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My momma guppy just recently gave birth to 11 tiny little guppies. I was just wondering if buying a bottom feeder would help stabilize the tank by getting rid of waste on the bottom. The mom and the babies are separated in 2 different tanks and I'm worried about losing the babies as I am new to this hobby. Also- if buying a bottom feeder is a good idea- which ones would you recommend and which ones are the smallest? Thanks

Welcome to fp gen May the addiction begin...

I would not suggest a bottom feeder, b/c they eat leftover flakes and food, not fish waste. Fry are VERY sensitive to water quality, so IMO the best thing to do is use a piece of aquarium tubing as a siphon to clean up to prevent your ammonia level from getting too high.
How are the fry doing? What are you feeding, and are they eating well? Good luck with your babies.
HTH
~FF~

[span class="edited"][Edited by ferretfanatic 2004-09-04 15:48][/span]

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Hehe the addiction has definitely begun You mean I should get a gravel vacuum to clean the bottom? How much do those usually run? The fry are doing very well! I have been rotating between frozen BBS and ground up flakes and it seems to be working well. Thx a lot for your help!

Yep, you'll need to get a gravel vac. They run pretty cheap, I think mine was just a couple of dollars.

hehe...just wait a few months, you'll have dozens and dozens of guppy fry!

Congrats on your fry !

Do not add bottom feeders, they will eat the fry.

Best advice to give is guppy fry are sensitive to nitrates.
So get a nitrate test kit and keep those nitrates under 10.
Vaccing any leftover food is good but if you feed less you won't have that problem, best thing is frequent small water changes that match the tank temp to keep the nitrates down.. My fry tank nitrates are 7 currently and I test weekly to determine if it's time for fresh water.

My fave food for them is cichlid flake, freeze-dried brine shrimp and freeze-dried bloodworm, all ground up together to almost a powder using a small coffee grinder. This will help them grow fast and with a strong immune system.

For nitrate test kit, I suggest using the liquid nitrate test. It's cheaper than the test strips, and alot of members find it more accurate. I've really reduced fry death by monitoring and controlling nitrates using the tests. The memebers here taught me both the fry food and the importance of the nitrate level.
Best of luck !

[span class="edited"][Edited by DaFishMan 2004-09-05 10:49][/span]

The Amazon Nut...

Thanks a lot to everyone for your help. I will definitely take your advice and go out and buy what I need (after this stupid hurricane goes away ) Thanks again and I'll try to keep you posted on how the fry are doing!

That hurricane is somethin else, good luck !

The Amazon Nut...