# i need tips on starting a breeding feeder guppy aquarium



## catchandkeep (Nov 23, 2010)

what are the best levels, feedings, temperatures etc for starting a breeding feeder aquarium? i hear constantly about peoples guppy populations getting out of hand, which is exactly what i want as i have a bass and an oscar to feed, and would rather not keep paying for guppies.

i don't want to go through the trouble of a breeder tank so i have plenty of plastic plants bundled together on one side of the aquarium, but in the three months i've been trying, i've only seen one small group of fry appear, despite having several gravid females.

advise?


----------



## Revolution1221 (Apr 20, 2010)

alls it takes is a single female and sit back and watch. you will have better results if its planted well. mine bred profitiantly in 81 degree F water. get some of that grass that goes at the bottom of the tank. its basically like a 1x1 square peice of fake grass that you bury in the gravel. keep the tank clean to avoid giving your oscar a disease. i wouldn't use actual feeder guppies to breed because they probably already have disease. instead by actual guppies and just use them. the larger tails will make them slower also and easier for the oscar to catch/see.


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Well, if you want to start producing useful numbers of feeder guppies, then you're gonna have to devote some dedicated gallonage to the project.

A kiddie pool works very well and is very cheap. You could also maybe make something out of landscaping garden timbers and plastic sheeting. A bunch of big Rubbermaid or Sterilite tubs also work.

Start with regular hobby grade guppies, not with feeders. Put them into a tank by themselves and breed them normally. Take the fry out and put them into the big containers. Do not put the adults into the big containers, because that will only contaminate the big containers with disease. The goal here is to create a new disease-free colony of guppies in each big container. This is what makes for good feeders.

Feed the fry a lot, and change their water a lot. This will make them grow quickly. They will rampantly interbeed, quickly ruining any "strains" that they may have had, and the resulting fry will look like "feeder" guppies.

A pH in the mid to high 7's and a temp in the high 70's will do quite nicely.
The addition of either yarn mops or real floating clump plants like anacharis or ceratophyllum will not only encourage rapid birthing, but it will help clean the water.
Be sure to use mechanical filters too, of course.

You can leave the new adult females in the fry tanks, since they will probably not eat many fry under these conditions. You can remove any decent looking males if you want and put them in a regular tank or sell them.

It will take several months to get it all going, but once it is, you'll always be up to your ears in feeders.


----------

