Guppies refuse to stop guppying

[jamieterrin]

you mentioned having a hard time with drought. I don't know how your dealing with it, but we used to flush our toilets with tank change water and shower water to stretch our quota.

[KittenFishMom]

We are a level 24 feet from the lake shore. We can use lake water for flushing etc.  Surface ground water gets into the well when it rains, and we have to shock the well. We got a UV filter, but when the well water is cloudy, the UV doesn't work and we have to shock everything again. We have to test the water to know if it is clean. It is not easy to know when it is contaminated.

[Patrick_G]

I’d try Craigslist and facebook. When someone posts an add for free guppies on our local club’s Facebook page they’re usually taken immediately. 
 

[AquaHobbyist123]

When my guppies breed I just take them to my lfs, not sure if yours will accept them though. You could always get a larger fish and it might eat the fry.

[BeeD]

It's almost impossible to keep their population in check unless you are actively isolating pregnant females and raising the fry in separate tanks. If you do that, you can mostly manage to get male fry separated before they mature, but there are some sneaky ones. You can try separating males into another tank and lowering the temperature, but you will inevitably reach this point again.

So I guess I would say do nothing. Usually they will reach a point where the population stresses them. The female will delay egg development and become unavailable for breeding. Most will be more inclined to eat fry. The older generations will start to die, but the cycle will start over obviously.

Just a note. When I moved males in an effort to slow down a breeding tank, every female dropped fry. The population in that tank is massive. Like I said, they are damn near impossible to stop. 

As for fry predators, it helps a little. I had a 4 inch gold gourami who helped suppress, but fry are pretty shifty. He also seemed to prefer newly hatched snails, which he could fill up on easily.

Edited August 2, 2022 by BrettD
clarification

[sumplkrum]

There is no way to 'control' guppies. You either have tons of them, or you have none.

A larger fish will eat some, but if there's any cover in the tank they'll still propagate.

The only real way is to re-set the tank. No babies, no females, keep only the males.

 

It's sad, but it you have to euthanize some put them in a bowl of water in the freezer.
The cold puts them to sleep - which in my mind is better than being eaten alive.

[KittenFishMom]

I like planted tanks, so I will avoid guppies in the future.

[Flumpweesel]

I don't know how are coping I have nightmares about being in this situation.

I feel the only practical solution is cull I know how hard you have tried to get new homes and stop production. Evidently there is not much demand in your area.  And although it sounds harsh it's better than buying a predator you don't really want then having to keep breeding guppies just to feed it.

I would choose the best males and females in separate tanks. 

Maybe see if not feeding the tank at all will get the males to eat some of those tiny fry. But I think it's time to cull the rest. 

The females might still drop fry for a few weeks so be ready the smaller you get them the less harsh it will be.

If not you'll have to consider getting a Pike. Or put them outside and pray for heron that like tiny food.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Flumpweesel
Spelling

[KittenFishMom]

@Flumpweesel We put a cat down due to cancer in the fall, I was with Mom when she died. We put a cat down 10 days later due to a tumor, I have been loosing fish all spring and lost 2 cory this morning. culling is hard for me right now. I haven't ever picked up a fishing pole since Mom stopped eating much. There isn't much demand for guppies other than for turtle food.  I will rehome what I can and use the clove oil on the rest. Once the well is fixed, I might try a tank or 2 again, but not guppies.

[jamieterrin]

On 8/2/2022 at 12:35 PM, KittenFishMom said:

I like planted tanks, so I will avoid guppies in the future.

you don't find them a good match? i'm hoping todo exactly that...

sounds like your water situation is more complex then just drought, i don't see why the guppies won't like lake water?

On 8/2/2022 at 12:49 PM, KittenFishMom said:

but not guppies.

bumblebees 😄

[Flumpweesel]

Sorry for everything you have been though. Glad you were able to be with your Mum at her last.

I appreciate how hard things like this are and these tanks must be pushing you to breaking point. 

[KittenFishMom]

@jamieterrin My well is bad. The drought is keeping the folks the fix wells too busy to fix our well, because we do have water and others do not. guppies + plants = too many guppies to deal with. 

[BeeD]

On 8/2/2022 at 12:40 PM, Flumpweesel said:

I don't know how are coping I have nightmares about being in this situation.

I feel the only practical solution is cull I know how hard you have tried to get new homes and stop production. Evidently there is not much demand in your area.  And although it sounds harsh it's better than buying a predator you don't really want then having to keep breeding guppies just to feed it.

I would choose the best males and females in separate tanks. 

Maybe see if not feeding the tank at all will get the males to eat some of those tiny fry. But I think it's time to cull the rest. 

The females might still drop fry for a few weeks so be ready the smaller you get them the less harsh it will be.

If not you'll have to consider getting a Pike. Or put them outside and pray for heron that like tiny food.

Separating isn't easy either. I have a male 'cull' tank, a female 'cull' tank, and a 'desirables' tank. Problem is, the females in the female cull tank dropped fry immediately, and since it is a larger tank, it has been a nightmare finding juvenile males before they are old enough to have potentially bred. If I were checking it six times a day no problem. I can't.

 

[AquaHobbyist123]

Actually planning on a Guppy Breeding project with Purple Moscows. I should have no trouble getting rid of them, considering how ridiculously expensive they are. Hope you find something that works for you.

