# I think I'm crazy



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

So I was at Petco today, buying myself another amazon sword plant, and I took a stroll along the tanks, as usual. Something in the female guppy tank caught my eye - a female guppy was GIVING BIRTH right there. The fry were getting picked off (there were 12 other females in what I estimate to have been a 10-15 gallon tank). I noticed that the female seemed to be a fancy guppy, and there were certainly some fancy males in the other tank, so I decided to alert a salesperson. He didn't know what to do with the babies, and I figured, hey, I've already got a fry tank set up...

I had to get the female, though (unfortunately I think the salesperson netted the wrong one). I got all the fry for free; there were about 20 when I left, but over the course of the 45 minute ride home, that number went down to 11 (hence the reason I think the salesperson netted the wrong one - the girl was still dropping as I was watching, but apparently this girl was hungry, and as we all know, females usually don't eat until a few hours after they're done dropping fry). Unfortunately, I think one may be permanently injured. He flopped out of the net when I was trying to net out the female (they were going into different tanks). He fell onto the counter and I tried to catch him on one of my fingers, but after a few seconds I had to pinch him between my thumbnail and my index finger. I hope he'll be okay. 

Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know that if you ever see fry in a tank at Petco, you should ask for them...they're free as long as you buy another fish! Keep your fingers crossed for the fry that had to get squished, too. He's swimming just fine, but I refuse to believe that I somehow didn't injure an hour-old fry when I squeezed him between a fingernail and a finger. There's dissolved salt in the tank he's in, so hopefully if there is an injury, it'll help.


----------



## T4987 (Nov 25, 2006)

I hope your fish isn't injured. My lfs owner isn't good at catching fish hes droped about 3 of the fish I've bought there they all came out injury free. How far did it drop? 

I bought some molly fry today my lfs wouldn't give them to me free. Not that expensive though about 50 cent each about twice the price of ghost shrimp. I bought 4 but one died he swam through the tank twice. He managed to live the first time but the second he landed on a piece of the tank filter cartridge with no water on it.


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

I hope he's all right, too. And I hope I can scrape up the cash to get a bigger tank for all the cuties!  Right now they're in a 2.5... :-X Then again, they're teeny, so it shouldn't be a problem for a few days, if I'm careful.


----------



## T4987 (Nov 25, 2006)

I saw a tank the other day in walmart it was either a 4 or 5 gallon for $20 for the tank filter and hood. You may be able to find one like it.


----------



## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Our Petco wouldn't give me any of the fry in the tank where I bought my molly. Sales girl said I would have to pay for them too. Guess the Petco's in my area are greedy. lol


----------



## darkfalz (May 7, 2006)

Fry are free anyway, just buy a pregnant fish. That's what I did and have 17 little darlings as a result. Unfortunately the mother died last week though.


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

T4987 said:


> I saw a tank the other day in walmart it was either a 4 or 5 gallon for $20 for the tank filter and hood. You may be able to find one like it.


Whoa. That's a sweet deal.

Darkfalz - yeah, I know, I have lots of fry from my females... but feeding them a very good diet to get them into top shape for reproducing is somewhat expensive. I can also sell some of these fry, once they're juveniles, whereas I have a difficult time selling fry that are born in my house. Yup, I'm a weirdo. 

I'm excited... none died overnight, so apparently the guy I pinched is OK. I wish I could tell which one he is... I know his body looked very thin where I pinched it yesterday (I thought I'd cut him in half... I had tears in my eyes). The three-week-old fry in there with them seems pretty tolerant, although he doesn't "school" with the rest of them.


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

Update

I got a six gallon tank for them today, for $44 on sale at Petco.  I love sales.

I think there are twelve fry. Some of them look darker than others and some are certainly eating more than others.

I saw the fry I squished the first night. He's still a bit thin around the middle, but appears OK.  He swims just as fast as the others.


