too many guppies

[KittenFishMom]

I have been caring for my tanks part time while caring for Mom more than full time. Adding lots of plants have helped the tanks,  but all the guppies are having guppies. I have way too many.

I called the LFS to get details about giving them guppies. They are an hour away and will only take 20 guppies a week at the most, as a donation. 

I have guppies having guppies in all 5 of my tanks.  I had thought I could sort them somewhat in an afternoon and take most of them to the LFS.  But that isn't going to work.  I guess I could buy a fish to turn the guppies into live food, but I like the little guys and don't really want to watched them get munched on.  Right now, the tanks need the plants. and the guppies fry are hiding in the plants.

I could set up a "pond" in a wadding pool for the summer, but have no place for them in the fall. 

Any great ideas out there? I don't have time or interest in trying to sell them.

KittenFishMom in the East Finger Lakes in NY state. 

[Flumpweesel]

Split the males and females and at least stop the population explosion continuing.

[sumplkrum]

Making more guppies is a Guppy's super power.

Females that breed can store enough sperm to have eight more batches of young. Separating males from females can work eventually, but it's a long-term goal - not an immediate solution.

You can add more tanks, ponds, even a swimming pool. Eventually they'll fill that up and you''ll have that many more guppies.

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If it's not a serious problem, you can just let the population fill up the tanks. Eventually new babies won't survive there any more.
Keep an eye on your water parameters. As the tanks get crowded, you might have to do water changes more often.

Eventually, you should reach an equalibrium where there are so many adults that new fry just get eaten.

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The other option is population control. Putting the time into separating the fish by sex and controlling breeding.

Start by moving the adult females to one tank, the adult males to another tank, and the babies to the remaining tanks by size.

1. Keep selling what you can.

2. If the adult females have babies, move the babies into the baby tanks.

3. As the babies get larger, separate them by sex into the adult tanks.

Keep following the above until you have more control over the population. Then it's your choice how you want to set up males and females to interact.

Edited May 4, 2022 by sumplkrum

[KittenFishMom]

Mom entered Hospice today.

At some point I will have time for frequent water changes, finding glasses that enable me to sort guppies by sex with my cataracts, and find someone who will take most or all of the guppies.  Until then, I will add more plants, feed lightly and spend as much time and energy as I can with Mom.  I didn't know Mom would get this sick, this fast when I got the guppies in January. Mom has been very ill for 9 weeks. Some things are just hard to plan for.

One of Mom's care givers is taking the goldfish and some guppies which is a big help.  The bettas died. I will soon be down to 2 corys, a handful of neon tetras, and way too many healthy guppies. 

Thanks to everyone who has been helping me find a way to keep my tanks going through all of this. I never could have done it with out the CARE forum!!!

[PineSong]

@KittenFishMom, I am sorry to hear that about your mom and I hope that hospice will be a comfort to her and to you. Of course there was no way you could have known this was coming, and you can only do what you can do.

It's easy to end up with too many guppies; I'm in the same situation even though I do have time to sort them. Plants and light feedings sound like a good strategy for now. 

[Torrey]

@KittenFishMom I am so sorry to hear your mom is in this stage. A year ago, we were in a similar situation.

I hope you have a hospice crew as wonderful as we were blessed with, and that you and your mom are able to enjoy this time together despite everything.

It's easy to end up with too many guppies, they are very prolific once they get going.

[Ben Ellison]

@KittenFishMom maybe look into aquabid and do a large batch auction? I don't know if you can get enough to make it worth your time there or not.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Ben Ellison

[JettsPapa]

On 5/4/2022 at 8:22 PM, KittenFishMom said:

Mom entered Hospice today.

At some point I will have time for frequent water changes, finding glasses that enable me to sort guppies by sex with my cataracts, and find someone who will take most or all of the guppies.  Until then, I will add more plants, feed lightly and spend as much time and energy as I can with Mom.  I didn't know Mom would get this sick, this fast when I got the guppies in January. Mom has been very ill for 9 weeks. Some things are just hard to plan for.

One of Mom's care givers is taking the goldfish and some guppies which is a big help.  The bettas died. I will soon be down to 2 corys, a handful of neon tetras, and way too many healthy guppies. 

Thanks to everyone who has been helping me find a way to keep my tanks going through all of this. I never could have done it with out the CARE forum!!!

I'm sorry to hear about your mother.  Hospice was a great help when my father-in-law was failing, and I'm sure they will be for you also.

[Minanora]

@KittenFishMom I hope you are doing alright. You're in my thoughts.

Guppy population control is not easy. Feeding light will help. Dropping the temperature will lengthen the time between broods but if you're not home I would only go as low as 74. It'll slow the babies growth as well.

Aside from that, sadly without time to dedicate the best control is a fish that will eat the fry, open top outdoor tub, or a turtle tank. Or just let them colony breed as they are and change water at least once a week.

[JettsPapa]

On 5/17/2022 at 8:43 AM, Minanora said:

@KittenFishMom I hope you are doing alright. You're in my thoughts.

Guppy population control is not easy. Feeding light will help. Dropping the temperature will lengthen the time between broods but if you're not home I would only go as low as 74. It'll slow the babies growth as well.

