Gigrantor

Just meant in the sense of how well is it liked across the board? Will fish frenzy over it or will it just sit around for awhile? Is it worth the minor expense and hassle of preparing it? Has anyone had it cloud or foul water? Things like that.

Has anyone ever messed with repashy in great lengths here? I want to try it out, but haven't pulled the trigger on the entire process yet. Pros/Cons? Are those the nano pellets you're referring to? I've tried and liked them a lot. Doesn't seem to get the same feeding frenzy as the flakes, but sometimes that's desired because I have certain bottom feeders too!

I'm finding that my tanks, which are mostly full of guppies, prefer something that floats at the top a little longer. Vibrabites were in the last rotation of food and I feel like my fish aren't very interested in scavenging off the bottom since they sink so quickly. Also, I try my best to crumble the "larger" pellets into as much of a powder as I can for the fry and juveniles, but they only break down so much. I've just never seen my fish hit any food as hard as they hit Xtreme flakes. As for them putting on size much more quickly, I definitely agree the protein content and better ingredients are the causation! Just another reason to shop at the Co-Op even more... I have to keep reminding myself I don't always have to hit the free shipping 🙂

After keeping fish for a couple years on a larger scale, I've noticed a huge difference during the rotation of food. It seems like my guppies are more lively and get to a larger size on Xtreme krill flakes. I also feel like my tanks parameters don't foul as quickly. Has anyone else noticed this? Or with any other foods? It makes me want to try other foods to optimize!

I was trying to encourage my pennywort to grow up and out of the tank. Hence the extra grow light above the right side of the tank. I wanted the vine effect on the bench that holds the tank. Didn't know that the PSO would produce purple flowers though. That may move higher on the list than the vining, especially since that experiment is going poorly.

The crazy thing is this isn't even close to my most successful plant. I present you the monster Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus... There are two in this tank, however the majority is made up my one plant on the right side. All it took was being "planted" with some gravel and root tabs in a clay pot.

Thought I would share the growth progress of the first plant I ever purchased from Aquarium Coop. The little guy is about two years old and sending off multiple leave/flowers every few months. The first 6 months it didn’t do anything and I was convinced it wouldn’t ever grow. But look at it now! Don’t mind the dirty tank, was in the process of gravel vacuuming and water changing.

This will definitely be a good start. The plant may come in a little small, but it will grow to be good cover. With how many guppies you will produce, as ugly as it sounds, sometimes survival of the fittest isn't the worst. Yeah, my LFS asks for them around 3-4 months old so they have some good size and to maximize the amount of time the customer gets with their fish. Since you will be colony breeding like I do, you will find that selecting/netting is harder than it looks! I usually let the store owner know that there may be a couple that snuck in younger or older than what he was looking for, but I don't include those in my counts.

I wish mine would eat BHA or BBA. Not saying that others don't, but I think mine are spoiled from my heavy handed feeding tactics.

So about a year and a half ago I got into breeding guppies. I've learned a few tips and tricks from my mistakes, but the biggest thing is to have fun with it and go with the flow. If you're not having fun, you're much less likely to do the daily tasks necessary for something like guppy breeding. Don't overthink things. Guppies are one of the easiest fish I've kept both in terms of lifestyle and breeding. A couple of tips to make your life easier (Which you may or may not already know): - Getting guppies from someone locally is going to make your life easier because those fish have already been accustomed to your water supply. The only guppies I've had trouble with are ones that were shipped from a completely different part of the country. It is doable, but I think Cory/Dean were saying on a livestream that it takes around two generations for guppies to thrive in different water supplies. - Have a lot of cover. At first when I was colony breeding, I would do my daily checks and find that a female had dropped (birthed) only a handful of fry. Turns out that the liter was much bigger but the adult guppies in the tank were preying on the fry. This cover helps give the fry the best chance at maturing. - Get ready to have a lot of guppies. While it may seem like a slow process initially, your tanks will soon be overwhelmed by guppies. Have a plan as to where these guppies are going to be housed. If you are planning on selling guppies, talk to your LFS ahead of time of what they are willing to take. I've found it very useful to ask them what they need rather than are they willing to take this or that. You might find a guppy that the store can't seem to keep in stock and you enjoy breeding. Always happy to help answer any questions along the way!

