Raising Guppies?

[adgolde]

its funny you mention that, i just gave my old 20 gallon high away... :soda: if i put one male and two female in the 10 gallon and they mate, they wont eat there eggs will they?

 

[Harlock]

I can guarantee you with 100% certainty that no breeding pair will ever eat their own eggs. They are livebearers.

 

[adgolde]

livebearers meaning?

 

[Ems]

livebearers meaning?

They don't lay eggs, the fry that come out are free-swimming.

 

[adgolde]

so once the "fry" comes out of the female, its already swimming? no way, thats amazing, so they wont eat there own children. what do the fry eat? will they eat flakes? or shrimp pellets?

 

[Harlock]

They bear live young; they are born complete and whole, right from the mother, free swimming. No visible eggs. All done inside the mother. When you see the gravid spot, those are developing baby guppies and they are born all tiny and free directly into the tank right out of the mother.

 

[Ems]

lol yes. No hatching required. They come out of the mom and are able to swim. Thats why it's kind of hard. Some will get eaten within seconds of being "dropped"

 

[Harlock]

so once the "fry" comes out of the female, its already swimming? no way, thats amazing, so they wont eat there own children. what do the fry eat? will they eat flakes? or shrimp pellets?

Fry eat fry food. You can buy fry food from your LFS. They have liquid and powdered versions. personally, I find that grinding up regular old flakes int powder works just as well. Use the end of a toothpick as a sort of spoon, as a pinch would be too much. They will also feed on the microfauna on your plants, etc. Also, guppies will eat their own children, hence the need for all the cover for them to hide in, or a separate tank to raise them in.

 

[adgolde]

so they will eat there children then, since they are live bearers right? so thats why i need plants so they can hide in them. ok so i can just grind up some fish flakes and get a little toothpick and drop the ground up flakes in the tank and they will eat it, thats it? that seems to easy. once the fry come out of the mother are they able to swim awawy or does it take a little time for them to swim and take cover? also is it just the mother that will eat them, will the male eat the fry also?

 

[Harlock]

so they will eat there children then, since they are live bearers right? so thats why i need plants so they can hide in them. ok so i can just grind up some fish flakes and get a little toothpick and drop the ground up flakes in the tank and they will eat it, thats it? that seems to easy. once the fry come out of the mother are they able to swim awawy or does it take a little time for them to swim and take cover? also is it just the mother that will eat them, will the male eat the fry also?

I know it sounds too easy. Breeding guppies istoo easy. That's why they are used as feeders. I promise if you grind up the flakes very fine, they will eat it. They are easier to feed in a separate tank (I know, you don't want to hear it, but it has to be said). They are born able to swim. Some catch on to this fact quicker than others. Some will dart right away as they drop and others will sit there a second. And, not only the mother will eat the fish, but the father, and anything else in the tank is liable to eat them as well. This includes dragonfly larvae, frogs, ghost shrimp...