Guppies and Fry

[LostFisher]

Right now I have 2 male guppies, my goal was to get maybe one more male and maybe 3 females. I am wondering if any of the guppy fry will survive once they are born. The only other fish in the aquarium is a pleco and he seems content sucking on plants and glass. I would like to see the strong survive kinda like in the wild, I figure there only chance is to make for the plants and stay hidden, but what do i know. Can I expect any of the fry to live or should I expect a large portion of them to live and thus over crowding my small tank.

Thanks

LF

 

[yashinfan]

It is better to have more females than males because the males will constantly be trying to compete for the females if they do not have at least two to themselves. A ratio of 2 females to 1 male would be good, the best is 5 females to 2 males. If you want the fry to survive you will need some plants for the babies to hide in. Otherwise you'll see how much of an apetite all the other fish have. Your pleco does pose a threat as it will eat a baby guppy if it is large enough. It's best to keep them on their own. Good luck!

 

[mt_marcy]

I agree with the last poster, a unequal amount of male to female is better. Also I would set up either a breeding net or tank and catch them just after birth and place em in the breeder or have guppy give birth in breeder then remove her asap after she dilevers them all.
mt_marcy!

 

[bghost1961]

You would need lot of plants both on the top and bottom of the tank for the fries to hide in. Java moss or something similar would be ideal, but I've used plastic plants and they work fine.

I don't think the pleco would do much damage. Baby guppies are pretty agile that can escape slow fish. The main threat would be their parents, they got the speed, apertite and size to really go after their...kids. Feeding amount (to the parents) will also a big factor for the survivor rate.