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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 9, 2009 22:08:20 GMT -5
i only put her in there when i think shes going to drop. but then she never does and the breeder is dirty. so i let her out till i think shes ready again and repeat the process.
James
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Post by eve on Mar 10, 2009 2:15:38 GMT -5
i only put her in there when i think shes going to drop. but then she never does and the breeder is dirty. so i let her out till i think shes ready again and repeat the process. James exactly what you're not suppose to do another reason i hate those breeders you should either put her in a 2.5 gallon tank, or leave them with the others if you're not sure that she will drop
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Post by eve on Mar 10, 2009 2:17:16 GMT -5
and if your breeder is dirty, get yourself a paint brush, of course a new one, only for the use with your fish, and brush out the dirt into a paper towel
at least that's how i always cleaned mine at the time i used those breeder boxes
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 7:54:42 GMT -5
i have been rinsing mine out with hot water and i plan to let her be after i remove her this afternoon to clean it out she is pooping alot. i think she was afraid to poop outside of the breeder cuz the male wouldnt leave her alone i havent had her in the tank with the 2 new ladies yet i think shell like it cuz he stressed her out too bad but if she keeps doing her wave in the breeder i think i may leave her in there she has to be really close to dropping shes tried several spots in the tank and i think she may have tried a spot in the breeder last night aswell. the male just keeps irratating her.
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 7:58:53 GMT -5
im also scared to let her give birth in the tank with 3 other guppie mouths to run from including the mothers so thats 4 guppy mouths that will want to eat the fry. also the glass cats hunt for there food blind just by smell and there sensing whiskers. soo possibly 5 mouths to run from. and only a few hiding spots i have my 2 floating breeding plants and a large onion plant growing into the breeder plants.
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Post by murdock6701 on Mar 10, 2009 11:54:51 GMT -5
I agree w/ Eve - isolate her in her own tank w/ some cover and watch her - could be a 1 gallon tank but keeping her in a breeding box just isn't the right thing to do - if it's been over a month, she's just fat - keep a watchful eye on her but don't put her in the box until you see she's having fry - better to lose a few fry than to lose the mother
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 14:31:37 GMT -5
thanks ill wait till i see a fry before i put her back in the breeder. i have no time to cycle a new tank. im just hoping im not too late and i lose all the fry but im sure ill have more theres 3 females to the 1 male and thats going to be alot of guppy babies. i remember hearing on this site that your sposed to put her in the breeder box when you see the gravid spot turn and shes about to drop. but i have to take her out every other day cuz she fills the breeder box up with left over food and alot of poop. and i didnt think that would be good for the fry to be born into a garbage bin/ guppy bathroom. so id clean it out and put her back in.
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Post by murdock6701 on Mar 10, 2009 14:50:05 GMT -5
the gravid spot turning brown is an indicator and the margin of error I've found using only that is quite wide - a lot of it has to do w/ luck and being in the right place at the right time unless you have the time to just stare at them 24/7 - this can make you get dizzy and drive you nuts at the same time - trust me - my breeders (platys) are in a fairly wide open 20 less than 2' from my computer where I spend a lot of my time - live bearers still produce eggs which are internally fertilized - some fish never get fertilized but it doesn't mean the eggs aren't still there - this confuses many people into thinking their fish are pregnant - when they do have fry, keep a journal of the time and date - should help be better able to predict the next hatch - males will always chase females - to either get them pregnant or to eat their fry - I currently have 4 pregnant female platys about to pop - good luck!
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 15:06:28 GMT -5
thanks murdock im going to look into some guppy videos that are of fry being born so i can see exactly what they look like before they pop. ive seen her sit in different spots and do the waggle indicating shes trying to find a good safe spot to drop but then comes the male and chases her away from it this has happend every 10 minutes so i decided id put her in the breeder and surround the breeder with my plants so she was kinda hidden from the male hoping that would take her stress away and shed feel safe enough to let them go. but shed only poop alot. do they poop alot before they let them go? im also considering getting even more females possibly 2 more then i will have 5 females to the 1 male.
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Post by murdock6701 on Mar 10, 2009 15:17:26 GMT -5
they poop a lot regardless! 5-1 would be a better ratio - the back of their lower bellies become slightly distended before birth - just have to hope you get lucky
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 15:24:29 GMT -5
im just leary of adding any fish to that tank. thats more mouths that the fry need to avoid to survive. but again if all of them pop thats atleast 20-40 each female. so the rate of survival will then raise to an outstanding rate. i dont know how many fry 1 fish can intake until getting full?
right now im sure my glass cats would indeed eat almost all of the fry a single guppy does pop.
but if 2 of them were to pop i think half of them would be safe.
currently in my guppy tank i have
2 glass catfish 3 female guppies 1 male guppy
6 mouths that im sure all 6 would have a buffet dinner at any birth.
cover.
