General Care Discussion :: HELP WITH GUPPIES BEING FED TO RES

[vic021]

ok so i have been mating my guppies and getting fry ive gotten about 25 fry to stay alive but i could have more and its because idk what to feed them so if y'all know what to feed fry plz tell me thanks

[sx2r]

When I had guppies as a kid we didn't feed the babys anything special, in fact we left the babys in the tank with the parents and just fed them normal fish food.

[Spike 7.62]

Fish flakes. Crush them up in your fingers to make them smaller.

-Spike

[imderanged]

What Spike said. Crush the flakes to make them tiny. If you really wanna get fancy get some frozen BABY brine shrimp too.

[vic021]

ok ikk try the baby brine shrimp cuz the flakes aren't working and sx leaving them with parents isnt good ur suppose to separate them cuz they get eaten by parents i use to leave them and only got maybe lik 5-7 alive that grew up now im getting like the whole batch 20-25 just some die cuz i cant feed them that well

[sx2r]

yeah i know that.. we didnt try for babys so we didnt seperate them.. but we had lots of plants in there so they lived.. actually my brother accidently turned the temp up too high and killed all the fish but the baby guppies.

[vic021]

o dam that sucks...yea im trying to get babys at first i only bought 6 fish 2 males 4 females and now i have about 25 guppies had alot more but some where fed to the turtles and others where sold

[BiteyBits]

Hiya! I used to breed guppies for about a year- the fry are crazy fragile and a lot of them will die or vanish and sometimes turn up later, depending on their opportunities to hide. So if some of them die that's normal, it will always happen. It's virtually impossible to get all of them to adulthood. There's disease, defects, bullying, injury . . . . filters, corners, getting themselves crammed into itty bitty spaces. Aliens for all we know, little abductions

If you're using a flake food grind it to a fine powder- as fine as you possibly can, like Spike said.

What sort of setup do you have for the fry?

[vic021]

i have the fry in the same tank as the adult fish but i have them in a breeder container the 1 that u use for injured fish...they seem to be doing fine but alot die off any pointers u can give me to help me make some live

[BiteyBits]

ah, in my experience breeder containers don't have enough water flow. They can get a higher waste concentration and less oxygen than the rest of the tank. consider a diy tank divider with holes big enough for fry but not adults, so they have a 'safe' side of the tank. i'll post more about the divider if you want. i'm connected thriugh my phone now. i also see more aggression, maybe they feel exposed/cramped? i dunno. but i always had better success the more room i could give them

[vic021]

ok yes plz post more about the divider if u can...and the one i got its by the current flow so theres enough current in the thing u can see the fry playing with it by swimming against it for fun

[BiteyBits]

Ok. Well, if your fry are in good continuous current make sure they have somewhere to hide and sleep. They can exhaust themselves swimming continuously if they don't have 'still areas' to rest in.

Making a fry divider:
Plastic mesh- Can be found at a craft store or craft department in paper sized rectangles. It's flexible but not floppy, and there are a few sizes- get one that looks like the holes are big enough for fry to swim through but not bigger guppies. You may also find a mesh fine enough at a garden supply store, but you might end up having to buy a whole roll.

Slide dividers- Go to a office supply store or department, look for presentation covers- you're really looking for the binding but most come in packs with plastic sheets. You want a straight slide binding that looks like this

http://www.gmstationery.com.au/images/S ... inders.jpg

I don't know how to put in links, but this should lead to a picture they're hard to describe.

Cut the plastic mesh to the size of the tank, place binders on each side. This keeps it straight and allows you to anchor it better, and helps keep fish from sneaking through at the sides. If you have substrate, bury the bottom in the substrate and maybe place decorations or suction cups at the sides to help it stay in place. You should be able to make it snug, but if you have a strong current it might fall over. If you want to make it permanent you can use aquarium glue on the binders.

Make sure that you have plenty of places for the fry to hide on the side you want them to stay on. They will be able to pass through, but it keeps the adults contained. Also the mesh design allows for excellent water flow through the divider so both sides of the tank can stay healthy.

Good luck!