----------



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

I had a baby guppy jump the other day and land on the table. I tried scooping with a spoon but that didn't work. What did work was getting the turkey baster and squirting water onto the counter until it got to the edge and then i squirted him into a dish I had handy. I used tank water all the way. i have crushed fish before picking them up. they seem to jump about so much.


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

That's an awesome idea... I just panicked. He's still doing OK!!  I got some black gravel, Christmas decorations and _Dracaena variegatus_ for the tank today.  The fry are enjoying it.


----------



## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

I wish we had petco here in Australia, it seems like an awesome store! I went online and browsed, filling my cart up, before I realised they don't ship to Australia . I'm glad to hear that the one you squished is doing good! I'm still waiting to see if the females I've got are going to drop fry or not. They all have dark gravid spots so I guess it's a matter of time!


----------



## aaa (Jan 19, 2005)

anasfire23 said:


> I wish we had petco here in Australia, it seems like an awesome store! I went online and browsed, filling my cart up, before I realised they don't ship to Australia . I'm glad to hear that the one you squished is doing good! I'm still waiting to see if the females I've got are going to drop fry or not. They all have dark gravid spots so I guess it's a matter of time!


not really. it is just a chain of stores with bread and butter fish most of the time. sometime things are cheaper when you walk in a fish store to buy stuff. 

my local petco give away fries, but i don't take them for 2 reasons: no room and risk of introducing disease. unless you have a spare tank, don't take them home. 

plus sell your guppy fries as adult. as juvies, the store will not give you store credit or just $1 for 10 of them. if you try to sell online, it is even harder since your fish just from a lfs. so try to sell them as adult.


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

I never sell my guys until they're about 3 months old, and with daily 20% water changes, they look like large adults at that point. 

I wasn't too worried about disease because they were being born as I watched, so they had very little time to pick anything up - just the time I was driving, essentially. It turned out all right, anyway, and I had lots of antibiotics on hand.

They're a week old today and growing like weeds! About half of them have big spots on their tailfins. It'll be interesting to see what colors I get!!!


----------



## aaa (Jan 19, 2005)

yeah... but becareful about the disease next time. it doesn't matter if you watch them born. if they come in contact with the disease water for even a second, you are screw... 

wait to sell them until their tail get bigger and color up more. you get much more store credit that way. believe me, i used to take some juvies to the fish store because i have to move, they don't even want to give me store credit and later said 10 for a dollar. guess what, next time i walk in, they sell them for $4 a pair. i was piss off but oh well... they are the only one that take them as non feeder... plus i really need to cut down on fish anyway... so take your time, don't try to sell them too fast. plus you can keep breeding those guppies and if you can supply your petstore a good amount of fish, you can have a lot of store credit that you can start getting food and stuff just off the guppies.


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

I know.  My Petco's super good, though... I have yet to get a diseased fish from them (after some 15 fish I've bought there, not including the fry, which I still don't have a definite count on)...but I'm sure my next fish will be diseased now that I've said that. ><

It was kinda risky for me to take the fry, but as I stood there watching them get picked off, I made a pro/con list in my head...

Pros were - 

1. None of the fish are hanging near the filter
2. No dead fish in there
3. The fish are all super-active
4. They got the fish in yesterday
5. The fry are getting picked off like crazy
6. Happy Feet (original fry) needs socialization
7. The store doesn't even know how to care for the fry
8. They were being born by a half-black fancy female

Cons - 

1. There's a chance they're diseased
2. There are a TON of them
3. I'm going to need to shell out $30 for a new tank

Eventually, the pro side won out and I got them, and odds were in my favor... But now that all but one of my females is visibly gravid, I doubt I'll ever do that again. Plus, I was nervous for Happy Feet the whole time. He's happy (haha, pun) with them, though... and staking out /defending his territory near the Amazon Sword Forest.  The fry definitely look like half-blacks already.

With these I'm definitely going to hold out, maybe even sell them to a breeder or aquabid at 4 - 7 months of age. I usually get pretty good rates, but I'm betting I can grab $15 - $20 per trio if these guys look as fantastic as I think they will.