Aside from that, sadly without time to dedicate the best control is a fish that will eat the fry, open top outdoor tub, or a turtle tank. Or just let them colony breed as they are and change water at least once a week.

I'm curious.  Why do you recommend not letting the temperature go below 74?  I've only been keeping guppies for a little over a year, but they did fine for me last winter with no heaters in the tank, and the heat in my house set to 68 during the day and 60 at night.

[Torrey]

On 5/17/2022 at 8:41 AM, JettsPapa said:

I'm curious.  Why do you recommend not letting the temperature go below 74?  I've only been keeping guppies for a little over a year, but they did fine for me last winter with no heaters in the tank, and the heat in my house set to 68 during the day and 60 at night.

A lot of guppies get sick at the lower temps, especially if it is too rapid a drop. Our house stays at 68 F year round, and our porch goes as high as 92 F in the summer (water hits upper 80's) and below freezing over the winter (ice on pond if I don't break it down), and the temperature changes have made my guppies and endlers much sturdier. The delicate flowers simply don't survive.

However, I have a massive clean up crew (similar to Cory) so I don't get ammonia spikes. The snails and plants take care of it. If I am gone for 2 weeks, nobody comes and feeds my fish, they graze on microfauna and microflora.

Most guppies aren't tolerant of the extremes of living with me, and I am positive the endler genetics have increased their resilience.

[Flumpweesel]

@KittenFishMom sorry to hear about your mum, do allow the hospice to take the pressure off you a little so you can spend this precious time together. Don't forget how to smile or laugh no matter how hard things feel it will help you both. Take care.

[cavdad45]

Cut back on the feedings and remove some of the plants, that will trigger get the parents to eat more of the fry

[KittenFishMom]

@Flumpweesel Thank you so much. It is times like this I wish we were in the UK. Hospice provides an aide 2 or 3 hours a week. We have to hire all the caregivers and pay them out of pocket. I have become very familiar with the 168 hours in a 24*7 week. We feel lucky if we can get 90 or 100 hours covered. The rest of the time it is just my husband and me caring for her.  She can no longer stand without someone holding her.  We will keep her in her home, but it is not easy, even with Hospice to advise us.

@cavdad45  Only one of us can get to the cottage where my tanks are 2 or 3 times a week. I added a lot of plants to deal with the nitrogen because we did not have time for water changes. The fry used the plants to hide, now there are way too many guppies. I asked the volunteer coordinator at Hospice to ask the volunteers to see if they know anyone who wants guppies.  I ask her not to tell me if they would be used as live food. Last week I netted a lot of guppies for one of the care givers. (I gave her the tank and filter etc a few weeks ago to start a cycle) only a week later, that tank seems full again.  If I take the plants out, and don't do water changes, the ecosystems will collapse. They might collapse anyway, but I am hoping only one tank at a time will go belly up.

At All : Mom is staying cheerful and thankful for the time we have together. We hung bird feeders and hanging baskets of flower outside the window at the foot of her bed. The bed is parallel to and about a foot away, from the sofa we sleep on while there overnight. We try to stay within arms reach for her.  She has known 3 of the 4 care givers in the past. One was a 4th grade student of hers, one waited tables at a favorite restaurant, and one worked at a greenhouse she liked. She taught the younger siblings of the care giver we are interviewing tomorrow.  

I stopped at the cottage today. There are mushrooms growing out of the floating driftwood. That is a first for me. I will try to get photos next time.

 

 

[Minanora]

On 5/17/2022 at 7:41 AM, JettsPapa said:

I'm curious.  Why do you recommend not letting the temperature go below 74?  I've only been keeping guppies for a little over a year, but they did fine for me last winter with no heaters in the tank, and the heat in my house set to 68 during the day and 60 at night.

Guppies can, and used to be, very much more hardy. It can be roulette though. I would say go lower if you can observe your fish. I'm not saying to not go lower but depending on what temp they're kept at, 74 is a safe number to slow down their reproduction, at least a bit. The cooler they can go, the better for slowing broods but like @Torrey mentioned they can be fragile if they aren't accustomed to lower temps and will likely get sick.

I did assume that she keeps her tanks warmer. So honestly my number isn't entirely accurate. Dropping temp would be relative to whatever the usual tank temp is. 5 degrees has always worked for me to sway brood production. I've gone lower but only when I can monitor them. I wouldn't risk it if I wasn't home every day.

[Minanora]

I have noted that all of my females kept at 74 have fry every 31-36 days vs every 21-26 days days at 79.

I'm a crazy fish mom....

[Torrey]

@KittenFishMom I think y'all are doing phenomenal. Try reaching out to your states elder and disability care, we were also told insurance only paid a max of 10 hours a week for hospice, but a little digging got us 48 hours straight of respite care up to 2x a month. Apparently, coverage varies by state.... so if you need more help it's worth reaching out and asking. We also learned Medicaid covers up to 60 hours a week of in home health care (with a doctor's prior auth, Medicaid will cover 24/7 in home care). If income is low enough, and if you are in a state that utilized the federal funding for expanded Medicaid, that's worth exploring as well. Again, varies by state.

I'm glad you and your mom are getting this chance to enjoy each other's company and relive positive memories. It's the best gift and is absolutely priceless.