New Albino Guppy Fry! Help!

[genuine_red]

One of my Albino Blue Topaz guppy females delivered fry yesterday. I just received the breeding pairs on Dec 2. One of the females seemed to possibly be pregnant - or she was just wide. A couple of days ago I thought I saw some tiny glowing circles in her belly (albino eyes?), so I was keeping an eye on her. She still wasn't all that big, but she gave birth yesterday. 

I managed to save four fry that had dug themselves into the substrate. I could only find two fry that were lost to the parents. I had ordered guppy grass a month ago for fry to hide in, but it hasn't arrived yet because of current shipping delays. 

The gupplets are in their newly cycled tank and doing well so far.

In my research (which I stupidly did after ordering them), I learned that Albino Blue Topaz guppies specifically are more difficult to breed than regular black-eyed guppies. It seemed like the problem most often mentioned was the fry were more likely to be eaten by their parents. Does anyone know if that's the difficult part, or are they just more difficult to raise? If the latter, any advice on how to do it successfully?

Or is there a problem getting them to breed to begin with? Or maybe they don't breed true?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

Edited December 10, 2020 by genuine_red
Add to title, add photo of parent fish

[Andy's Fish Den]

Some guppy strains seem to be more likely to eat their fry than others, and myself and some others have noticed that any of the albinos are in that group. You won't have any problems getting them to breed again, they're guppies. Some suggestions would be make sure that there is plenty of cover for the fry to hide, if you notice and fry, remove them as soon as possible and put in a breeder box or separate tank to grow out until they are at least too large for the adults to munch on. another idea I saw Fishboy on YouTube do, he takes a female that is large and close to giving birth and puts in a breeder box or one of the nets that hangs in the tank, with  ton of plant clippings until she drops her fry and then takes her out and leaves fry in the box or net to grow. I am going to try this the next time I have guppies.

[genuine_red]

Thanks for the info, it's good to know what I'm up against. I should count myself lucky that I saved the four that I did. (They are all still doing well in their separate tank after five days on ACO fry food. I've purchased brine shrimp hatchery equipment and eggs, just waiting for delivery.) I have now added guppy grass to both the parent and fry tanks. Those tiny fry are not shy in the least and are fascinating to watch. 

In the research I did, some breeders warned against breeder boxes and nets, saying they cause stress for the pregnant female, but now that I know they're likely to eat the fry, I'll probably try one.

I had absolutely no trouble breeding and raising Black Moscows. If the parents ever ate any, I wouldn't have known since each batch was huge. I ended up giving that entire breeding project away because I couldn't keep up. They were absolutely gorgeous specimens. I kept four males for a display tank and now wish I'd kept more.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. 

[SpicyFin]

Albinos are genetically weaker which is the main reason they are considered more difficult. Best of luck to you!

[Old Fish Keeper]

This the thread that connected me to CARE.  Of course, this is two years later but I can confirm that albino guppies are more difficult.

I purchased a trio (1 male, 2 females) last month and had a bonus of one baby in the shipment.

Yesterday, one of the females was giving birth.  Although I have a patch of guppy grass, she got to them as quickly as they were born.  I didn't have a chance to catch the fry before they were gone.

Maybe they were premature but I plan to use a large net breeder box before the other female give birth.  My other guppies at least drop them in a patch of cover and give them a fighting chance!

Here a pic of what I am trying to raise:

 

 

[Minanora]

When it comes to the really tough strains that want to eat their babies, I learn their schedule by marking on my calendar when they gave birth. Then when she's about 3 days from dropping fry again I put them in a plastic breeder that has the part that the fry drop down to. Mine is a lee's. I hate using it but it works pretty well.

I try to mark my calendar for all of my females. Luckily I'm taking a break from breeding until late May.