----------



## aaa (Jan 19, 2005)

Sable said:


> I know.  My Petco's super good, though... I have yet to get a diseased fish from them (after some 15 fish I've bought there, not including the fry, which I still don't have a definite count on)...but I'm sure my next fish will be diseased now that I've said that. ><
> 
> It was kinda risky for me to take the fry, but as I stood there watching them get picked off, I made a pro/con list in my head...
> 
> ...


usually pet store guppy can't have that good quality. $15-20 can get you a decent trio on aquabid. not try to get your hopes down, but i just don't think your guppy can be as good as the ones on aquabid. the guppy in petco is mass produce by fish farm after all, it can't beat show guppies produce by breeders. if you looking to sell guppy for money, i suggest start looking for a nice trio on aquabid and breed them. usually their offspring can make pretty good money. also, consider that every business have risk, and selling fish online is a pretty big risk too. fish can died while they grow up, breeding or during shipping. plus all those time and money you need, so there is a lot of things to consider. i am not saying that your guppies are bad, but it just that they are not good enough for people to buy them online. think about it, why would people can buy fish at the pet store would buy from you? your price can't beat petco and stuff unless you sell them for $1 or less each(usually less) your fish will almost impossible to be sold. there is a few people try to sell pet store quality guppies and look at them, they are selling them at feeder's price. so i think you better off take your fish to your lfs(not chain store like petco) for store credit to get other fish and food. that is my experience and i learn those in hard way. if you decide to sell something online, it better be special or very cheap or people will never buy them. selling online is not as easy as you think. often you would encounter some dishonest people and you need to watch out for them. so lfs is a better place. they might rip you off in store credit, but it is better than you lost both of your fish and money.

but i think the fries you got is worth it. it is always good to gain some experience first, then move on to some harder stuff. if you want to breed guppy in future, start reading about show guppy standard. you don't have to show your fish, but it is a good guide line of what the people out in the market wants.


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

Just to let you know, I DO breed fancy guppies. I also breed Petco guppies to create hybrids and unique patterns.

Yes, their gups are usually mass produced by fish farms, but every once in a while they get some real winners in there... and I know fancy tails when I see 'em. They also had full-blown snakeskin males, mostly green.

Lots of guppies on aquabid don't get sold for whatever reason, but I am part of a breeder society in my area and I know a couple of people that will definitely take a good look at them when I bring them on or host a meeting. Usually, these folks will take my fancies (I have half-black reds) for about $8/trio. I've gotten $20 for some unique hybrids - a mix of a Petco snakeskin and one of my half-black reds.  My hopes are pretty high for this batch as they look a lot like my half-black red fry, but maybe a little darker. Hard to tell when they're two different ages.


----------



## aaa (Jan 19, 2005)

Sable said:


> Just to let you know, I DO breed fancy guppies. I also breed Petco guppies to create hybrids and unique patterns.
> 
> Yes, their gups are usually mass produced by fish farms, but every once in a while they get some real winners in there... and I know fancy tails when I see 'em. They also had full-blown snakeskin males, mostly green.
> 
> Lots of guppies on aquabid don't get sold for whatever reason, but I am part of a breeder society in my area and I know a couple of people that will definitely take a good look at them when I bring them on or host a meeting. Usually, these folks will take my fancies (I have half-black reds) for about $8/trio. I've gotten $20 for some unique hybrids - a mix of a Petco snakeskin and one of my half-black reds.  My hopes are pretty high for this batch as they look a lot like my half-black red fry, but maybe a little darker. Hard to tell when they're two different ages.


you should say this earlier... save a lot of my typing...


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

Hehe, I'm sorry. I thought I mentioned that... Whoops. :-] (because there isn't a blushing smiley on here.)


----------



## K.c. Guppys (Dec 28, 2006)

Hehehe...I went to Petco last night and the i was buying 2 females and 1 male and the salesperson snuck a baby that i had spotted into the bag. And, he made it all the way home in a tiny bag with 3 guppies in there also.


