hi

I have some guppies & they keep eating their babies. I know thats normal, but my question is what is a goos way to get this to happen less.

I tried some of those breeder boxes but it really freaks out the mom. Any other ideas?

Ricky:

The best success i had with that situation was when I had a second 10g set up just for babies to grow out. If the breeder box isn't helping, that may be your best bet.

Other ideas -

Lots of floating hornwort for the fry to hide in...or even one of those fake floating grass patches you can get at your LFS or WalMart for a few bucks - anything to give them cover. I prefer things that float on top because that's where guppy fry (at least mine) tend to congregate.

Good luck!

some java moss, on the bottom would be very helpfully.

because when they are first born, they sink to the bottom.

then in the bit they head for the top.

Something I noted with Guppies, is that they eat the fry before they realise what it is.

I've seen an adult zip across the tank for a tasty morsal, just to pull up at the last moment, as it's realised that this is just a little fish.

Guppies that have not been around fry, will generally eat them.

If there is a spread of age groups, you have almost no predation what-so-ever.

So you need to build a population from adults, through juveniles, and down to fry. I have this in one tank, not a problem. But I wouldn't dare put the young ones with the Guppies in my other tank.

If you have a spare tank for the babies, this is best. I keep a few birthing/nursery tanks going at all times. The tanks are filled with java moss, on the bottom; and, lots of floating hornwort at the top. The pregnant female is placed in the tank about a week before I expect her to deliver. Then, after delivering, the female is moved back to her original quarters and the fry are grown out, until they are big enough to not be considered a meal. When they are about 3/4" long, I move the babies to an adult tank.

You can also remove the babies and place them are in a dedicated nursery tank, though this is more tedious if you have multiple females delivering.

If you only have one tank, just stock it full of floating hornwort; some of the fry will survive. I avoid using the breeding traps, it causes too much stress to the female and she can deliver prematurely. IMO, many of the breeding traps don't have adequate water circulation, which leads to all kinds of other problems for the female, as well as, for the fry which must stay in there until they are big enough. I threw my traps out years ago, and I have much healthier moms and babies now:)

From my experience with mollies, I definetly agree with the previous posts. A fry tank is best, but if not, you definitely need lots of cover for the fry. I have tanks loaded with java fern and my tanks are literally overflowing with mollies because they have such great hiding spots.