Got my Guppies

[Carl Collins]

Got 2 male guppies and 3 females and the buggers are at it already ;-)

How many fry should I be expecting from 1 female does anyone know round
abouts?

I have pulled some of the plastic plants out to let them float which I hear
should give them a better chance of survival..

I have 2 red finned sharks in the tank with a 4" Pl*co and some swordtails
will everything be ok concerning the fry I mean the Pl*co shouldn't give
them much trouble cuz he never comes out of hiding but it's the sharks that
are worrying me

Should I put a piece of glass down the middle of the tank or something to
keep the guppies seperate??

[NetMax]

"Carl Collins" > wrote in message
...
> Got 2 male guppies and 3 females and the buggers are at it already ;-)
>
> How many fry should I be expecting from 1 female does anyone know round
> abouts?

Depends on the size of the females, but 20 to 30 every month would not be
unreasonable to expect.

> I have pulled some of the plastic plants out to let them float which I
hear
> should give them a better chance of survival..

AFAIK, they typically start dropping them near the surface early in the
morning, but then might move around the tank as the day progresses.

> I have 2 red finned sharks in the tank with a 4" Pl*co and some
swordtails
> will everything be ok concerning the fry I mean the Pl*co shouldn't
give
> them much trouble cuz he never comes out of hiding but it's the sharks
that
> are worrying me

Swordtails do excellent Guppy crowd-control.

> Should I put a piece of glass down the middle of the tank or something
to
> keep the guppies seperate??

If you do that, how will the Swordtails eat the fry ? ;~)

They make tank dividers which do not scratch your tank's glass, and are
perforated to allow water to pass through (for filtration). There are
also a variety of breeding traps for livebearers. My favourite is the 2
chamber Penn Plax which uses an external airpump to pull the fry into a
separate chamber.

NetMax

[Carl Collins]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Carl Collins" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Got 2 male guppies and 3 females and the buggers are at it already ;-)
> >
> > How many fry should I be expecting from 1 female does anyone know round
> > abouts?
>
> Depends on the size of the females, but 20 to 30 every month would not be
> unreasonable to expect.
>


> > I have pulled some of the plastic plants out to let them float which I
> hear
> > should give them a better chance of survival..
>
> AFAIK, they typically start dropping them near the surface early in the
> morning, but then might move around the tank as the day progresses.
>
> > I have 2 red finned sharks in the tank with a 4" Pl*co and some
> swordtails
> > will everything be ok concerning the fry I mean the Pl*co shouldn't
> give
> > them much trouble cuz he never comes out of hiding but it's the sharks
> that
> > are worrying me
>
> Swordtails do excellent Guppy crowd-control.

I don't want crowd control :-(
I want lots of colurful guppies swimming round...
I will have to keep my swordtails away then rather than the sharks then??
Does anyone know of a homemade erm baby guppy help to survive thingy like a
seperator so they can survive form the hungry mouths of my swordtails??

[Keng]

I wouldnt worry about the fry too much. I had 2 guppies which became
one. The female that was left behind kept producing babies long after
the male was gone. I guess she stored the 'good stuff' for a rainy
day. I finally ended up putting her in a bucket of water...and
now...many moons later, there are about 30-40 of them in the bucket. I
noticed that feeding the fish regularly and keeping the water fresh =
more guppies.

Good luck.

[NetMax]

"Carl Collins" > wrote in message
...
>
> "NetMax" > wrote in message
> .. .
> >
> > "Carl Collins" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Got 2 male guppies and 3 females and the buggers are at it already
;-)
> > >
> > > How many fry should I be expecting from 1 female does anyone know
round
> > > abouts?
> >
> > Depends on the size of the females, but 20 to 30 every month would
not be
> > unreasonable to expect.
> >
>
>
> > > I have pulled some of the plastic plants out to let them float
which I
> > hear
> > > should give them a better chance of survival..
> >
> > AFAIK, they typically start dropping them near the surface early in
the
> > morning, but then might move around the tank as the day progresses.
> >
> > > I have 2 red finned sharks in the tank with a 4" Pl*co and some
> > swordtails
> > > will everything be ok concerning the fry I mean the Pl*co shouldn't
> > give
> > > them much trouble cuz he never comes out of hiding but it's the
sharks
> > that
> > > are worrying me
> >
> > Swordtails do excellent Guppy crowd-control.
>
> I don't want crowd control :-(
> I want lots of colurful guppies swimming round...
> I will have to keep my swordtails away then rather than the sharks
then??
> Does anyone know of a homemade erm baby guppy help to survive thingy
like a
> seperator so they can survive form the hungry mouths of my swordtails??

I'm not sure how effective RT sharks are at 'crowd-control'. Swordtails
also eat their own fry, and Guppy fry are smaller than Swordtail fry,
ergo - their effectiveness at eating Guppy fry will be higher. Another
strategy is to use lots of plants and feed them well. Almost always,
statistically, some will invariably survive.

NetMax

[Surgicalrn]

in article , NetMax at
wrote on 10/17/03 5:23 PM:

> some will invariably survive
And usually these are the strong and healthy ones... survival of the
fittest!

[Robert Flory]

I always found a large mass of java moss offered my guppy fry a place to
hide.

Bob
"Carl Collins" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> I don't want crowd control :-(
> I want lots of colurful guppies swimming round...
> I will have to keep my swordtails away then rather than the sharks then??
> Does anyone know of a homemade erm baby guppy help to survive thingy like
a
> seperator so they can survive form the hungry mouths of my swordtails??
>

[^*^ Vosklady ^*^]

"Keng" > wrote in message
om...
> I wouldnt worry about the fry too much. I had 2 guppies which became
> one. The female that was left behind kept producing babies long after
> the male was gone. I guess she stored the 'good stuff' for a rainy
> day. I finally ended up putting her in a bucket of water...and
> now...many moons later, there are about 30-40 of them in the bucket. I
> noticed that feeding the fish regularly and keeping the water fresh =
> more guppies.
>
> Good luck.

Livebearer females can store sperm for quite some time (up to six months the
last I heard). One successful mating can produce several batches of fry.
This is to assure the survival of the species. I've also heard that if there
are only females around for long periods of time, one or more of the females
will develop into males to assure the species continues . . . I forget
offhand where I read this, but was rather surprised when I did.

^*^ Vosklady ^*^

[Surgicalrn]

in article , Robert Flory at
wrote on 10/19/03 4:57 PM:

> I always found a large mass of java moss offered my guppy fry a place to
> hide.
Or a mass of hornwort floating in the corner... that's been my guppy, molly,
platy fry hatchery for awhile now.