# Guppy Fry



## Zer0 (May 14, 2012)

I have always thought my female guppies were fat, but I didn't realize they were pregnant. Then yesterday night, I found one little fry!

I read online that it is best to separate the pregnant fish into a breeder box and so the fry are protected from other fish. But 
I have also heard that putting pregnant fish into a breeder box stresses them out since they are enclosed in a tiny little space.
At the end, I didn't separate the pregnant mom, so what can I do now? It is very hard for me to see where the fry is, so I don't think I can find it and scoope it out into the breeder box. My tank has plants, so I hope it has enough hiding place. Also, do I have to take special steps to feed it? Are they able to eat flake food?

How many babies does guppy give birth to at a time? I only found one fry so far, so I am afraid if there were others, they are already done for.

What is the chance of survival for this little guy? The tank is 60 gallon with plants, there are about 20 Neons, 20 guppies, 1 algae eater, 2 pleco, ghost shrimps and cherry shrimps.


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## mousey (Mar 28, 2011)

Some guppies are ok in the breeder box others aren't. Depends on the fish. If you use one throw some floating plants in it so she can hide. Also the fry can hide too. 
if you have lots of plants the fry might be ok. I found 5 in my tank the other day about a week old. I have guppies, betta, molly and neons in the tank. Because I stripped the plants way down I did remove the fry. You can also leave the fry in the breeder box for a number of weeks. Just remember to drain some of the water out of the box each day and let the tank water refresh into it. Stops the water getting stale and a big build up of fry growth inhibitors.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

A fat lady guppy is almost always a pregnant lady guppy. They'd embarrass a rabbit ! Some fry will probably survive, if there are many places to hide and food small enough to eat at first, but guppies, like so many other fish, are not good parents and will eat their kids, from right after birth up 'til they get too large to fit in the parent's mouth.
Litter sizes can vary.. a first pregnancy you might only get 10 fry, later on it can be as many as one hundred. Depends on the fish. 
Fry do best given their own tank to grow up in. If you can put the mother in a breeder box inside the fry tank, then you can remove her as soon as the fry are born, put her back in her tank and the fry will have a good shot at survival..much better than they will in a community tank. Any fish with a mouth large enough for the fry to fit in will eat all the fry it can catch.
Because guppies are prolific.. they can have a litter almost every month, many people do use the fry as feeders for other fish. If you want to breed specific guppies, for show or to develop your own strain, you will need grow out tanks for your fry, and you have to get Mom out of their way. If Mom freaks out in a breeder box, you can try a breeder net, which has the advantage of always fresh water. But I've found that adult fish are really adept at getting into breeding nets and eating fry inside them. So best to cover it with something to prevent this. Take Mom out the minute you find she's had her fry, and you can leave the fry in the net for awhile. They'll still need a grow out tank though when they get a bit bigger. If Mom does not do well in any confinement, you can try putting her in a small tank, 3-5 G, that you intend for growing out fry and then net her out the minute you find she's had her litter.. you will lose some but hopefully not all.
Btw, there is one kind of breeder box you can get that goes on the OUTside of a tank, and has a airline/tube arrangement that allows for continuous circulation of tank water through the box. A few stores have these.. the largest one I've seen was at AI.. it's a pretty good one and I like it. Don't know the brand, it was in Chinese.

Put plenty of floating plants and moss in the fry tank or breeder enlosure. Hornwort's good, anything fine leaved or heavily rooted, nice and dense, or a breeding mop.. so the fry can hide. It's instinctual for them to find hiding places. In your main tank, they'll hide anywhere they can so it will be hard to find any that live until they get bigger. 

A big pile of java moss on the bottom works too, and even provides some food for them to pick at. You can feed fry flakes that are crushed to fine powder at first. Make sure their tank is cycled, clean and filtered properly. Put a sponge on the filter intake or use a sponge filter so fry won't get sucked into a filter and die. Once they get large enough to not fit into any other fish mouths you have, you can put them in with other fish.


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## JohnyBGood (May 27, 2011)

Fishfur said:


> ...or a breeding mop.. so the fry can hide...


Can you post a Walmart.ca link to the acrylic yarn that's ideal to use? The ones I see are very thin and I don't want to order the wrong thing... Thanks!


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## Jeepcarpenter (Sep 29, 2018)

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/bernat-premium-yarn-lilac/6000142774255

There's a good 100% acrylic, usually preferred the in various green, but you can still use yarns with wool content, can still be sterilized between; but does break down after fair amount of use.


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