Mixing different fry breeds

KimJackson2005

I have 2 x 10 gallon tanks. One has mollies (born on Sept 10th) and the other has guppies (born Sept 17th). I now have a Platy thats about to pop but I don't have an extra tank to put her in. Can I mix the molly & Guppy fry together in one tank to make a tank for the Platy or will the mollies eat the Guppy fry?

The molly fry are considerably bigger than the guppies even though their only a week apart.
-Kim

DKRST

Welcome to the forum!
Mixing the fry is not a problem, but mixing fry that differ greatly in size and/or growth rates is an issue. Worst case you can mix the Guppy fry and molly fry. If the guppies disappear, then it was good live food for the mollies and you'll know the next time! Trust me, you'll have more Guppy and Platy fry than you can handle if you save them all.

One problem when saving all the fry is you will rapidly run out of tank space!

KimJackson2005

Thanks. I'm pretty sure the rest of my guppies are preggo anyways. Not that I want to sacrifice them but thats nature. Hopefully they'll all play nice.

k19smith

I keep my preggo guppies in flower vases around my office. Some people like flowers I have fish. lol I wait till I think there gonna pop then I toss them in a vase filled with Java Moss and gravel or sand, let them drop then return them the main tank and add fry to my fry tank. For the most part I'm starting to get good at it I can usually tell within 3 days. After I've moved fry and momma I do a 100% water change on my vase and add the next female. It's working really well I've probably got 10-15 females and 2 vases.

I cull pretty heavy, here latley I've been getting crooked spins and weird tales form a good line I just bought they go straight to my big fish tank for a snack.

The other thing you could do is make or buy a divider. I usually keep my guppies in a fry tank for 1 month at that size they can't eat each other, at one month they go back to a main tank, they are still small but fast enough to get away from the adults.

I'll have to take some pics of the maternity ward.

KimJackson2005

hmm, good idea. Since the hubby doesn't buy me flowers I can put the vases to good use (j/k) What about a heater and filter though? Will they care if the temp goes to room temperature?

k19smith

I don't use a heater or filter, many people run Guppy breeding sets ups with guppies in 1 gallon jars, the Java Moss or any other plant acts as a filter in removing ammonia etc. Most people I've seen with the breeding set ups have an overhead light and run air stones to them to keep the water from getting build up on the top. I don't run anything to mine as I try not to keep them in it for over a week, then I just pull out my plant and add all clean water after they give birth.

The only problem I could see is if your house gets really cold this may not work. Anything above 70 seems to work, but don't take them from a tank at 78 and throw them in the cold. lol You can also change a little water every 3-4 if you want to leave them in a vase longer.