Hi All, I don't know if anyone remembers but I was gifted a bunch of Guppies from a loving nephew who thought that tossing a few brightly colored fish into my existing tank with Gourami, Tiger Barbs, Platies and a Rainbow shark was the ideal gift. I then ran out and bought a new 25 gallon tank and quickly set it up and moved the Guppies to it rather then watching them get picked to death or eaten in the other tank.

This morning I noted I have 1 baby in the tank but later this morning noted that I have a dead adult fish as well. I can only assume that it was mama that died as I have heard this can happen.

What I am wondering is how often does this happen? What are the chances of this baby growing to adulthood in this tank? What if anything, can I do to give this guy a fighting chance (not moving him out of the tank) Here is a picture of the new arrival.


and a picture of the tank, so you can see how many plants I have. (hiding spots, hopefully)



This morning I cleaned about 8 gallons of the 25 gallon tank so he will have clean fresh water. He is staying right in among the Pennywort that floats on the surface and shoots out to swim thought the food that I have been crushing onto the top. Hopefully he is getting some. He is about a 1/4 of an inch, a little less long. body has a yellow look to it with clearish tail, fins etc... Giant looking eyes. Can't really see all that in the picture.

Any advice, ideas are welcome. I am new to Guppies so... just want to do right by the fish as much as I can, as usual.

grind up flakes to a powderish form, or use first bites or baby brine and rotifers for food.

there is enough macros on the plant to sustain it for a while but a high protein food helps them grow big and healthy.

as far as the female, in 2 years I lost 3 to drops.

It happens. With as much areas you have to hide, I'd be surprised if that is the only fry in the tank. At least he'll have a chance with all those hiding spots. He probably has a 50/50 shot. Maybe better. If he makes it past the 3-4 week point he'll probably survive. Most of mine that go that far do, before the filter gets them, they get eaten, or whatever other danger is in my tank.

Here is a better picture of Junior


In this next picture you will see Junior is swimming right around another female. Maybe the dead one wasn't mama?


I don't know if Guppies have any maternal instinct or do they just drop them and go? Does the mama try to protect the young at all?

Nice looking tank.

I was kind of thinking I might want to do something to the filter intake. I noticed It currently has quite a bit of plant stuff hanging on it so that might help some. I keep looking and looking but so far, I have only seen this one guy. I have seen it swim around the other fish and so far, so good.

I have started feeding Daphnia because it is 66% protein, so that should help this guy grow fast. It is practically a fine powder so the fry should be able to eat it. I see it swimming skimming the water line so I am assuming, it is getting something.

You can put a sponge over the filter intake.

They have no maternal instinct. If I remember right they don't eat for a while after dropping the fry, that gives them the chance to get away but other than that babies=lunch. I think some adult guppies eat the fry more than others it kind of depends on personality and perhaps how hungry the are. Under perfect conditions they can have a LOT of babies so lots of people rather let them take their own chances so they don't get over run. Even so you might well end up with too many in the long run. Do you have some one to give them to or will your LFS buy them or take them?

I have had many guppies giving birth, none of the moms died. The small ones you could keep them in a separate tank just that they do not get drained or get stuck to plants etc, cannot say when they could get eaten, in general i have found some of them get eaten, the mom just reverses after dropping them, scoops and eats . Young ones are anytime good food as they have the yolk sac and good nutrition especially when mom delivers, hence they take few.

I have had many guppies giving birth, none of the moms died. The small ones you could keep them in a separate tank just that they do not get drained or get stuck to plants etc, cannot say when they could get eaten, in general i have found some of them get eaten, the mom just reverses after dropping them, scoops and eats . Young ones are anytime good food as they have the yolk sac and good nutrition especially when mom delivers, hence they take few for the efforts :(

How many fry are in a common litter? I don't know if Litter is the right term but you know what I mean. I have searched and searched and only see one baby. Hope he makes it.

Average "could" be in the 7-10, but not really sure. Livebearers can give berth earlier than intended and can even abort their own pregnancy. Usually as a result of stress. Water changes, ph shock, etc...shifting from one tank to another without acclimation will do it.

Junior is still alive so I am very hopeful that he will make it to adulthood. I am not counting my chickens just yet but am hopeful.

What about a birthing net?? If you could get him in that then he would be safe from the others and would be able to grow. The birthing net that I have has pretty large pores and when I had it in my birthing tank the fry were able to just swim in and out of it. If you have something like that I suggest putting the tank inside pantyhose and the fry won't be able to get out of it then. I also put panty hose over the intake on my filter so that they wouldn't get sucked into it. But, most of them ended up dieing cause they got stuck to the panty hose anyway. So, you might want to watch for that. Also some filters have adjustable flow so you can turn you flow down lower and decrease the chances of him getting sucked in.

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10gal fry tank planted with Wisteria, Java Moss, Anuabis and Anacharis
35gal Sponge Bob tank with live bearing tropicals (daughters tank)
15gal planted with Swords, Java Fern, Wisteria and Red Rubin housing 10 fry and 2 bladder snails
55 gal with Oscar (future planted tank with angels and flowerhorns)
55 gal Community tank (platys, mollys, guppys, glass catfish, angels, phantom tetra, red eye tetra and swordtails)

How ig do you think Junior would need to be before he is "safe" from the other fish and the filter intake? Right now he is the size of a large mosquito with a bit longer tail. I would say a good 1/4 inch from head to tail, maybe a bit more. I have never seen him swim lower then maybe 4 inches deep in the water.