3 monkey statues. 1 onion plant. 2 breeding floating plants (lady at petstore told me that they were designed for live bearers) and im about to wrap panty hose around my filter so that it wont suck any fry up there or im going to look into those sponges you can stick up there aswell whichever i come across first.
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 15:51:44 GMT -5
my guppy did have babies im glad i took a better look at all my plants i took her out of the breeder too early cuz eve said it was not good to keep taking her in and out.
moments after i walked away to post on here the progress. i decided id go check out what was going on in there. and i found 3 or 4 of them then she keeps popping them out. there is 7 total that i have in the breeder box ill have to go on a scavenger hunt again in a few minutes. how many should i expect to find?
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Post by murdock6701 on Mar 10, 2009 16:01:04 GMT -5
if you don't have a seperate tank for fry, you're dooming yourself from the start - guppies, platys, mollies are all capable of producing large numbers of fry frequently - if you're not raising them to sell or move to another tank, why worry if they get eaten or not? you might get some survivors that manage to hide in thick cover, but if you're looking at saving as many fry as possible, get another tank, at least a 10 gallon, more preferably a 20 - I keep my fry in a 1.6 gallon for a week then transfer them to a 10 - when the numbers get too large they go to a 20 or my 125 gallon pond then to the lfs
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Post by goldenpuon on Mar 10, 2009 16:06:42 GMT -5
You don't have to have the fry in the same tank as the other fish either. They are best raised seperate due to the many factors including adults eating them, competition for food, the possibility of being sucked into the filter, and also I heard (although I am not entirely sure this is true) that the bigger fish release hormones into the water that make the fry grow slower which is not good for them.
Also, if you're careful and keep an eye on things, cycling shouldn't be too much of a problem or take up too much of your time like you are concerned about. I have cycled many tanks just by setting up the tank, waiting a few days, and keeping an eye on the fish. I do a 25% water change once a week and siphon every week (or more with fry) as well. Then it's just a matter of testing every so often and if you keep your tank clean (a little waste is ok though), all you should really need to do if the nitrites or ammonia go too high is a quick 25-50% water change.
Some signs you may want to look for when cycling that indicate high ammonia or nitrites (though these can indicate other things as well) are: rapid breathing, gasping at the top, inactivity, and refusal to eat. These are just quick indicators to look for but there are more such as sudden death, gill damage, weakened immune system/suspetability to disease, etc. The list goes on but that's just the basics for cycling.
I have bred guppies many times (or rather they did it for me. lol) and I always keep a couple spare tanks running just for raising fry.
A 5 gallon is all you really need if you just want to raise the fry until they are big enough to sell and maybe keep a few. Maybe set up a barebottom 5 gallon with a sponge filter and heater. Then add the female who is pregnant. Then just wait for her to give birth. Then when the fry are born, just raise them in the 5 gallon. Then you can put the female back in your main tank (hopefully not with a bunch of males where she will contiuously get pregnant) and raise the babies.
You do not necessarily need a birthing box.
Hope that helps!
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 16:08:06 GMT -5
I now have 10 inside the breeder box. im sure theres more. but maybe not cuz my glass cats were hunting and the male and females were chasing her around. i managed to scoop up 10 of them and put em in the breeder. im off to the pet store to get a sponge to shove up my intake on my filter. and some krill or baby brine shrimp whichever i can find.
im leaving her out of the breeder and im going to check again when i get back cuz she still rather big.
thanks murdock i knew she was close!
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Post by goldenpuon on Mar 10, 2009 16:12:50 GMT -5
With guppies, you can have as few as 10 or as many as 50 or more. It depends on a lot, female guppy's age, health, temperature, # of males she bred wth (more males means more fry) even the age of the male. Younger males have greater ferility and cause the female to produce more babies than an old male.
I have heard they can have anywhere from 2-200. Typically though, my guppies average 15-30 babies.
Also, expect her to give birth for as many as 3 months after. Females can store sperm from the male to use later.
It would be a good idea to get a seperate tank. Not trying to sound pushy, it's just a necessity for raising guppies.
Good luck!
Renee
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 16:12:58 GMT -5
ill look into the prices on a 5 gallon tank. but im really broke right now.
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Post by corycatwoman on Mar 10, 2009 16:13:54 GMT -5
thanks renee ill post some pictures up later after i go to the pet store.
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Post by goldenpuon on Mar 10, 2009 16:16:47 GMT -5
Also, although live food is beneficial, you don't necessarily need it nor freeze dried krill or shrimp (if that's what you were getting).
Finely crushed flake food as well as spirulina flakes will work well. Also, baby fish foods like Hikari Micro Pellets and First Bites can be found at many petstores and are good for when the fry are really young.
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Post by goldenpuon on Mar 10, 2009 16:20:25 GMT -5
I understand about not having much to spend. I have been there. I'm sure you'll do the best you can. Best of luck with your new fry!
To answer your question, a 5 gallon (also a 10 gallon) is about $10 if you buy nothing else but the tank last time I checked.
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