# Lookin to breed feeder guppies



## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

Here's the deal: I have an unfiltered shrimp tank that is about 2.5 gallon. It is well oxygenated and is unheated. 

I am trying to breed some guppies in here, and am willing to upgrade to perhaps a 5 gallon. I have had three female feeder guppies in my newt tank that refuse to die. One of them had a litter sometime today or last night and I managed to rescue 2 of the babies. 
My question is really: in a 2.5 gallon, can I succeed in breeding guppies in an unheated/unfiltered (regular changes) manner? I can even remove the fry to a small old beta tank so they can grow up a bit before getting eaten.

Any hints/tips/gender ratios would be lovely, keep in mind I don't have room for another proper tank. 

Thanks!

Edit: Alternatively, I wouldn't mind breeding my flag fish and using the resulting babies as food for the newts/shark. Any hints/suggestions about them would be lovely as well!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

What's your climate like? People do breed large numbers in unfiltered, but heavily planted, tubs outside. How big do you want the fry to get before you feed them. I could see putting one momma guppy at a time in the small tank and letting her drop. But a raising a full batch (20-50) to full size would be too much. They would likely die even with daily 100% water changes.


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

it gets as low as -40 here, so that won't happen. They likely wouldn't get TOO big before feeding, certainly not fully grown before being dumped in the tank. It'd be nice just to be able to maintain them at around 4-5 population in this tank. I'd likely buy a pretty male and keem him full time in the shrimp tank, keeping breeder females rotating in and out of the newt tank. 

Would something like that work?


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

also: can I keep adult guppies with the fry? Like if I kept a nice male in the nursery tank, as well as a female or something, could that work?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

2 adult fish in a tank that small could have aggression issues and if they have a taste for fry would hunt down every last new born and eat them. The easiest thing would be a 15 gallon tank or bin filled with hortwort and sponge filter or two. Throw in 1 male and any female you have handy and wait. IMO the teeny tanks are more trouble them they are worth. Water quality and aggressive issues make any significant number of fish in a 2.5 sitting ducks for the inevitable crash.


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Flagfish are significantly more difficult to breed than guppies. You would need a planted setup for that, and probably a larger tank. You would be able to sell the flagfish fry though as people want those.


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

My flag fish couple is courting right now, definitely smitten instead of aggressive!! But sadly I don't think a nest on the bottom will last a night with these newts.

My two baby fish died overnight.  

I found another one this morning though! 

How about bettas? Would that be something I could breed easily for feeders?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

The male flagfish will defend the eggs. Whether that will scare off a newt is a different question.


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

Yeah, who knows. What it would likely do is either result in his death or less real estate for the newts, resulting in more fighting (which is somewhat low now). 

Oh well, I won't be encouraging them to breed anything soon if that is the case.

If I were to dump like 3 male guppies and 10 females, as well as plant it more heavily, I think they fry may be okay. The newts largely ignore the fry that I notice, who tend to stay near the top in this tank (where the duckweed covers them).

What kind of yield can I expect with no heat? So far the biggest litter I've seen is 3, but that doesn't mean many weren't sniped by tank inhabitants.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

In a teeny tank, maybe you could breed shrimp. They are very nutritious fish food.


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

The shrimp just died off. I was thinking of having the guppies in my tank in large enough numbers, since they aren't the favorite food (or some are too fast) that they have been known to breed, kind of. If I got say 3 males and 10 females, on top of the 3 females I already have, is this a decent ratio?


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

The tank is still really small for breeding anything except maybe Nothobranchius or Least killifish or some goby species. I think you'd have better success with a 10-gallon tank that has a heater and at minimum a sponge filter.

The unheated part concerns me a lot. Guppies like water in the mid to upper 70s. If you go much lower than that, you compromise their immune system and the guppies will be more prone to disease or parasites.


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

They are feeder guppies. They are lucky to live a few months

Edit: yet three females keep pumpin babies, 4 months later and the male recently disappeared...


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## Fishpunk (Apr 18, 2011)

Ponera said:


> They are feeder guppies. They are lucky to live a few months


Animals are not disposable; they deserve to be treated in a humane way regardless of their purpose.


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## Sorafish (Sep 15, 2011)

*sigh* Aside from the 'they are lucky to live' comment ticking me off:
You only need to have one male. I'd leave the females in the largest tank you have, him in the smaller tank until needed (ie, the females give birth) but whatever tank you have the females in, you need to have lots of plants, because they'll turn around and eat the babies. Say, if this were for a turtle, the fry could live with the turtle, and he most likely wouldn't notice them until their big enough for him to eat. So, in other words, leave the fry in with the one that they'll be fed to. Leave the females in the largest tank. But the fry won't grow very fast in low temps. The higher the temp, the faster the metabolism, the faster they grow.


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## julem35 (Dec 22, 2010)

I agree completely! Only one male is needed, and you may find it worthwhile it get a heater. However, you should be kind to these animals while they are still living, no matter their purpose.


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

Sorry if the concept of animals feeding other animals offends you. The fact that I have fish eating newts that eat the odd guppy is something that isn't really my fault. Honestly, they are living devoid of predators (until put in the tank to be fed) and have a constant supply of food. Now, they also have a heater and a sponge filter! The only reason these fish will be living til they are larger is because the newts don't eat annoyingly small fish.

I've got a sponge filter and a heater in this little tank, as well as some shrimp to keep things cleaner. I will be getting some hornwort when some decent stuff comes in.


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## julem35 (Dec 22, 2010)

I can speak for myself saying the idea that they are used as food isn't my problem, it was the fact that they had not had a heater for them, as they need to be kept warm. I am glad to hear they will have live plants, and the filter and heater now make me feel better, so thank you


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Actually it's quite important to have a heater and filter on a feeder fish tank. If the fish get sick, and you feed them to another fish, the predator may get sick as well.


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

Yep yep! While I'm at it, I put the ghost shrimp I have in there too. Maybe they will make babies as well!


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Look, if you want feeders, you're going to need more room. go to Walmart and get a couple of those clear plastic Sterilite tubs. They make fantastic tanks for raising lots of fry and they're very cheap. You can easily attach any standard aquarium equipment to them, too.

Now, if you want lots of feeders, then forget guppies, and absolutely forget bettas. Instead, look at danios. Danios are very easy to spawn, they have a high survival rate, and one spawn can give you 400 fry.


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## Ponera (Oct 31, 2011)

basically the whole point is that these three females, purchased as feeders, somehow lived for several months. That is why they were 'lucky to live', cause they really super were.

The problem with danios is that the newts might have zero interest in them. They seem to be rather picky with which fish they devour!


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

you can buy a storage box at home depot 22 gallons for 7$, ive kept a few fish in one before and ive been breeding guppies for a while, and i only have 1 male, well now 2 because one is growing up, and if you are going to use a 5 gallon, i wouldnt put more than maybe 3-4 adult fish because mine is full of fry and there are more all the time in my other tank, id buy a storage box and put the fry in there as they are born and keep the adults in the smaller one if you want


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