Feeder Guppies

Cloud-9

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May 11, 2003
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Reidsville, GA
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I haven't had to resort to these since I got rid of my Leaf fishes years ago. Please refresh my memory again on the potential problems that feeding guppies can create. These feeder fish always look so sickly in the dealer's tanks.
 
Well, the fact that they're in such sorry shape is clue number one...any diseases may be transferred to the main tank if the feeder guppies aren't quarantined first. Also, they are relatively devoid of nutriment unless well-fed...that should be part of the quarantine, too. They can be a little fast for some fish (i.e. Frontosas, Oscars) who can only catch them when they are initially dazed or while they are sleeping. Also, feeders not taken whole can decay in the tank, or the poop from fish that eat them can cause an ammonia spike.

Breed your own and many of these problems will go away...if you know that they're healthy.

You can then decide if the risks are worth it for your individual fish.

HTH,

Matthew
 
yes this is a very contrivercial topic and chilldawg covered most of the material but i jsut wanted to add that i breed my own guppies and platys for use as live food. if you grow them your self then you know they are the top quality and always raised in good conditions and also that they have plenty of notrients in them for the bigger fishies!!

but yea the main problem i dont buy feeders is their poor quality of health and also that they can many times carry unwanted diseases and parasites/bacteria into you controlled condition environment.
 
What do you feed yours to, Tightdog1? I've been reading that Platies are superior to Guppies for feeding the deliberately-moving Cichlids...I'm curious as to who gets what from your tanks!
 
basically my fish, the blue acaras get all the baby guppies and platys. they get some convict fry every now and then when my brother has some extra.

the pacus eat some of the guppies and platys too, they jsut suck in a bunch of water and sometimes they get a few guppies/platys. quite a site too see.

and some of my baby blue acaras go to my brother 55g with convicts and firemouths.
 
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