Question: Guppies: Breeding + Food for Axolotls

Hi Aaron,

yes, she could be pregnant, or can you suspend, that she has never been in a tank with males, before? Maybe she mated before coming to the pet store.;)

Tina
 
I don't currently have any axies but am thinking about it. From what im hearing it would be smart to raise guppies and earthworms as well because guppies are smaller and more like treats and earthworms are meals and more nutritious? Should i invest in more food or would this be enough?
 
All you need is earthworms...anything other than that should just be an occasional treat.
 
Any thoughts on where to raise earthworms? outside, inside? what type of box?
 
I know this is an old thread, but on the subject of guppies, could I keep some in with my red cherry shrimp? I've got a new setup for them and the tank's very big for them! Would guppies and shrimp get on in the same tank?
 
You should be able to, lots of communal tanks include cherries. Make sure you have lots of hiding places like java moss and piles of pebbles.
 
I had my guppies and cherry shrimp together, the guppies however will eat the tiny shrimp. I ended up using largish marbles in a single layer, this allowed the small shrimp and guppies space to hide from the larger fish. But you will need to clean between the marbles as like larger stones, they are great at trapping muck.
 
Or if you can get something like this "breeding grass" - should also be helpful
breeding-grass.jpg
 
has anyone else had problems with guppies nipping on gills? I'm about to move my larvae to the large tank with a tank divider, and I'll have a freed up ten gallon tank that I plan on using to breed cherry shrimp. I wouldn't mind adding guppies for the occasional feederfish, but I don't want any gill nipping.
 
*Wails* I CAN'T DO IT!!! I've grown attached to my guppies (Who were originally only in the big tank to stop all the bacterial media dying off), every morning they greet me very happily, demanding their brekky, and generally being rather happy.... So a few guppy survival questions:
1. Would a 20L tank be enough to support a colony of 15 guppies? (9 adults, 6 babies)- Coz I have two tanks, the 4ft which the guppies have taken over, and the 20L which the axies are currently hanging out in to avoid the heat...
2. If possible, I'd like to keep them SAFELY in the 4ft-er, any suggestions? (One or two casualties would be acceptable, but the babies... I was so excited to see them the day they were born (SO TINY!) I am currently establishing a java moss wall (In between plants dying off left, right and centre...)
3. I'm looking at getting some cherry shrimp in as well...any thoughts, pointers etc?
4. I currently feed bloodworms (Tried earthies and krill, they trio LITERALLY spat them back in my face), any thoughts to a food that would keep axies full enough that they'd ignore for the most part any tank mates?

It looks like at least a fortnight before I think about moving the axies, so i've got time (If little in terms of financial resources), so any help would be extremely appreciated...
-*hugs*, Minnie
 
My axies dont go chasing fish, they only eat something if it dropd infront of their nose so dont worry too much about your precious guppies ;) i keep zebra danios and white cloud minnows but havent seen them breed in my axi tank. Would guppies breed (yes much slower than usual) in sub 20 temperatures?
 
*feels rather relieved* thanks for the reassurance! As to guppies breeding... The temp doesn't go below 18-19c for me (Ah, the joys of Australia), and 20.5 is about the average, so hopefully they won't stop reproducing.
 
Quick update:
1) Guppies will breed at 20.5c...
2) Axies LOVE baby guppies (Though so far not the oldies)
3) And cherry shrimp
4) A LOT.

Hope this adds to the knowledge base!
 
I had some already pregnant guppies from a friend, one has given birth and the babies are doing fine at 18c. All the adults look fine, I see rapey males so I guess breeding is still going on ;)
 
I am a guppy breeder and i think that you should let the fry be separate from the parents. That way you can get the most bang for your buck by feeding them live things and getting them to be bigger. I love guppies but they make great food :)
 
So I have some guppies in quarantine (2 F, 1 M), and I came home today to see a little fry darting around the tank.
Only one of the females was visibly pregnant when I got her. The other didn't have a gravid spot but now she does and there is a white string hanging behind her which I read happens when guppies give birth. She's also vigorously swimming in place (and the filter is off at the moment).

I've only seen 2 fry at the same time so I honestly don't know how many there are (they could be hiding in the breeding grass)... and I haven't seen either of my females drop any so I'm quite confused.
 
Always put in more female guppy's then male guppy's :) if you put more males it just turns into a very exhausting orgy for the female, and they won't live very long to carry the young.

If you want to raise the young ones handy, buy a guppy seperator, it's this little box with very small gaps that you hang on the inside of your aquarium, so the water can get in, but the baby's can't go out, you sometimes have them with a double floor so the mother can;t get to them.

But your pregnant guppy's in there when they are really bloated, and feed the baby's in that box till they grow big enough to not be eaten by there parents :)

That's the only advice I didn't seem to read here, sorry if i missed it.

Cheers
 
Hi,
You can try Couple of Mollies, Adults may be to big for Axi but they will bread edible babies
Same goes for Platy,
I have both couples and it works well.

Also Mollies like a Hoover eat all the mess and need amount of salt in the water required for Axolotl..
 
I breed guppies myself, and I have about 11 in together, about 4 males and 7 females (will probably get another female) and we have 2 pregnant ones about to drop and some others that are pregnant (well my males certainly do their job) but the 2 pregnant ones are in a net holder with a plastic slat bottom where the babies will fall and hide until we remove them, we remove them as soon as we find them into cold water, and they grow up into cold water guppies (really cool!!) but you do lose some with the transfer, but those ones we feed to the axies, we also feed the clear guppies to the axies as we have too many and we like more colourful ones and hey, its free food, we then throw a few more females into the breeding tank to breed with the males, sell the rest of them and by the next litters whatevers left of them we feed to the axies!! Guppy fry are actually really great for axolotl larval as they are very small and can survive in the water until the larvae get them! We feed our guppies and axolotls daphnia because they really love it! I plan on setting up a huge tank to have a whole lot of guppies, so then the food is pretty much free!
 
Also Mollies like a Hoover eat all the mess and need amount of salt in the water required for Axolotl..


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