i got guppy fry :)

[leeser28]

hi
thanks for the info folk
alot of other posts i've read say to leave them be and the strong will survive but its my first fry ever and i really want them to live
if or when they have more i will leave them too it, but i'm gonna give these little angels special treatment lol
how long till they get coulor and you can tell male from female?
sorry but im new to all this

I can understand - I'd be the same way. Congrats (and I can't answer any question because I know nothing about guppies except that they breed rapidly, give birth to live babies, and many males have fancy tails )

 

[THE V]

Guppies are way too easy to breed.

If you don't want the parents to eat the fry a planted tank is best. Lot's of cover and area's for them to hide. You can keep the parents from eating the fry by overfeeding and frequent water changes. If the parents are well fed they do not eat their own fry (in my experience). I feed the sinking crisps to my guppy tank. They slowly soften when the hit the bottom and the fry easily pick off bite sized chunks. I started out with 3 females and 1 male in January. I currently have 100+ fry. I also have a ton of Malaysian Trumphet and Ramshorn snails in the tank. I squish the ramshorn's when they get too numerous. The guppies have all learned to follow my hands around to grap the snails after they are squished.

One of the downsides to guppies is you have to dispose of fry. I have a 125 gallon goldfish tank that solves the problem for me (they don't last very long with my big comet). You'll need to select your favorites and give away or dispose of the rest.

Another important tip is you'll need to add in new genetics a couple of times a year to avoid inbreeding issues (unless you are trying to pureline the tank). The easiest way to do this is to add in new males after removing all of the other mature males. A second tank is very useful in doing this so that you can keep your prettiest males for your enjoyment.

 

[Dan H]

thanks everyone
does anyone know when they get their colours?
and how long till i can sex them?
i will post pic's as soon as i can as my son (13 months old) has broken our laptop
cheers

 

[shawnhu]

It's usually 2 months from birth that you can start seeign color and sexing.

Higher temps will speed things up.

 

[Dan H]

oh my god i now have 31 guppy fry
dont know wot to do with them all and 1 of the females is still very pregnant
they are brilliant little things thou

 

[coach_z]

when my livebearers have lil babies i let nature take its course (aka let the fish eat them) and also take that time to cut back on my feedings a little bit.

i let the strong ones survive...its how nature intended it.

 

[huffmagx]

Will take a couple months usually for them to really get color and develop their fin enough to distinguish male from females. It's really exciting seeing what new color or fin varieties that can be created within a few generations with these prolific little breeders!
Good luck with your new babies!
Oh almost forgot mine LOVE shrimp pellets and have virtually stopped eating their fry since I have started feeding them a few of these for one of their 2-3 small daily feeds.