What should I do??? (urgent)

[zmarcoz]

Dear all,

I bought 6 guppies one and a half month ago, and I put them in a ten GAL tank. I got ~10 baby guppies a month ago and another 10 baby guppies a couple days ago. I was very happy.I understand that gravel will kill baby fish because baby fish like to go between gravel, and they don't know how to get out.

I remove all gravel last week, so make sure all baby fish are safe. However, another problem came out. All baby guppies are good, but the adult guppies don't like/ don't know how to eat food on the glass surface. From the waste of the adult guppies, I know they eat less than before, and the drop is significant. I don't want to put gravel into the tank and I don't want to buy another tank

Please tell me what should I do

Thanks

 

[ishar]

Well I have about 1 1/2 inch deep gravel bed. and I have only noticed one fry out of 9 fry drops die this way. I probably missed a few, sure, but one fry out of nine drops? That is not many.

Also, if you are leaving the fry with the adults, some are going to be eaten- and that is the nature of things. I leave all my fry in with the parents for a sort of natural selection, and I have had a few survive and are currently on there way to adulthood.

What I am trying to say is that unless you want to set up a seperate tank that is gravelless and everything for each fry drop you are going to have some of them die. If some are stupid enough to go under gravel and not get out then they are probably stupid enough to swim into the open and get chomped by mommy. The gravel won't play a huge factor in the loss of your fry.

 

[zmarcoz]

Well I have about 1 1/2 inch deep gravel bed. and I have only noticed one fry out of 9 fry drops die this way. I probably missed a few, sure, but one fry out of nine drops? That is not many.

Also, if you are leaving the fry with the adults, some are going to be eaten- and that is the nature of things. I leave all my fry in with the parents for a sort of natural selection, and I have had a few survive and are currently on there way to adulthood.

What I am trying to say is that unless you want to set up a seperate tank that is gravelless and everything for each fry drop you are going to have some of them die. If some are stupid enough to go under gravel and not get out then they are probably stupid enough to swim into the open and get chomped by mommy. The gravel won't play a huge factor in the loss of your fry.

Could you please tell me the size of your gravel?
I am not sure, but I think there are two size gravel, one is ~1cm in each dimension, the other one is ~.5 cm in each dimension
I have the big one, and plan to go to petsmart tonite to see whether I can buy the small one. I think the smaller one won't create gaps that are big enough for baby to go though, so baby should be safe.
Does anyone able to tell me whether whether my information of 2 different sizes of gravel is correct?

 

[punkrockfish]

i really wouldn't worry about the gravel size. your fish are going to breed so much anyways that you aren't going to know what to do with them. I'd just add some pea gravel, and let nature take its course.

 

[ishar]

what punkrockfish said is exactly what I was thinking. Trust me, unless you are wanting to commercially sell them don't worry about whether all of them live or not- if they do, you will need a tonne more tanks to house them all in.

I use 0.5cm gravel, and there are still holes big enough for the babies. My guess would actually be that the 1cm gravel would provide bigger gaps, so the fry can turn themselves around and get out a lot easier.

But really, don't worry about it. Just keep your tank the way it was and let nature take its course. It is either that or buy a few 55G tanks and several 10G tanks if you want to keep them all.

 

[MissFishy]

Ditto, I wouldn't worry about it. Your tank is already very overstocked as it is, I hope you are planning on selling some of those guppies or buying a much larger tank.

 

[Lotus]

I understand that gravel will kill baby fish because baby fish like to go between gravel, and they don't know how to get out.

That's just not true.

If the guppies are having trouble eating from among the poop, you'll need to either siphon more often, or use a turkey baster to remove the poop more often, daily if necessary.

 

[zmarcoz]

That's just not true.

If the guppies are having trouble eating from among the poop, you'll need to either siphon more often, or use a turkey baster to remove the poop more often, daily if necessary.

I do it every 2 days, but doesn't help

 

[Lotus]

To be honest, if you have fry in the tank, you should be feeding three or four times a day anyway. Your fish really won't starve. I've never heard of anyone having problems with guppies getting enough food. Using a separate fry tank really is recommended, as it means you can feed the babies and keep the water quality up, to give them the best start in life.

I'd say that the best thing for you to do is feed more often, and do water changes two or three times a week.

 

[zmarcoz]

I find out the reason why they don't eat
It is because not enough oxygen in the tank, fish do not want to go to the bottom of the tank to get the food
I buy an air pump, and the problem is solved *SUNSMILE*

 

[MissFishy]

I don't think that is the problem...if you have adequate filtration and water movement, your water is most likely fully oxygenated without an air pump.