Need something to eat fry

"Ali Day" wrote in message
...

"Mean_Chlorine" wrote in message
...
Thusly "Ali Day" Spake Unto All:

My wife wanted a couple of guppies in the tank and even though my tank is
at
the edge of their recommended environment, they are now breeding like
crazy
and another few weeks of this and my tank will be over run.

You don't really need anything to eat fry, the population will reach a
steady-state at the carrying capacity of the tank.
That said, if you still want something... Angelfish would be my first
choice. They're not effective enough to wipe out the guppies, but will
decimate them.

I want to leave plenty of space in the tank for future additions, in the
last week alone I've seen about 20 - 30 more new fry from just three
females, with 10 'adolescent' guppies in there already, it's going to
become mayhem if I stop them soon,

Other possibilities would be e.g. cardinal tetras or dwarf cichlids.

I have a pair of Rams in my tank and as curious as they are, aren't even
going near the fry, but Cardinals would work well in my community, will
pick some up this evening and give it a try.

Thanks

A


Another option is a Betta. You should also stop feeding for several days
for the hunt to be worthwhile for the predators.

I find that letting the tank reach population equilibrium is a little
tricky. There are many constraints which act to influence their rate or
reproduction as they approach over-population pressure, and an aquarium is a
difficult environment to safely maintain at that point. If you are running
a single filter system for example, filter maintenance is more likely to
cause a mini-cycle than would happen in a normally loaded tank. For
overstocked tanks, I usually keep to one species, run multiple filters, feed
more and sometimes use airstones, however doing all these things allows the
population to increase to a higher threshold, so you see the conundrum.
They consume any increases in your operating margins ;~). It's better to
throttle them back earlier, such as limiting their food supply, but not
everyone is capable of doing this.
--
www.NetMax.tk

NetMax wrote:
"Ali Day" wrote in message
...

"Mean_Chlorine" wrote in message
...
Thusly "Ali Day" Spake Unto All:

My wife wanted a couple of guppies in the tank and even though my tank is
at
the edge of their recommended environment, they are now breeding like
crazy
and another few weeks of this and my tank will be over run.

You don't really need anything to eat fry, the population will reach a
steady-state at the carrying capacity of the tank.
That said, if you still want something... Angelfish would be my first
choice. They're not effective enough to wipe out the guppies, but will
decimate them.

I want to leave plenty of space in the tank for future additions, in the
last week alone I've seen about 20 - 30 more new fry from just three
females, with 10 'adolescent' guppies in there already, it's going to
become mayhem if I stop them soon,

Other possibilities would be e.g. cardinal tetras or dwarf cichlids.

I have a pair of Rams in my tank and as curious as they are, aren't even
going near the fry, but Cardinals would work well in my community, will
pick some up this evening and give it a try.

Thanks

A


Another option is a Betta. You should also stop feeding for several days
for the hunt to be worthwhile for the predators.

I find that letting the tank reach population equilibrium is a little
tricky. There are many constraints which act to influence their rate or
reproduction as they approach over-population pressure, and an aquarium is a
difficult environment to safely maintain at that point. If you are running
a single filter system for example, filter maintenance is more likely to
cause a mini-cycle than would happen in a normally loaded tank. For
overstocked tanks, I usually keep to one species, run multiple filters, feed
more and sometimes use airstones, however doing all these things allows the
population to increase to a higher threshold, so you see the conundrum.
They consume any increases in your operating margins ;~). It's better to
throttle them back earlier, such as limiting their food supply, but not
everyone is capable of doing this.
--
www.NetMax.tk

Of course being The Betta lady, lol...I'd go with the Betta. Either a
male or female,doesn't matter as both are equally good hunters.
You'll never..I mean never have a population problem with a Betta in
the tank. = )
Just make sure those Neons aren't tiny enough to fit into it's mouth or
they'll be snacks too.
If you were thinking of Angelfish, I'd say no unless it was no larger
than a quarter ($.25 not sure of you're in America or not), and that
doesn't include fins...just their body size.
Angels can open their mouths larger than you'd think. It's generally
not recommended to house them with Neons or Cardinals as they get
eaten. However, if bought young, and introduced into a tank that
already has *fully grown* Neons (or Cardinals), they learn these are
tank mates, not food. After that all new Neons would have to be fully
grown, and any new Angels would have to be quarter body size or less as
well.