# thoughts on natural birth conditions instead of net for guppies?



## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

id like to try and do this birthing thing all natural like, so am i right in thinking if i had lots of 'bushy' tall plants for the females to hide it it will be more natural and safe than putting her in a breeding net till she drops them then taking her out and raising the fry that way? i dont want the mama to be stressed out tho and not birth her fry so any pointers please.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Personally I think it is better to leave them in the tank. Adult Guppies do not raise their young though. In fact, they will sometimes eat them as they are having them. If you're ready for a whole lot of fry to live and later have babies of their own, then maybe protect her somehow. If not and you let her be you will probably end up with a more manageable number down the road. The more stuff you have they can hide in the better.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

i always thought survival of the fittest is best so i dont mind a few being eaten, plus i was planning on feeding them to the cichlids anyway, but i might keep a few i really like and just go from there really. my idea was to have an all male tank but i brought a new fish tank to house my pregnant cichlid and it came with a few fish, some being female guppies that ive had to put in the guppy tank and as i already have male guppies.......


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Natural is the way to go however there is one trick to fry survival and that is making sure the bigger fish are very well fed.
Look at floating plants as the fry immediately go to the top and having that in there gives them a natural birth plus extensive safety cover at the top of the tank where they reside the most during their first month or so.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

ive been looking at amazon frogbit, but im not sure about live plants as ive heard there a big hassel to keep alive?


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

Id look at something furry like a combomba. It can float well and being so close to the lights it will do fine, it will also suck up all excess nutrients in the water column thus fighting algae and keeps the water pretty clear. Be prepared for a dark tank though with floating plants. 

You want it to be thick enough of a plant to hide the fry. the frogbit isnt really thick but does have roots that hang down but IMHO id go with a "furry" style stem plant. You could even plant the combomba and it will grow up to and across the surface.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I keep and breed wild type livebearers, and only remove gravid females if it's an expensive, hard to find fish I don't have a colony going of. Generally, the fish drop their young in the tank, and enough grow up that I sometimes get over-run.
I use floating plants on the surface, but I have learned that not all fry go right up. For the first few crucial hours when the risk of cannibalism is highest, most go to the gravel. By adding a few handfulls of unevenly shaped one to two inch round rocks to one corner of the tank, I can dramatically increase survival rates. If I get enough fish, it's easy to reach in and remove rocks that size. 
The fry hide around the bases of the stones, and between them. I still get a 20% survival rate, but when a species drops 50 babies every six weeks, that's good enough for me. The fish that make it are tough, fast and hardy (and sometimes just lucky too).
With just surface cover, I sometimes lost 100% of a drop.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

thanks all  ive got a nice little pile of different shaped pebbles ive been collecting for the tank, ill add those and order some combomba if i can find it.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Duckweed,amazon frogbit,dwarf water lettuce,all good floaters and will do well in most anything,esepecially the duckweed.Java moss is also a great plant for fry to escape to and munch the goodies in it.


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## piklmike (Jul 14, 2011)

I picked up some fake grassy plants on 12x12 in. grids,from Petco,cut them into various shapes and sizes,floated some,"planted some," attached some to the side of the tank with suction cups, and let nature take its course. I have to check for males once or twice a week and move them to the Stud tank. I've been doing this for five or six years and maintain a fairly consistant population. Till I see some particularly interesting spiecimens,then the fun begins,"POPULATION EXPLOSION"! My JD's and Oscar are very well feed!


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## Keza8el (Apr 16, 2012)

I'm new to guppies and have opted for the natural method and survival of the fittest, I tryed putting a femal I thought was about to give birth in a birthing box but she was freaking out and looked like she'd hurt herself, I reluctantly left her in there over night and checked the next morning for fry but there were none so I put her back in the tank, the next day I saw 2 fry and then 3  they seem to be doing well and as others have said I really don't want 20 new fish at a time and I'm happy that 3 are doing well in the tank with the other guppies 

Forgot to say my tank in heavily planted with live plants and I haven't had any trouble with having live plants so far, they are all growing well And offering great places to hide for the fry


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

the fake stuff sounds better, im finding it hard to juggle 4 tanks without having to learn about plants on top!!!!....maybe once ive got the hand of looking after 4 ill give real plants a go.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

zero said:


> id like to try and do this birthing thing all natural like, so am i right in thinking if i had lots of 'bushy' tall plants for the females to hide it it will be more natural and safe than putting her in a breeding net till she drops them then taking her out and raising the fry that way? i dont want the mama to be stressed out tho and not birth her fry so any pointers please.


I agree 100% and have ran tanks for years and years with a very large stable population of guppies by using planted methods. On the order of 30 fish from fry to adults including 1/2 dozen or so reproducing adults in a 10g tank. I routinely harvested 5 or 6 and gave them to friends. like every 2-3 months or so.

I also do this with platties and to a much lesser extent in marine tanks with mollies.

Just my .02


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

zero said:


> the fake stuff sounds better, im finding it hard to juggle 4 tanks without having to learn about plants on top!!!!....maybe once ive got the hand of looking after 4 ill give real plants a go.


Understandable. Plants are easier than you would think. Some plants require nothing special.....plants like Anubias, Java Ferns, mosses. They don't need to root in your substrate.


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