----------



## Betta splendens (Nov 30, 2006)

Oh the days when PetCo wasn't 8000 miles away.... But nice to know that if I ever see a fish giving birth that I might be able to keep them! 

If ever a fish flops out of the net, I just wet the counter and slide 'em into the net to drop them into the tank, trying not to panic. 

My advice is every time you net a fish and take them out of the water, cover the top with your hand to stop any accidents. But I suppose you'll have to wait a few weeks to see any harm done.

So what are you crazy for? Taking the fry that you weren't prepared for?


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

Haha, no, I was prepared for the fry... I'm just going to have to find good homes for them all now! O_O

They're about a month and a half old now, and showing wonderful half-black coloration. I lost one or two to some rather aggressive fin-nipping on the part of my original fry, Happy Feet (female) who is now three months old and HUGE (in comparison anyway). There have been no diseases and I recently added in three half-black X red delta guppy fry that I saved from my five gallon about a month ago (there were about 15 by the time I looked in, but as the must have been born during the night, all of the gups looked like they had full bellies - one of the fry I saved had wedged itself into the gravel to escape them and, obviously, even as I stood there with my net, twelve were eaten). I lost two of these to hungry Ms. Happy Feet, but the one that survived is doing extremely well. Happy Feet will be moved in with my cherry barbs when she's a little bit bigger and stronger; I've got a relatively fast current in the tank (other than when I've got 1 day-2 week old fry in there) to strengthen my fry's fins, so she should be plenty fast.

Still looking for some good homes


----------



## mayastarocker (Dec 29, 2006)

One time, I had guppies and mollies in a ten gallon. How this happened, we don't know, but we got a muppy out of the deal. The fry was half molly, half guppy. I think that we had a female molly and a male guppy. Anyways, I think when my mom cleaned, I think he got sucked in the vac and got flushed. Soorrrrry.....


----------



## Sable (Nov 6, 2006)

I've never heard of that happening before.

I'd also like to let you know that flushing a dying or injured fish is a terrible idea. I'm sure you know this, but here's essentially what happens. Either: (1) The fish gets chopped into a zillion pieces, or (2) the fish winds up in a pile of your poop or a pool of your urine and lives for up to twelve agonizing hours. Make sure you inspect your water change buckets before you pour them down the drain/toilet!!!


----------



## pixie_twixie (Feb 18, 2007)

Ooh! Whenever I see fry at a petstore I always ask about them. So far I've always obtained them for free, from Petsmart, Petco, and Wal*Mart. I've only lost a few of these, and they were Guppy fry. All the rest are happy and healthy


----------



## sarah5775 (Jul 12, 2006)

I had a really bad experience with petco and fry the other day.

I was going to buy a platy and there were about two dozen just-born fry in the black molly tank. Since Petco had given me fry once before, I asked for them. Well, the salesgirl called the manager, and he said they weren't for sale. I asked the girl what they were going to do with them. She said I guess just leave them. I tried to explain to her, while remaining calm, that if they 'just left them' they would all get eaten. She said the manager was new, the fish guy was on vacation, and that was that. I had her call back the manager and offer him money. No dice. I told her, listen, I have spent over 300 dollars in this store, I bought two of my tanks here, and I want you to explain why I can't buy these fish when they are all just going to be eaten anyway. I was now officially being a 'difficult customer.' Since the fish guy was on vacation, and the manager was new, they had no idea what was going on. Finally the manager came out of his office. yes, he was in his office all the time. I explained to him, as calmly as possible, that if the fish stayed there they would be eaten. I again offered money, or asked him to please move them to another tank. I explained that it wasn't that _I_ couldn't have them that bothered me, but that I couldn't have them and they were therefore doomed. He looked at the tank and said "Well, they seem fine to me." I finally left in disgust. The guy was a first class idiot. The salespeople were all glaring at me when I left. Without buying anything. Exasperating.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Hmmm... you really should report that to Petco corp.


----------

