when to release guppy fry

[stunt 101]

in my 10 gallon tank i have a breeder box with 12 live guppy fry in it. there are also 2 female guppies and one male in that tank along with 2 small cories. the baby guppies have been alive since noon on sunday. i have the baby hideout grass along with other fake plants and rocks for hiding places in there. i was wondering if i could release the fry into the tank because in the bottom of the 2 in 1 clear breeder box there is alot of mold growing from left over food. i dont want the mold to grow too much so i want to take out the box to clean it, and release the guppies into the tank. leave any suggestions or responses
thanx

 

[JesseJ]

I would leave the fry in the trap for at least 6 weeks to be certain that they are too big for the parents to eat them. You can still clean the trap by scooping it up in a large bowl and slowly turning it sideways to release the fry. Clean the trap and put it back into the tank and slowly and gently dump the water from the bowl back into the trap. This will let you clean the trap without dumping your fish into the main tank where they will get eaten.

 

[falcon]

Stunt, it all depends on your tank setup. I have a 20g, well planted tank. I have 2 females guppies there and 1 male. 1 large corry cat and now 2 small clown loaches. The first birth I had two weeks ago of about 8 fry and I haven't lost a single one. They have grown big time now in just two weeks and I think they're too fast and too big for the parents to eat them. I just had a second guppy give birth today to about 15-18 fry and they are doing great. I was feeding them freeze dried brine shrimp when I got back from work. I don't think I lost any.

If you're setup is good, ie lots of hiding places and plants, you don't have to do anything special. It seems I am doing great without trying too hard. From what I can see, the fry are pretty fast to begin with.

Falcon

 

[marks69]

i set up a 10 for fry, but i used to leave them in a net for about 2 weeks, then stick them back in the community tank.only fry i ever lost cause of it was when a platy was giving birth she grabbed a guppy fry and had a snack.
then next week i had 18 more fry, and now i have about60.

 

[Lazersniper]

I have a 10 gallon set up with nothing but the gravel, heater, air stone and a filter. My guppies have had now at least 2 sets of fry and as far as I can tell there are still as many as when they first dropped. Actually I count more in there now. The parents usually don't bother the fry unless they're right in front of their mouths, but as soon as the parents lunge forward the fry dart a diff. direction. I've never witnessed a succesful capture or anything more then the initial lunge. I've never seen the parents chase after the fry... they're too busy chasing after each other lol. This usually only happens when they are still very small, once you can actually see them w/o haveing to strain your eyes too much they don't get bothered. This has been my exp with them.

 

[Rometiklan]

I agree with lazersniper. Fry are most vulnerable during the first few moments after they are released by the female. After they orient themselves, they seek cover in the java moss (my livebearer set-ups always include a lot of java moss), then the parents generally leave the fry alone.

Unless I'm doing some selective breeding with the guppies, I usually leave the fry alone and let them fend for themselves.

 

[QCppg]

If you have a LOT of bushy plants the fry should be safe... When I first set up my amphibian tank (four newts, seven guppies, no plants) the guppies lasted exactly 18 hours. After I added plants and another half-dozen guppies I have had no problems (some are eaten, but not the large breeding stock) and have a number of second-generation fish now.