[Brandon p]

On 8/2/2022 at 10:56 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

@Brandon p would it be better to take the photos while they are in the water?  Doesn't it stress/harm them to have them out in the air?

It was no worst then netting them and waking a cross the room. I is not uncommon that fish are shown out of the water. I would not have been able to them without removing them from the water. They are breed in black tubs. I would have loved to show them in the water because they look so much better. It’s not an uncommon practice.

[FLFishChik]

So after reading through all these posts, I am now terrified to have any guppy! I have this mental picture of someone buying 3 little guppy to add to a 55 gallon tank.. and in 6 months... they have 6,000 guppies! 🤣. For me, it would be a nightmare.. not larger fish to naturally cull them... no LFS to take them to and no friends that keep fish tanks... So... NO on the Guppy!

[Brandon p]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea the other reason that pictures are taken of the fish out of water is color washes out when they get in other water of just caught and moved in a specimen container here is the difference the yellow fish is the same 

[lefty o]

On 8/2/2022 at 2:15 PM, Brandon p said:

It was no worst then netting them and waking a cross the room. I is not uncommon that fish are shown out of the water. I would not have been able to them without removing them from the water. They are breed in black tubs. I would have loved to show them in the water because they look so much better. It’s not an uncommon practice.

you need one of them ultra fancy co-op specimen containers. not just a pitch, i have 1 and it is nice.

On 8/2/2022 at 2:41 PM, FLFishChik said:

So after reading through all these posts, I am now terrified to have any guppy! I have this mental picture of someone buying 3 little guppy to add to a 55 gallon tank.. and in 6 months... they have 6,000 guppies! 🤣. For me, it would be a nightmare.. not larger fish to naturally cull them... no LFS to take them to and no friends that keep fish tanks... So... NO on the Guppy!

if you still want guppies, but not tons of little guppies, buy males only. then you get the pretty fish with no babies.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/2/2022 at 3:41 PM, FLFishChik said:

So after reading through all these posts, I am now terrified to have any guppy! I have this mental picture of someone buying 3 little guppy to add to a 55 gallon tank.. and in 6 months... they have 6,000 guppies! 🤣. For me, it would be a nightmare.. not larger fish to naturally cull them... no LFS to take them to and no friends that keep fish tanks... So... NO on the Guppy!

Hahaha right? I heard they are like bunnies. If you want them just get males only.

[KittenFishMom]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea This doesn't always work. A friend bought 4 male hamster in 4 separate cages for his 4 kids. Within a week each male gave birth to a good size litter of hamsters. The kids were thrilled, the poor Dad, not so much. 

[jamieterrin]

On 8/2/2022 at 1:05 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@jamieterrin My well is bad. The drought is keeping the folks the fix wells too busy to fix our well, because we do have water and others do not. guppies + plants = too many guppies to deal with. 

dam its all at once! and so compex! if it helps its also kinda tough here in mexico, why do the starts send us such tests?

[KittenFishMom]

@jamieterrin They don't send us the tests. We have to go to the lab and get the bottles, carefully follow the instruction, run the water at lease 5 minutes, collect the water in the test bottle and carefully cap the bottle without letting the threads or cap touch anything. Then we have to ice the bottle and drive it to the lab within and before a certain time, (say within 2 hours of collecting, and before 2:30pm) but never on Friday or a holiday. Then pay the money and wait for them to call with the results.  That is after shocking the well and waiting and then running all the chlorine out and testing for chlorine for a few more days, before getting the test bottles. 

It gets old after awhile.

[Nanci B]

I am so sorry for your guppy experiment went bad. You probably already thought of this, but do you have a local aquarium club? Maybe the other members could help you out with your guppy problem. If not, I would place a free ad on the classified pages. Sometimes if people read: FREE, they will come get every last one. 
 

 

[KittenFishMom]

The fish club meets more than an hour away, once a month. The person I spoke with offered to feed them to his turtles. otherwise they need to be bagged and labels and brought to the monthly meeting and I have to wait until the end in case any are left that I must take home. I got the feeling the club is more into pure bred fish than colorful mutt guppies. The LFS is 30 minutes away and will except donations of a max of 20 fish a week. We are centrally isolated in Central NY, on Owasco Lake.

We are so exhausted, we really don't feel like waiting around for no shows and having strangers tromp though our cottage checking our belongings out. Maybe in a month or so, but not right now.   

I am pretty sure I will want to rehome all the guppies and not get them again, so I think I will need to send all the plants where the fry might hide away with the guppies. 

[PineSong]

On 8/2/2022 at 2:42 PM, BrettD said:

If I were checking it six times a day no problem. I can't.

 

Exactly. I’m sure it’s much easier to separate fry if they are in a bare bottom tank with no plants and especially if you are raising a kind of guppy where the boys are easy to tell from the girls at a young age. Unfortunately for me, that is not the kind of guppy that I started with as males and females are the same yellow color until the males start to develop their spots more fully around four months of age, by which time 2-3 days of being too busy to check 50 fry means that a “stealth male” can develop without being seen and then I have teen moms producing tiny fry four weeks later. It also seems to be true in my tank that fry that are more likely to be male spend a lot more time at the bottom of the tank behind the filter in the plants than the other fry so they are even more likely to be missed! I admire their survival as a species but there’s no way I can keep up!