How to save a few fry

[KaitieG]

I have a 95 gallon community tank with corys, guppies, swordtails dwarf chain loaches and a trio of angelfish for population control.  Well the population control is working a little too well.  I haven't seen a single livebearer fry since the angelfish moved in.  Not one.  I would really like to save a batch or two occasionally to repopulare the tank as needed. 

I have loads of plants, floating and otherwise, moss, rock piles, etc., but nothing seems to survive.  I know breeding boxes are super stressful for adult females.  I have an empty 5 gallon and a 20 gallon with small non aggressive fish.  Do I move some into other tanks?  Try a box? Other suggestions?

[Chad]

I would consider the empty 5 gallon as an option for when a female guppy looks ready to pop.  Move her in and take her out after she gives birth. I did that with a 3 gallon aquarium and it worked nicely. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I agree with @Chad, plus it will be easier to catch mom in that 5 gallon and easier for you to watch the babies! Non-aggressive fish aren't always...my Harlequins eat baby Otos if they see them. 

Edited November 19, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
1 more thing.

[Chad]

No kidding @xXInkedPhoenixX!? I wouldn’t have guessed that about Harlequins. I’m learning though that, as you said, peaceful fish aren’t always that way. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Yep @Chad the little brats would gobble them right off the glass given the opportunity. It irked me but I can't be too mad, it is nature being nature afterall. 

[Guppysnail]

I personally would pick the ones I like the personality and look of and want to breed and just let them in the 20 gallon. Moving pregnant females at all I found stressed them a lot. Non aggressive does not mean not hungry though but more fry would survive than with the angels though. It also would save you stress I think trying to catch and move moms to the 5. 

[Brandon p]

Angelfish are good Community fish as long as it’s not things like fry it will fit in their mouth. Then they are vicious. I put my live bears 10 gal to breed. Then I use a turkey baster to get the fry in to a one of deans ponds that was one tube.

[KaitieG]

On 11/18/2021 at 10:22 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I agree with @Chad, plus it will be easier to catch mom in that 5 gallon and easier for you to watch the babies! Non-aggressive fish aren't always...my Harlequins eat baby Otos if they see them. 

I've had guppies in the 20 before and was overrun with fry, so I'm pretty confident enough would make it there.  The thing I'm most worried about in that tank is that until about a year ago I had neons in there and 2 developed some disease I couldn't cure...white patches and slightly crooked bodies eventually.  They are still alive and the others look great but they live as neons and shrimp only in a 10 gallon now.  I've been concerned about the possibility of NTD, which I've heard can linger for a long time and affect angels.  I've had embers in the 20 for about 3 months with no issues, but I'd hate to spread anything around.

On 11/19/2021 at 6:25 AM, Brandon p said:

Angelfish are good Community fish as long as it’s not things like fry it will fit in their mouth. Then they are vicious. I put my live bears 10 gal to breed. Then I use a turkey baster to get the fry in to a one of deans ponds that was one tube.

Yeah that'd be a good option too...honey, I really need ANOTHER tank.

[KaitieG]

I knew what I was getting with the angels but really thought a FEW fry would make it with all the plants and rocks.  Wrong.

[KaitieG]

The other thing is that I'd eventually like to get a batch of fry from the Swordtails--they're sankes and super super cute as babies.  The guppies I could probably get by with as a trio in the 5 for a while or for sure in a 10.  The swords are SO MUCH bigger and more active though--thoughts on how to manage them? 

I have a couple pregnant females right now and a total group of 5 (one male with a sword, two unsure of sex (no swords but no gravid spots either) and two females).  I added them to the 95 as 3 month old fry, so I never planned on needing a tank to breed them in--figured they'd work about like the guppies.  I haven't seen any fry from them though at all--even pre-angelfish when the guppies were going mad.  They're about 10 months old at this point.  If I were to work on convincing certain other family members about adding a breeding tank (which I'm not totally sure I want to do) what size do I go with? 

[GameCzar]

Most colony breeders I see use guppy grass, hornwort, or some other dense floating plants.   Of course, guppy fry are tender and delicious so Angels will find a way.  

We've been splitting up the males and females  as soon as possible so we can control breeding a bit.

[KaitieG]

On 11/19/2021 at 7:14 AM, GameCzar said:

Most colony breeders I see use guppy grass, hornwort, or some other dense floating plants.   Of course, guppy fry are tender and delicious so Angels will find a way.  

We've been splitting up the males and females  as soon as possible so we can control breeding a bit.

Yes, I have guppy grass, hornwort, java moss, water lettuce with long dangly roots, Pogostemmon Stelatus Octopus, and other "fry hiding" plants...those angelfish are huge but determined hunters.  I have no idea how they get everywhere they do!

[gardenman]

The problem with livebearer fry is they get too bold too soon. I have lots (and I mean lots) of neon swordtails and they breed nonstop. Most fry get eaten but a few sneak by. There are several youngsters now in my ten-gallon tank that avoided early predation but are now out openly swimming around even though they're readily edible for a slightly larger fish than the swordtails. (I'm not sure the adult swordtails can't eat them. They're still pretty small.) An angelfish would gulp them down in a heartbeat.

I guess if you're a fish there's always something out there bigger than you that will eat you so you can't hide out forever. You've got to get out there and take your chances. In a tank with angelfish, your chances just aren't very good. I like to keep multiple breeding colonies of fish so if a tank crashes, I have replacements I can move in. Using the 20-gallon tank as a breeding colony would likely be your best option. Pick your preferred pairs and move them there and let them breed then once the fry get too big to be eaten, move some fry over to the bigger tank.  If you start getting too many fry you can move the parents back to the big tank with the angelfish.

[KaitieG]

I think I might play rearrange some tanks today and move the betta to the 5 gallon and pick either the swords or a few guppies (much easier to catch) to the 20 to raise out a batch of fry.  The guppies do fine with the betta, but I don't think he'd like the swordtails.