Babies galore

I have a tank of 1-1.5" babies about 10 weeks old and another tank of 4 week old babies and today I saw the male with the female in his cave again. I have no more tanks or room or electric sockets. If I leave these new babies in the main tank I know they will be eaten straight away by the zebra loaches and the large doras. What would people say for advice? I don't know if I can stand by and see them eaten.

Grab a fry saver

Stick the fry in there and they will be safe

Looks like now is a good time to start moving on some of the larger young from the first batch Some of the larger young from the second batch could then replace them. Hopefully this could give you space to put the third batch with the smaller one's from the second batch when they grow to big for the fry saver.

Hope you understand that as I'm getting confused myself

I have a fry saver Doug but they couldn't stay there for long as it's quite small. Could find a bigger one maybe but even then

jim.and that is a good idea but I haven't exactly found anyone to take them at this size. LFS said they want them sexable size! :roll: I'll never achieve that with 60 in a 2' tank. I'm not interested in money for them just want responsible keepers to look after them

june wrote:

I have a fry saver Doug but they couldn't stay there for long as it's quite small. Could find a bigger one maybe but even then

jim.and that is a good idea but I haven't exactly found anyone to take them at this size. LFS said they want them sexable size! :roll: I'll never achieve that with 60 in a 2' tank. I'm not interested in money for them just want responsible keepers to look after them

I have to admire your thoughtfulness, love, care and attention.....

Exactly what I do sometimes or swap for other fish equipment

I have 70 at the minute though about 20 ready to go, have to admit keeping the fry and babies in any tanks less than a 80cm I tend to find it holds
their growth rate back and they tend to mature at a slower rate and not ready to go till about 8-12months.

Though in a minimum 3ft or 4ft tank you can often see baby and fry get to 2-3 inches in 4-5 months and most Local Fish stores will
take them at that size.

It makes you laugh since most LFS (local fish stores) do not have the experience enought o identify sex of cat fish in general any way...lol..

I admire you fully for wanting reputable fish keepers for the extra fish you have so I will give you a thank you point as well.

regards

LJ

Thank you LJ.
May be I can run to one more tank. ( my electricity bill ) But this isn't going to end with the current eggs and there are not the outlets for so many young especially here. I saw someone on ebay from Northampton trying to get rid of his. I have to be sensible but it's heartbreaking to watch the dad caring 24/7 for his eggs only for them to emerge and be eaten that night. If I could catch them I would prefer to offload the predators - 2 large doras and 3 zebra loaches.
I had 5 nice coloured baby guppies got to about 1cm and suddenly overnight they were gone.
This hobby is meant to be stress busting but I'm finding just the opposite.

june wrote:

Thank you LJ.
May be I can run to one more tank. ( my electricity bill ) But this isn't going to end with the current eggs and there are not the outlets for so many young especially here. I saw someone on ebay from Northampton trying to get rid of his. I have to be sensible but it's heartbreaking to watch the dad caring 24/7 for his eggs only for them to emerge and be eaten that night. If I could catch them I would prefer to offload the predators - 2 large doras and 3 zebra loaches.
I had 5 nice coloured baby guppies got to about 1cm and suddenly overnight they were gone.
This hobby is meant to be stress busting but I'm finding just the opposite.

June,

I have exact same problem....

Infact with me it is worse, I have two bumblebee cat fish and a south african butterfly fish at one point and 8 peppermints in one tank
with my breeding pair, and every night I was losing about 6-8 pleco fry and guppy fry to boot.

Not was it until I looked into my fish characteristics did I realise that the local fish store said the bumblebee and butterfly fish were
ok to keep in a community tank

However I found out with in the week that they were nocturnal predators and I lost about 60-70 fry and about 12 show female guppies trying to identify which fish were the predators.

I now check out all fish characteristics and habitats before buying now, or even relying on the advice of the fish store.

The butterfly fish is now relocated to a tank with a siamese fighter and they seem to get along ok

Sounds like you have the bug like most of Us on here.....

Good luck in finding new homes

LJ

Sorry to hear of your guppy fry losses..
LFS are annoying, they only care about getting your dollars/pounds..not about the fish they sell you...It's a crime...
Here is a great site to check the compatibility of fish...
http://aqadvisor.com/
It will tell you everything you need to know about a particular tank you have & what can be housed in it successfully... You only have to add the particulars...

Well if I'm strictly honest I asked LFS for something that would rid my aquarium of lots of snails which either the doras or the loaches did. Ididn't look into their other appetites. However, I have seen platys sitting under a female while she is giving birth just eating them as they are born. Raw nature I know but I don't like to put anything at an unatural disadvantage.