My fancies don't bother the java fern, but it also isn't really in their space either. My buddy, who has a very similar setup to you with 4 HUUUGE fancies, has good luck with crypts. He carpets them selectively so they still have substrate to churn. Might be an option for you, but you would obviously have to add some more substrate to plant! Good luck!

I always think of what my grandma used to say. "If they're hungry, they'll eat." That was in reference to us not eating our supper, but I think the same applies to fish. Don't worry about it too much! Fish sometimes don't eat in the wild for days or weeks, so skipping a couple meals here or there isn't a big deal. However, if it goes on for an extended period of time and you see them losing mass, maybe look into running some meds to ensure they're healthy (especially with puffers). I've had fish be "picky" when I first get them and I assume that's because what I am feeding them is different that what the person before me was feeding them. Most take 3-4 days, but then are swarming the food with the rest of the fish.

Nice! Looks almost identical to one of my female koi swordtails. They're one of my favorite tanks, but also the most skiddish. I have to feed the tank and sit very still in the dark for them to show their true personality.

Do I spot a koi swordtail in that third picture? They are currently my only non guppy tank (close enough!). Love to watch them thrive and multiply. Sadly the colony is getting a little too big for the tank that I have, so I’ll need to sell some off soon.

I’d say a minimum of a couple weeks. Remember that there is also beneficial bacteria in the tanks environment to help out (Substrate, glass, ect). Between the two, it should give the sponge enough of a jump start.

For the most part, I am community breeding my guppies, so they remain in the same tank as the adults. These are all well established planted tanks and I don’t go out of my way to feed the fry separately. They find plenty of microorganisms to feed off of plus the scraps of whatever the adults don’t eat. If you have adults in your tank as well, you may have to feed a little extra to ensure the fry/juveniles get some. However if the fry are separated, minimize the amount and increase the frequency (As others have said already). Keep us updated!

My shrimp love to hang out and eat off of the sponge filter I have. I have a small Aquarium Co Op one in my 10 gallon shrimp tank and it seems to be plenty of filteration!

I completely agree with the quarantine of the incoming fish that the other are mentioning. An alternative to the cycling problem would be to make a post on a local fish group and ask others for some cycled media. That or I’ve seen people get it from LFS. Good luck!

I had a bristlenose with 5 pea puffers in a 20 gallon and they never seemed to bother each other. Granted they all started in the tank together at the same time and they were all juveniles, which seems to be the most effective judging by what other are saying! The size difference seemed seemed to be enough to deter any bullying. Along with them not competing for food ect ect.

I don’t think that should be an issue, bioload wise. Dean put it perfectly in one of the last livestreams: How much work do you want to do? You can keep an insane amount of fish in a smaller tank, but you may be changing water more often. Test the water frequently and it should be fine! The only part that I question is the beta. He may start getting aggressive as the tank becomes more stocked. Just something to keep an eye on. All of them have their own personalities, so you very well may be fine!

I wish my cats behaved like this. The most I’ll get is the older one taking a snooze in the office chair I have in the fish room. I’ve been tempted to buy a lazy boy for down there so I can do the same!

Yeah the pegboard is awesome. I should really thank the previous owner for installing it for me haha! Sounds like you have your hands full. I’d love to set up a proper breeding operation, but am limited on the number of tanks for now so I colony breed. When they get too full I sell to the LFS. Do you breed a lot of fish?

Thanks! Right now I’m in the delicate balancing act of not over feeding the tank to control the snail population. It seems like the algae wafers I put in immediately get mobbed by the snails (faster than they look). I don’t really have a problem with the ottos munching on the swords, just never heard of it. Wanted to make sure it wasn’t a nutrient deficiency with the plant.

I’m 99.9% sure that they’re all guppies because all of them I’ve put into the tank, I’ve seen reproduce. I’ve removed the old gals that don’t seem to be reproducing any longer, and put the victims in a hospital tank with some salt to prevent infection. Just keeping an eye on everything now!

I do have 2 or 3 females that have stopped reproducing recently and are easily the biggest in the tank. I will try relocating them to see if that helps!