They're Not Mutants! (finally)

[FroggyFox]

The first thing I do in the morning is turn on the lights in my fishtanks and feed the fish.

This morning I did just that...but when I looked at my 10 gallon I SAW A BABY GUPPY! awww. I looked around and after awhile saw another...ended up moving 4 of them to my little 1 gallon tank.

Wierd thing is that I have NO idea which guppy was having the babies...neither of them looked skinnier, and I wasn't seeing any babies pop out. I watched them for a good half an hour (then of course I realized what time it was and had to call into work lol)

I must say I am relieved that my guppies aren't mutant (like I was telling Lizwinz last night haha) but I'm now a little worried that I won't be able to take care of the little guys. I crushed up some flake food into powder and dropped some of that into the tank, hopefully they'll find it. MAN those things are tiny. I don't have anything to feed them except flake food...so I guess maybe I need to get something else from the store today, or do you guys think they'll be ok on flake food?

I'm going to go home in a couple hours and see if I can find any more babies...cuz I'm pretty sure whoever was popping them out wasn't finished...they couldn't have been could they? I would have put one of them in a breeding trap...but since I couldn't tell who was having the babies I decided instead of stressing her out more I'll just leave them all in the tank.

-=sniff=- I'm a momma!

[lizwinz]

hehe cool

glad to hear your guppys arent mutants afterall

check out this link it has some info on what and how to feed your new babies

http://guppyplace.tripod.com/Fry.html

--liz

[revfred]

Some folks say they had no problem with crushed flake food. Personally, I had good success with baby guppies (frys they are called) with the yolk from a hardboiled egg. Just mash it up a bit and but some in the water. It will disperse into a "cloud" and the frys dash through it.

You might want to look into a V-type breeding tank that hangs on the inside of the tank. They aren't very expensive. Get the kind that the tank water will flow through it. When the females look ready to "pop" put them in there. The babies will fall through the bottom of the V. When she is done, return her into the main tank. Take out the V and you have a nice nursery tank that you can feed the frys in until they get a little larger. I've put a little hairy kind of weed in it as well.

When you return the frys to the tank, make sure you have some floating grass for them to hide in until they get bigger. Congratulations.

[FroggyFox]

Thanks revfred I actually have the V kind...but there are holes in the bottom of it that the fry would have gotten out of after falling through the V lol so I didn't see the point. I'll have to rig it somehow or find a different one I guess if I want to keep the fry in there. I've already come to the conclusion that I can't keep many of the little things because I really don't have the room to grow them out. I MIGHT decide to get one more tank that is a little larger (say 2.5 or 3 gallons) and see if I can grow them big enough to trade to a local store...I don't think I could do it in the 1 gallon they're in now...I'm starting to picture water changes already and its a nightmare!

Plus she's looked like she was going to pop since I got her like 6 weeks ago...I was just telling Liz last night that I thought they were mutants (they must have heard me LOL)

I heard about the egg yolk thing...suppose I might try that, but I don't have any eggs so it would mean a trip to the grocery store (well worth it if it keeps the lil guys alive right??!)

That is a GREAT site Liz thanks!

[fishboy]

Congrats Froggy!

I would suggest getting some brine shrimp eggs from your lfs and hatching your own bbs, believe me it is a lot better in the long run because you will have stronger, and nicer guppies. Also if you get a 5 gallon tank that would be the best size for them. Start water change after a week or so maybe two weeks. Also turn up the temperature for the fry to about 82 or so and they will grow a little bit faster because their metabolism is increased. I usually do this for my Red fires and they grow nice and strong.


What kind of guppies do you expect?

[fishboy]

LOL was just reading liz's site after i posted and i was basically re-iterating what they were saying...

[FroggyFox]

its ok sometimes it helps to hear it from more than one place and a different point of view.

I'm not sure what kind of guppies to expect If it is my huge guppy that is having them...she could have been pregnant when I got her, or been inseminated by one of THREE males I've had in my tank in the past 6 weeks. If its the newer female, the father is most likely a sunrise tequila, and she has cool coloring for a female, not sure what to call it though. Her tail is green with some yellow patterns. I don't really know much about guppy genetics, I'm sure you know a lot more than I do about them seeing how this is my first "litter" lol What is a group of baby fish called...a brood? Like will the babies be a mix of the mom and the dad like puppies...where a black and a white dog get together and some of the puppies are white, some are black. or will it be like if a black and a white mate the puppies are spotted? lol I know something about genetics as a whole...but not really when it comes to fish.

Oohh its lunch time. Gonna go home and check on the little buggers.

[FroggyFox]

Well...just thought I'd put an update in. I pulled 4 more fry out this morning...and saw at least 2 more that were still in the tank, but I was already late for work and the little buggers were doing a good job of avoiding me so I decided to let them fend for themselves.

Even in the little 1 gallon tank I have trouble finding them...but I'm pretty sure they're all still alive...I know I counted at least 6 in there before I left for work.

I also got a little brine shrimp hatching thingy yesterday...so I will attempt to feed those to them when/if they hatch. Will they live in the freshwater? I guess I should do some research before I dump in more than the lil guys can eat. I did a little water change this morning...took some water out of the 1...then while moving the fry from the 10G into the 1G I put some water from my 10G in (wasn't using a net...was using a cut off water bottle to catch them) Even if its not completely fresh water, its probably just as clean or cleaner than whats in the 1G right?

I'll stop babbling.

[fishboy]

LOL Froggy sounds like your enjoying yourself =)


It is called a brood.


However i am unsure about guppy genetics myself, i think it is that some are mixed kinda like puppies and cats, but i am not sure.


To hatch brine shrimp you need salt in the water, a movement source, and some heat. It takes around 24 hours for them 2 hatch and once they do you will see a bunch of little orangish specks almost running around. lol They can live in fresh water for a little bit, but i think they will eventually die. Believe me though the guppies will get them before those little buggers can have a chance lol.


Anyway sounds good and like everything is going fine,

Daniel