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Culling
Dec 14, 2008 15:30:54 GMT -5
Post by goldenpuon on Dec 14, 2008 15:30:54 GMT -5
Unfortunately I have run out of room for my guppy fry. I found about 7 new ones yesterday that were still in there today. I scooped them out and fed them to my female bettas. Luckily the bettas learned how to get them faster and faster so minimum chasing/suffering was involved. I let a couple that escaped live. I feel pretty awful about this because I would have had my male guppy tank running by now but white stuff started growing in the tank that I cleaned it out twice and then it just started growing back. Then I had to empty out the whole tank and use vinegar to starilize it. If I had been able to keep that tank running I would already have the male guppies away from the females so they would stop reproducing and I would be able to raise/sell the ones I have now before new ones are born. Unfortunately, the white stuff growing in the tank was growing on all the surfaces in the 5 gallon and may have been harmful to fish (like the white stuff that grew in my betta fry tanks) so I had no choice but to clean it out. Anyway, sorry for venting, I have never taken culling well but for the good of the fry I already ahve space-wise, I had to to avoid way overstocking.
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Culling
Dec 14, 2008 15:40:38 GMT -5
Post by murdock6701 on Dec 14, 2008 15:40:38 GMT -5
unfortunately Renee, along w/ good fish keeping comes fish management.....you have made a "wise" choice (sorry about the pun) I've had to do it too w/ platys - raising fish for continuation of a particular color or breed is one thing, but letting them breed constantly demands more time, tanks and places to sell them - it also puts stress on them and can lead to shorter life spans - I'm sure you know all this and praise you for your efforts in trying to manage things w/ such a prolific species...
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Culling
Dec 14, 2008 15:57:20 GMT -5
Post by goldenpuon on Dec 14, 2008 15:57:20 GMT -5
Thank you. Once I seperate them, I will be able to control breedings. But after I seperate, I don't be breeding again for quite a while because my female guppies will probably give birth for a bit after the males are out (some are currently pregnant and they will probably also give birth to a few more litters a for few months after I seperate them due to the amount of breeding that's been taking place). Another factor is harrassment. I have 9 females in there and 4/5 of the males in there try to breed constantly so it is a stress on the females besides being pregnant consantly. Thanks for letting me know that I did what was right. I hate culling fish and I am always sad afterwards. I will be using more vinegar on the to-be male guppy tank tomorrow and rinsing it out/filling it. I should be able to add them in a week or less after that (I'm using cycled water plus some filter media as well probably).
But I have 1 question about that. Last time I had a male guppy only tank (it had 3 males), the males tried to breed with each other to the point of harassemnt and stress. If they do that again, how can I prevent that? I will have 5 males in the all male guppy tank plus a pretty young one I am moving from the fry tank soon. I will have lots of plants in there so they will be able to avoid each other if it gets to be too much but I'm still worried about it. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Renee
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Culling
Dec 14, 2008 17:02:59 GMT -5
Post by murdock6701 on Dec 14, 2008 17:02:59 GMT -5
maybe put some neons or cardinal tetras or zebra danios in there w/ them - something small to act as "dither fish" - a distraction if you will - whiteclouds....cheap and hardy
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Culling
Dec 14, 2008 19:09:44 GMT -5
Post by goldenpuon on Dec 14, 2008 19:09:44 GMT -5
I've never tetras or danios before. I feel kind of uneasy about putting them in there in case they are carrying something plus I don't have enough experience with them and if something went wrong, then the guppies could be in trouble as well. I don't have a place to quarintine them first. Over time, I'll probably end up with 10 or so male guppies. It would be too many for a 5 1/2 gallon. Sorry to ask for advice and not take it but I don't think that would work out too well.
Thanks for the idea Murdock. It's ok though, plenty of plastic plants will probably work. Sorry about that.
Renee
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Culling
Dec 15, 2008 17:05:00 GMT -5
Post by babygeige on Dec 15, 2008 17:05:00 GMT -5
Yeah, plants and even some rocks for them to hide behind would be good. You could make a cave out of a terra cotta pot. I did that once. My betta liked to hang out in it.
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Culling
Dec 15, 2008 18:44:56 GMT -5
Post by goldenpuon on Dec 15, 2008 18:44:56 GMT -5
Yeah, I have a ton of caves and plants to put into it. I will be resetting up the 5 gallon this week. I cleaned it with vinegar twice so the white stuff that was in it should not grow back.
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