guppy separation--fry, breeders, etc.

[Brandy]

I am about to have a population explosion! I have 4 females that look like they will burst any second. I am amazed they have lasted this long. I would put the females in a breeder box, but I don't have that many boxes, and they all look equally ginormous. The males are being such pests ("snack dispenser? No? Ok, mate? Hello?") that I am seriously considering boxing THEM just to give the girls a rest. 

I am as bad as a pacing anxious spouse, lol. 

I really, really, really want to build something fabulous like this:

@green____water Instagram post (photo) 20L Albino Koi Guppy autosorter and grow out. . . (2 of 3. view entire collage on my page) . . Using a @swisstropicals Hamburg matten filter as a divider, the lift tube is obscured inside a fake rock by @universal.rocks surrounded by large, loose gravel and several varieties of anubias. . This creates an attractive place for the females to give birth. As the fry hide from the adults in the rocks, the lift tube (surrounded by plastic canvas to prevent the adults from entering) will transport them to the nursery/grow out. . A green, peaceful wonderland. Safe from predation. Surrounded by Java moss and ferns, buce, anubias, süßwassertang, and fissidens. Tank mates include blue neocaridina and albino rams horns. This also tank also pulls triple duty as a snail growout for feeding the dwarf puffers. . After 3 months of tuning and grow in, I'm happy to report it is working exactly as planned. . . #guppy #guppyfish #guppytank #albino #koi #fish #plantedaquarium #plantedtank #aquascape #aquascaping #shrimp #neocaridina #snail #plants #guppies #guppiesofinstagram #anubias #javafern #javamoss #buce #bucephalndra #hamburgmattenfilter #greenwaterisgoodwater #aquarium #süßwassertang - Gramho.com

GRAMHO.COM

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Instagram post added by green____water 20L Albino Koi Guppy autosorter and grow out. . . (2 of 3. view entire collage on my page) . . Using a @swisstropicals Hamburg matten filter as a divider, the lift tube is obscured...

I would also like a recommendation for a good 10g temporary grow out divider that is water permeable but wont let sexed juveniles slither thru. Have considered foam...would rather something mesh?

[Streetwise]

With guppies, do you feel like you will keep needing more tanks?

[shkote]

I had Guppy and Platy fry separated into 3 different sections in a 40 breeder with the Swiss Tropicals poret foam used as dividers and a sponge filter in each section and it worked great. Worked so well, I will be doing it again when I bring them in from outside. Their jet lifters are great too, but I have not tried them with guppies. 

[Brandy]

38 minutes ago, Streetwise said:

With guppies, do you feel like you will keep needing more tanks?

Yes and no. Currently, I have a 10g breeder tank, I rescue fry to a 12g shrimp tank, where food waste feeds the shrimp. Then I have 2 empty 10g, intended to be grow out tanks. But I would like one open for a quarantine tank right now, and so far I only have about 12 fry in it, so... I could also move males to the kid's tank and keep just females in the one grow out until quarantine ends.

However if I didn't WANT to save them all for a potential breeding plan, I would just leave the fry with the parents for natural population control.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Brandy

[StephenP2003]

1 hour ago, Brandy said:

I would just leave the fry with the parents for natural population control.

I was hoping that would work in my 40 breeder, but man it's getting pretty crazy. I've added breeding platys recently and they seem to be a big fan of eating babies, so hoping that sort of helps the self-management.

[Brandy]

Well, my tank is only 10g. All the plants in the world can't hide them from 7 perpetually hungry adults, and it is not a jungle by a long stretch. The only two fry to survive my first drop navigated thru the airlift on my filter when it was briefly off, and I found them a week later. As with anything, your mileage may vary, depending on your set up.

One friend of mine had guppy mutts in a 55g community tank with cichlids and lots of larger fish, with limited cover. He had a relatively stable population--only so many hiding places meant only a few fry ever survived. I am a pragmatist. I have solutions, if necessary. But I am actually trying to ramp up right now. 

[Brandy]

Also if you truly don't want any babies, the solution is to keep just one gender--males. My goals are not everyone's goals.

(Arguably, I am fairly new, talk to me in a year and see if I am still breeding, lol)

Edited August 5, 2020 by Brandy
to add a dose of humility.

[gcalberto]

At least guppies don't have very many babies at once. I decided to raise angelfish eggs separately and now have 200+ babies that I don't have a place for lol

[TifNee837]

On 8/5/2020 at 12:09 PM, gcalberto said:

At least guppies don't have very many babies at once. I decided to raise angelfish eggs separately and now have 200+ babies that I don't have a place for lol

Although they may not have as many fry at once as angelfish, if you have two, three, or more heavily pregnant females? You're still looking at potentially 100+ fry.

I had a Marble Molly pop out 62 fry in one drop that I was able to count..and then for the following 9 days, I had at least one female (be it Molly, platy, or endler) drop fry each and every single day/night..

I gave away 50+, sold 50-60+, and STILL had no less than 50 in the tank hiding out.

I feel like the fry population with egg layers would even be easier.....as you could simply remove the eggs...whereas with livebearers...there is sometimes no telling when they'll drop and DEFINITELY no way to know how many! LOL