Two guppies in a 10 gallon... many questions.

MsSneakieZ

I started my 10 gallon about a month ago and put some ghost shrimp in after it was 2 weeks old. I have finally put in some guppies though and I'm really excited to see how they go.

I just got a pair of fancy guppies, 1m 1f.

My questions though:
1. I want to be able to feed Guppy fry when/if they ever come so I was thinking about getting a small cheap tank-like thing to hatch brine shrimp in. Is there a good container you know of or do you suggest something else?

2. As the guppies will eventually populate the tank with fry, how would I go about getting rid of them? I mean, what sort of fish stores should I ask about giving fish fry to (can only small stores accept fish from people, like a chain store such as Uncle Bill's couldn't take them)? I live in Indianapolis if that helps; I don't know of many local fish stores are around.

3. Do you think I could have more than 2 guppies in a 10 gallon? I was thinking about getting one more pair but I want to make sure it's not too many for that small a tank. (I have 4 ghost shrimp if that makes a difference.)

4. Could I get a plecostamus for the tank too? I know they eventually grow very large, but could I get a smaller one now while I only have this small tank (I'm planning on getting a larger one later on)?

I want to breed guppies as a hobby but I wouldn't be against making a little change on the side if possible.

Rohland

1.) As far as I know guppies are able to eat finely crushed flake food. I read another post with a memeber have very finely crushed food in a bad and dips a wet toothpick in the bag and then into the tank to feed the babies. So you will probably not need to feed them baby brine shrimp, or anything more complicated than that. The fry are big enough to eat flakes. Baby brine shrimp, and other live foods like micro-worms ect are used for smaller fry like those from bettas that are too small to eat flakes right after birth.

2.) Well some big chain stores can take your fry. However you will probably need to raise them to the same size that the pet stores sell the other fish at. Also because live bearers produce like crazy and are very cheap you probably will get little to no money for them, but at least its a place for the fish to go.

3.) I am not sure if adding another Guppy would make your tank overstocked but you should add one more female because a 1m - 2f ratio is desired because they can share the harassment from the male. If you plan on having the female give birth in the main tank, there should be lots of hiding spots for the babies or else they will become the parents own food.

4.) Although plecos look small, most that I am aware of will get way too big for that tank. And probably bigger than any tank you are thinking of getting. Plecos although clean little areas in the tank they have a huge bio-load and will quickly pollute your water and need a bigger filtration because they poop a lot. Its just not a road you would want to go down, also if plans fall through then you will need to work on relocating them, which can provide another head ache later on.


Edit: Just a note one Guppy can have over 50 fry at once time. Your tank will be quickly over stocked. Also if a chance happens that your second female gets pregnant (if you get one) then you could have 100+ babies at one time, and expect another 100+ every month, because they usually reproduce every month. And I dont believe you can give fry to the petstore until 2 months of age.

jeaninel

Hello and welcome to the forum.

First off you should have 2-3 females per male. Otherwise the female will constantly be harassed by the male and it will stress her out. If you have more females it will spread his attention out more. I have a 10 gallon Guppy tank (with ghost shrimp also). I started with 3 females and 1 male. I now have several generations of guppies at various ages. Some of the fry I give to friends and relatives and some are fed to bigger fish in my other tanks. You may be able to find a LFS that will take them but they will probably have to be a certain size before they will accept them.

I would not advise a pleco for a 10 gallon tank. Even a smaller one such as a Bristlenose creates a lot of waste and adds quite a bit to the bioload. Stick to the Ghost shrimp. They are great scavengers and add very little to the bioload.

I feed my fry finely crushed flake food but you could make a hatchery out of almost any container. Google "brine shrimp hatchery" and there's lots of info on DIY hatcheries.
brine shrimp hatchery - Yahoo! Search Results

Good luck with your tank!

MsSneakieZ

Thank you for both your replies.

Yes I realize I need to get another female so the one I have isn't harrassed, I just wanted to get these two for a week maybe to make sure the water is fine for them. I haven't had any fish, just the ghost shrimp, in the aquarium yet.

The thing with plecos though is that my family has had the same one in a 30 gallon tank for about 4 years now and it's only grown about 1 inch (it's 3 inches now), so I thought maybe that type would be okay (I'm not positive which type it is, I'll find out though). But I didn't think about how much waste they would create so that is a good point and I probably won't get one.

The reason I wanted to grow baby brine shrimp is that I've read that they provide a really good source of protein and nutrition in general to newborn guppies and that the nutrients provided make the coloring of the adult guppies more intense.

I've also ready that ghost shrimp will eat the fry of other fish. Is this true?

molliefan09

i am not sure about ghost shrimp eating the fry.........i agree with what the others have said....i have a livebearer tank and my one female molly has dropped twice now and i have only been able to save one......i got a breeders net and just hung iton the inside of my tank and kept her in there until she was large enough to not get eaten.....shes about 7 weeks old now and is living happily with the other fish. There is a DIY thread posted by Mollies for a breeders net and it cost a fraction of the price of the ready made ones. also, as someone else has mentioned live bearers are fairly easy to come by as they reproduce readily......you may not beable to get money for them but a LFS may be willing to take them off your hands as a donation....there are several people on here who breed fish and may be able to give you some better advice....good luck!!

kelly528

Not sure what kind of pleco your family has, but the smaller varieties can be kept in tanks of 15g and up. To get one like that, you would have to pretty much order online.

The petstore variety, which rohland is talking about will reach a foot in adult length which for obvious reasons is a recipe for disaster (providing it will fit in your tank lol).

molliefan09

bristlenose and rubberlip plecos are 2 that i know dont get very big, but as kelly said, 15g or higher. i got my BN at my local LFS

MsSneakieZ

Thanks for your replies!

Yeah, I suppose a pleco is probably a bad idea until I for sure have a larger tank. A foot long fish in a 10 gallon tank.... hehe, not a good plan.

I think I may just let the fry go as they will, I have some ground covering fabric plants in my tank that will be good for them to hang out in.

molliefan09

again, good luck and keep us updated with any fry news!!