Guppies

[CagneyDog]

Okay, so my friend is moving and can't take her fish tank so I guess I'm taking it over. There is 11 guppies in it - 3 females.(Yes, the tank is too small for that amount but I'm working on a upgrade). My question is, I know the females constantly get pregnant. So I'm going to try to actually save some of the babies. So they are all pregnent right now (Or so I've been told), I heard that you should take the rocks out of their tank? Should I do that? As soon as I see the little fish can I put them in a seperate tank? Is it just the mother that eats them or will all the fish be after them? *Sigh* this is more work than I let on.

[jackie]

That is a horrible ratio. You should 1 male to every 3 females, otherwise the males pester them literally TO DEATH trying to mate.

What is your tank size? I think you should take some of them to you LFS and try to exchange them.

[CagneyDog]

Really? Yikes, I'm kind of upset I got dumped with this and I need to pay to get everything "fixed" again. It's tiny, 1.7 gallons. I have a 10 gallon tank that I may be able to clean out so it's suitable. I haven't noticed the males pestering the females yet? Do you know anything about the rocks? I don't think I can trade them in and I obviously cannot have 30ish fish but would adding say, 5 more females be better once I get a new tank?

[CagneyDog]

Oh, and the other problem is, I don't have a filter for the 10 gallon; I only have the filter for the tiny tank. It is a really small filter, if I put it in the 10 galloon do I run the risk of killing the fish because it's not meant for a big tank?

[IRescue452]

I'd just take the females back and use the 10 gallon for an all male tank personally. As long as the filter has a good sized sponge it shoud cycle a tank with that low of a bioload. I have two guppy tanks with small box filters that are cycled, and a box filter is about as little filtration you can get.I've never heard of taking the rocks out. The more hiding places the better. The mother will turn around and eat the babies as well as every other fish in there will.

[bckrazy]

How is everything going, Cagney?

I cannot fathom your friend setting up 11 guppies in a 1-2 gallon tank! OMGahhhh that's horrible. I don't even consider it ideal for one little Betta, much less 11 guppies! I hope you've switched them to the 10 gallon. Even without a filter, it's 1000% better. You can get a Whisper internal or power filter (from Petsmart) for a 10g for around $10. Just make sure you do frequent (at least once weekly, at least 50%) water changes and keep an eye on the water stats. I agree, if you're going to keep all 8 male Guppies, keep only males in the 10g and get a suitable tank for the 3 preggy girls. I totally recommend getting them a big (5-10g) tupperware with a corner filter to birth in. To save some of the babies, you'll need to get breeding traps. Female guppies do well living alone, or just get a 5-10g to keep the females seperate from the males. That is way too many boys for 3 girls, and they should just be kept away from each other unless you're willing to swap 5 of the boys at a LFS in exchange for females.

[CagneyDog]

She started out with 3 guppies and gradually "rescued" the remainder. She isn't responsible, actually the only reason I offered to take the fish was because her and her parents had decided to flush them down the toilet. So they will survive withouth a filter? I have the 10 set up however I was scared to switch them because one of the tanks would have no filter. I've watched them very closely and so far the males have no been harassing the females at all. Perhaps because they are already pregnant? I'm not going to worry about saving the babies, I'm already in over my head and I don't want to add anymore yet.