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1) gourami, if so what type?
2)Angels?
3)tetras?
4)sharks?
5)danios?
6)other? if so please post what it is.

I have a angel and it the best fry eater i've ever had.
The angel has no top jaw so it has a lot of competition from guppies & neons, So i hand feed it to make sure it has enough food.
Does any1 else handfeed their angels?

R_Boy

You mean to eat other fish's fry, or to eat their own fry?

Well my angel fry/eggs keep dissapearing and I think it's due to the bristlenose in there, however i doubt he'd be good at eating livebearer fry.

Characins would probably be the best for free swimming fry as they can act as a pack and are very quick.

I have fed my angels by hand before but i usually don't bother as they're the ones who get most of the food in the tank anyway.

Livebearers's fry.

Anyway i've has no new fry for 4 - 5 months, after i wrote the topic i went upstairs and looked at my tank, & Lo, there was a newborn fry swimming! I caught it and put it in the Plastic box breeder & caught the biggest & fattest female and put her in. straight away she dropped 3 fry It was my first time to see a fry being actually born!
Gotta go, check the box!
R_Boy

I don't quite understand, you say you're looking for the best fry eater, yet you've moved your livebearer fry into a breeder trap

No, I just wanted to know which are the best fry eater in other fellow fish keepers's opinion.
Myself i think angels are best.
Okay, bonny,
Of now there are 23 but were 24 fry, bec i trapped one fry in a turkey baster and while transferring from the breeder trap with mom in to another empty breeder trap, the water inside emptied of it's own accord and it fell into the water and got eaten by the angel.
Yes i bought the angel to eat fry, But not to eat so many fry that it made guppies endangered in my tank! before i had about 40 guppies and now only have 7! Which is why i put the fry in the breeder trap. to boost the numbers of guppies.
I do have plants, But the angel charges into the plants as if they is not there.

R-Boy

Out of curiosity, what size tank are you keeping these in? You are aware that angels get very large, especially on a diet of guppy fry.

A 29g.
The angel will be moved to an 55g soon.
R_Boy

Yeah that's allright then, a 55g will be perfect for him.

What size is your angel at the moment?

Dwarf and blue gouramis as well as angels are at the top of my fry-eater list.

I hand-feed the fish in my 75g...severum, oscar, blue acara, blue acara/GT hybrid.

Very cool that you got to see fry being born

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I would say about 8cm tall.
Theresa It was!

Thanks..
R_Boy

For those looking for fishes that will eat surplus fry in a large scale livebearing breeding operation (e.g., fancy show guppy breeder looking for a predator to dispose of malformed or otherwise suspect specimens) there are all manner of predatory fishes that will perform the task VERY efficiently.

These include such species as:

Hoplias malabaricus juveniles (adults need bigger live fishes up to about 6 inches in size!)
Monocirrhus polyacanthus Leaf Fishes
Polycentrus schomburgki Leaf Fishes
Oxyeleotris marmoratus Sleeper Gobies
Belonesox belizanus Pike Livebearers
Phago maculatus Pike Characins

Having said that, most fishes that are large enough and have some liking for animal matter in the diet will do the job, such as medium to large Cichlids, larger Labyrinth Fishes, and quite a few Catfishes (Pimelodids are particularly assiduous predators given half a chance, while some Doradids will also clean up fry). For that matter, even Kribs will help themselves to Guppy fry if they're big enough. Many fishes don't need to be obligate piscivores to enjoy a fry snack, but the most efficient fishes for dealing with large numbers of fry from a breeding operation tend to be chosen from the list above, or from among other obligate piscivore species.

For the typical hobby setup, however, going to the trouble of obtaining a Leaf Fish is hardly necessary. For that matter, the livebearer parents themselves will cut down the numbers if they're not in a breeding trap and the fry are simply delivered up amidst the rest of the fishes.

However, if fry are unwanted because of potential overcrowing issues, for exmaple, prevention is much better than cure. Just keep your livebearers segregated by gender, and make sure that all your stock is bought from a source that keeps them segregated.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002