Guppy Assassins?

Predatory fish are not discriminate. A meal is a meal. The only way around it would be to just not get any guppies to begin with. There are other fish that are not very large that will not breed as readily. Overall, guppies do not make a nutritious meal unless you take the time to gut load them. Having fish that you are too lazy or busy to care for properly is frowned upon.

ZorroNet said:

not aggressive toward the other fish, but it gets a snack once in a while.

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This made me quite literally laugh out loud.

ZorroNet said:

I understand that some may disagree with this philosophy, but it more accurately mimics nature than total segregation and flake food diets. We are the captors, so we should try to mimic nature when possible while treating our captives well. That includes the predators we capture and keep.

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I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this particular aspect of "nature" you're trying to replicate simply can not be achieved in a 55. You'll need a much larger tank and a entirely different approach which starts from the ground up and I mean that literally. Simply putting in some guppies for an aggressive fish is asinine. The good news is I've come across several examples of this where the entire eco system is built so that the owner never adds a single flake of food only topping up the water levels during the summer. This is what it looks like...



And

Ok, Zorronet,

Well you heard from some of the critics so I will attempt to answer your question. First, it is the law of the jungle in your tank. In a 55, or a 20L or larger, you can add something like a male sword tail or two and they will do the job. You could also add a group of pigmy gouramis and they will pick off the new born fry. A female betta or two will do the job. Corys, nope not unless your a mosquito larva.

I think some have forgotten the OP's question. He is not attempting to recreate a self sustained eco system but he would like a fish in the tank that thins out the potential population of live bearers from the stock that has been GIVEN to him. Therefore, any omnivore that is over 1 inch will be more than happy to thin the fry population. You do not need a different species because if there are full grown guppy adults in the tank they will eat the fry that are dumb enough not to stay hidden amongst the plants. I would not advise a betta or any other lybarinth fish (ie gourami) because they have very small stomachs and often times there is digestive problems when attempting to consume larger prey (they will eat anything that fits in their mouth, but it usually is followed by regurgatation).

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huapala said:

I think some have forgotten the OP's question.

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Yes

You're exactly right. I'm not sure how but I misinterpreted the OP's question? I'm really not sure how so to the OP, my sincerest apologies (my only excuse is that it's late here and way past my bedtime. To answer you're actual question and not the one I thought I saw (still can't work out why :headshake2 You can get a school of tetras which will look gorgeous at the same time. 6 or more Diamonds will make extremely light work of guppy fry. In fact, in my experience and tetra which is above 2.5 inches will eat guppy and platy fry. Here is a list of those that would be best suited to the job including size.

6cm/2.36" Black widow tetra Gymnocorymbus ternetzi
6cm/2.36" Diamond tetra Moenkhausia pittieri
6cm/2.36" Glass bloodfin Prionobrama filigera
6.1cm/2.4" Bleeding-heart tetra Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma
7cm/2.76" Columbian tetra Hyphessobrycon columbianus
7cm/2.76" Redeye tetra Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae
7.5cm/2.95" Banded tetra Astyanax aeneus
7.63cm/3" Buenos Aries tetra Hyphessobrycon anisitsi
8cm/3.15" African moon tetra Bathyaethiops caudomaculatus
8cm/3.15" Bandtail tetra Moenkhausia dichroura
8cm/3.15" Congo tetra Phenacogrammus interruptus
9cm/3.5" Discus Tetra Brachychalcinus orbicularis

I don't breed my guppies most of the time. I keep the sexes separate in different tanks. Works well.

Every so often I breed some for feeders. Babies are tiny and even adult female guppies can eat them. So your options are pretty open.


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if you want a single fish to help keep the population thinned out you could try a bolivian ram. They will gladly take any fry they find and arent large enough to eat adults. Also personable and cute at the same time.

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I just want to see your idea for the tank.