# guppy day 3



## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

so 3 days ago, one of my guppies unexpectedly gave birth, i got it at the store a day before and it didnt even look pregnant, so i set up an emergency 10 gal for the fry, there were 7, but one dissappeared.
yesterday i carefully took the fry out and put them in a 2 liter bottle for about an hour and fixed up the tank. i siphoned out some of the water and refilled it with tank water. i put gravel on the bottom except for one part because i heard they dont like to see their reflectiong because it scares them and because i also heard bacteria grow easily on bare bottom tanks. i wanted to have the water circulating but i dont have a sponge so i cut the bottom of a water bottle and put it on the filter with gravel covering up the bottom so it would move the water, i dont really want it to filter because it could suck up the fry and there isnt anything really to get out, and since it was from an established tank, i dont think it will do any harm because the bateria on the filter cant do any harm, just help clean the toxics out of the water. ive been feeding them crushed up food too, i crushed it up really really fine and have been dipping a toothpick in water, drying it up so it is moist, putting it in the food and back into the tank so some sticks to it and goes off easily. i mixed up tetra color tropical flakes, hikari betta bio-gold, and some tetra bloodworms. in the tank, i have two plants, a wisteria bunch and a stargrass bunch. they are on one side and the filter is on the other.

is there anything i should know about helping them survive?
and ive been feeding them about 6 times a day, how much should i feed them?
and 4-5 are usually close together and another one strays off and goes to the other side or the bottom but isnt slow or not eating, is that just normal behavior?
also, ive been keeping the light on for about 14-16 hours, is that ok or more or less?
thank you in advance for all the help/tips you can give me


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

pics of the aquarium and stuff


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

and more pics


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## iheartshishies (Apr 18, 2011)

Hey Calvin! Congrats on the new babies! Since you posted this 9 days ago, the babies are now 12 days old. I hope they are doing well!

I don't have any experience with guppies, but I have a lot of experience with other livebearers, and I think general care is about the same. So here is what I know:

Warmer water will help them grow faster, but it will shorten their life span. I keep my babies all in the garage (I have loud kids and they stress the fish out ). They all have heaters that I keep set to 78F, but their water temp still fluctuates quite a bit between night and day. I haven't lost a fish yet, so I would say they are fine with quite a big range of temperatures!

I feed newborns under 2 weeks old about 6 times a day with powdered flakes and baby brine shrimp - usually frozen, but sometimes fresh from my hatchery. When they reach 2 weeks old I usually end up still feeding 6 times a day just because I keep all my fry together in one tank and I end up having more newborns by then. Haha! But during times when I don't have newborns I slowly cut the feedings back to twice a day.

I do very little maintenance on my fry tanks because they don't really need it, but I regularly put my hands in the tank to get them used to people. All my fry are well socialized and I put this little extra effort in because they are in the garage, so they don't see people as often. By putting my hand in the tank they learn to trust people, and I've gotten tons of compliments from the people that buy fish from me because most of them eat of your hand from the day they are put in a new tank. This is all just preference.

Other than that, you should be just fine! Livebearer fry are SUPER easy to care for, so hopefully your fry are still going strong! Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them for you!


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## CalvinKE (Mar 17, 2011)

thanks!! yea ive been keeping a tally and they are now 4 weeks and 1 day, when i change the water (when it starts to get a little dirty) i replace it with water from my main tank but sometimes it looks like there is some oil or something on the top of the water like against the light it looks colorful, i tried to get a pic but i cant, and when i change the water its fine, so im guessing its probably from the food bc its just crushed up flakes, some microworms also started appearing in the tank and i got them and im trying to make a culture, any opinions on this? thanks!


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