just spotted a baby!!!

aquariangel

It's not necessarily how old it is but how fast it grows since the fry are born in varying sizes. You can't tell from my pics but of the fry we saw there's one that REEEEAAALLY tiny compared to the others. Usually a week, maybe two and they should be big enough so mama won't eat them.

redlessi

Unfortunately, the mom did not make it, so more concerned about the other fish. The first ones from Monday already look a lot bigger than the ones from yesterday. So I guess if they make it through the first 2 weeks they should be ok, maybe!!

Phatfish

I keep my guppies in a 55 gal. The tank is large enough for the babies to escape if the adults try to eat them. I guess they realize they know they can't catch them so there are many generations of guppies growing up in my tank. If your tank is large, you really don't need any traps. just keep the fish well fed and the babies get pieces of food that float by if small enough.

Don't forget to baby proof the filters. they can get sucked up!

redlessi

The babies are doing great and getting bigger, yes they are eating. I guess the tank is large enough for them to hide in after all, its 35 gal with 5 cories, 5 ghost shrimp, 2 danios and 3 guppies. It is about 6-7 of them. Its amazing to watch them.

aquariangel

Glad to hear the "kids" are doing well....sorry mom didn't make it tho.

The albino blues started dropping fry over the weekend! Quickly set the 20 gal long up with dividers and separated the fry, but still not sure which female is dropping so just hung a breeder net for the fry....figure out which of the three females is dropping and will separate her too. Have a guy here at work who has two 20 gal longs he's selling me so those will be breeder/nursery tanks soon.

redlessi

How do you catch your fry, as I have been unable to catch any.............

aquariangel

LOL...believe it or not just using a net. It's more difficult with the Java Moss in there, but overall, just very slowly follow them with the net being careful not to squish them against the glass and you'll get them eventually. Yesterday at lunch I saw two more babies, one albino, one Swordtail, so i grabbed the net and patiently waited till I could scoop them up. It's not terribly hard, time consuming but not hard.

1077

If you place some type of floating plants either real, or artificial on the surface of the water,the fry will immediately make their way to this to hide in. Then with a cup you can place the cup near the fish and they will be drawn into it while water is being pulled into the cup. have found that this is best done in the early morning's before lights go on if you can see without them.can still catch em with lights on but is easier with lights off.
Hornwort is a good live plant for babies to hide in and they also eat tiny organisims that also hide their.Maybe keep some in another tank, or breeder tank when females look about ready to drop fry.

redlessi

I will remember that for the next time. I think that since the fry are growing nicely and not constantly being stalked by the other members of the tank, I will just leave them there for now.

Does Hornwort require any special care, can it grow in low light?

Thanks for the information..........

1077

Hornwort I used ,floated on the surface and grew with just one ordinary bulb that came with the 55 gal kit. Algae also began growing on the Hornwort which was great food for the young mollies I was keeping at that time. Algae,or algae based flake foods,are important for the fry in my expierience.Spirulina flake works well too. Just crush it up to almost a powder for the tiny fry and as they grow larger, don't need to crush it as much.