Guppy tank questions

Cricket1234 · 03-27-17, 06:35 PM

So I am thinking of turning my ten gallon into a small guppy tank/planted tank/aquaponics system. My research said that all guppies breed and breed extremely quickly. Is there an animal species (fish or otherwise) that would eat guppy fry and not bother the adults. And if not, how will I prevent breeding/get rid of the fry? Will they stop breeding when they feel the tank is overstocked? Also, any advice for everything that I am doing will be greatly appreciated. Cya and thanks so much!

trailblazer295 · 03-27-17, 07:08 PM

In a 10g tank you won't have the space for other predatory fish. Having males only will eliminate breeding. Typically the males are the more colourful of the two.

Cricket1234 · 03-28-17, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

In a 10g tank you won't have the space for other predatory fish. Having males only will eliminate breeding. Typically the males are the more colourful of the two.

The thing is my pet store sells males and females together. Do betas eat guppy fry?

**Aaron_S** · 03-28-17, 08:23 AM

Betta's do eat guppy fry however you wouldn't keep them in the same tank. The male betta will beat up your guppies.

Know what DOES eat guppy fry? Other guppies. I kept a ton of guppies in a 20 gal tank and the population will explode and then die off from being eaten or whatever and then explode again. It goes up and down.

I recommend just getting the tank and letting nature take it's course.

trailblazer295 · 03-28-17, 09:44 AM

Betta and guppies go both ways. Often guppies will pick the fins of betta as well. So generally they don't mix well. As betta and any fin nipping fish.

**Aaron_S** · 03-28-17, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

Betta and guppies go both ways. Often guppies will pick the fins of betta as well. So generally they don't mix well. As betta and any fin nipping fish.

I didn't realize guppies were such A-holes

trailblazer295 · 03-28-17, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I didn't realize guppies were such A-holes

A lot of the fast moving livebearers, tetras etc aren't great tank mates with bettas because of fin nipping.

**Aaron_S** · 03-28-17, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

A lot of the fast moving livebearers, tetras etc aren't great tank mates with bettas because of fin nipping.

I just liked breeding them and hoping the cool looking ones would keep making other cool offspring.

I cross bred mine with "endlers" and it was a neat affect.

Besides, who doesn't like "Only the strong survive" mentality.

Cricket1234 · 03-28-17, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I didn't realize guppies were such A-holes

Me neither lol. You normally think of fish like Betas or Oscars as the mean ones

BillyCostume · 03-28-17, 03:59 PM

I like the only the strong survive mentality haha. Extras that do grow to maturity could always be fed to a garter snake

akane · 03-28-17, 04:15 PM

Your other guppies might eat the fry and they might not. I have a pair that is now about 4 dozen in a 10g lol I need to ditch my "feeders" in my 30g with crayfish and just put the "fancy" guppies in there and let them weed a few out. They tend to get the big pregnant ones that can't move fast so I have to have a good starting group because I'll lose the most major breeders periodically. Problem is most slow fish that will eat guppy fry have the same risk as bettas of being aggressive and nipping the adults or having fins the adults nip and most of the fast fish evolved to live in groups so they are unhappy with less than about 5 and that doesn't fit in a 10. There's things with a lower risk you could try like a dwarf gourami. Related to bettas but less aggressive and short finned. There are a few really small cichlids if you can find a pair. You'll risk wiping the guppies out too efficiently then but they'll be interesting to watch and a pair might give you cichlid fry. Most don't stay small enough to mix with other fish in a 10 though so it would take a bit of a search. A 10g overall is best as a species tank and most people who get into fish don't just have one tank so they throw them in somewhere else to be eaten or they don't stop at a small tank if they only have 1 so they can fit a school of something. I've also got a sunfish tank that will decimate even adults. Overall fish aren't a good diet for fish though. Aside from the really big predators that concentrate on what would be a more moderate sized aquarium fish it's best to give a variety with insect or invert meat in a balanced food or as a mix so you can only feed so many guppies. Even the slightly bigger fish eat more insects than most any other food source.

akane · 03-30-17, 02:59 AM

Patterns are the worst to cross because you can rapidly make a mess back to the faded little dot pattern of the wild ones. If they have a similar pattern you can get away with mixing colors to a point. I don't know the exact genes that start to cause the colors to muddy. I maintain an orange/red streaked line and a blue/yellow streaked line with lyretails. Who knows what's in my feeder tank. Truly. Who knows what all of them have combined into. Every now and then I've thrown freebie "fancies" in and I haven't cleaned the brown and spot algae off the front in awhile lol I just dip them out when I need to feed something. Algae is not actually harmful. It even corrects problems in the water. In this case it's just a sign of some fertilizer run off you get living in a farming state.