikari. They sell it at fish stores and it's a very fine powder made from plants that the fry seem to like very much.

[Aussie_hippie_2]

I didn't have a very technical operation :o ,if you have an eye dropper just use that and plop a few drops in there.