So you have about 20 full grown or at least sexually mature guppies in a 10 gallon tank. How long has the tank been running?? I would assume the bio-load is probably pretty high. You could do that, but you'd have to have pretty good bio filteration because when you want them to breed you should be thinking about 'conditioning' them. Which means you will have to feed them pretty heavily, which means a lot of poop.
I would not suggest putting a divider in the tank. I'm assuming you want to put in the divider to have one side babies and one side adults.(?) That would mean less then 5 gallons for 20 adults and who knows how many fry. If you get the dividers with holes in them then I don't see why you would want the dividers in the first place, unless you want to seperate the males from the females for periods of time, but that would still mean 15 adult females in less then 5 gallons.
Another problem you will run into is the fact that with that many adults already in the tank, the fry will have a very tough time finding food. If you don't keep the adults fed well enough the fry will be very easy targets. If you over feed you may end up with very high amm. readings.
As for sponge filters, it's two fold. Sponge filters are very good at bio filteration. With that many fry its a very important thing to have. Second it doesnt have the sucking power of the hob filters. Some of the fry will get sucked into the filter. I've had this problem many times before, even with nylon covering the opening. They get stuck to the nylon.
I too agree that you shouldn't use the 'breeder baskets'. Every time that I"ve used one I've had fatalities. The fish get way too stressed. You may have better luck but I would never use one again.
My suggestions/exp:
Keep about half the ammount of guppies you have in the ten. In my bare bottom ten I keep 6 females and 2 males. For filteration I have a dual sponge unit and I"m thinking about adding another. I feed them about 3-4 times a day. Only when they're actively searching for food. I change out some of the water every 2-4 days (vaccuming the bottom).
When fry are born I keep them in there for a couple of days to gain strength. I then move them to a 5 gal until they grow more in size, then transfer them into a 15 (soon to be a 20 long) with a hob and a sponge filter. Even at this stage some get stuck to the filter. Be very careful about moving fry though because it is very stressfull to them.
Hope all this typing helps. If I sounded rude I"m sorry didn't mean to. If you have any other questions just ask. I'm no expert but I do breed guppies. Not for show but for feeders.
I would not suggest putting a divider in the tank. I'm assuming you want to put in the divider to have one side babies and one side adults.(?) That would mean less then 5 gallons for 20 adults and who knows how many fry. If you get the dividers with holes in them then I don't see why you would want the dividers in the first place, unless you want to seperate the males from the females for periods of time, but that would still mean 15 adult females in less then 5 gallons.
Another problem you will run into is the fact that with that many adults already in the tank, the fry will have a very tough time finding food. If you don't keep the adults fed well enough the fry will be very easy targets. If you over feed you may end up with very high amm. readings.
As for sponge filters, it's two fold. Sponge filters are very good at bio filteration. With that many fry its a very important thing to have. Second it doesnt have the sucking power of the hob filters. Some of the fry will get sucked into the filter. I've had this problem many times before, even with nylon covering the opening. They get stuck to the nylon.
I too agree that you shouldn't use the 'breeder baskets'. Every time that I"ve used one I've had fatalities. The fish get way too stressed. You may have better luck but I would never use one again.
My suggestions/exp:
Keep about half the ammount of guppies you have in the ten. In my bare bottom ten I keep 6 females and 2 males. For filteration I have a dual sponge unit and I"m thinking about adding another. I feed them about 3-4 times a day. Only when they're actively searching for food. I change out some of the water every 2-4 days (vaccuming the bottom).
When fry are born I keep them in there for a couple of days to gain strength. I then move them to a 5 gal until they grow more in size, then transfer them into a 15 (soon to be a 20 long) with a hob and a sponge filter. Even at this stage some get stuck to the filter. Be very careful about moving fry though because it is very stressfull to them.
Hope all this typing helps. If I sounded rude I"m sorry didn't mean to. If you have any other questions just ask. I'm no expert but I do breed guppies. Not for show but for feeders.
, but actually i am pretty well informed in what i do.
...oh yeah...MY GOLDEN HONEY DWARF GOURAMIS JUST HAD BABIES!...in a different tank than my guppies of course
