How did my female guppies have babies?

[pettygil]

You have very small odds of rehoming fish for free let alone trying to sell them even for the $4 they sell them for at petsmart. It took me months to find mine a home. I will never put myself through that again. You won’t take the advice you haven’t yet. Your tanks are overcrowded and it’s a pure lack of respect for the animals. Play god now to avoid a several month or longer headache of musical tanks and new set ups, or most likely in your case since you said you can’t add another, dead fish.

I am tanking advice. That is why I am here. I love my fish and would not hurt them. I am going to let mama fish eat her fry, that is all I can do. I did not know getting female fish would cause this kind of problem. If I did I would not have bought them.

 

[af2018]

There you go! I’m not that far into it. I talk to mine but I’m still aware I’m talking to myself. But if they’re eating those babies this is a great outcome for you. It’ll save you so much headache. I had 5 tanks going last Christmas. I wanted to die.

 

[Andy Sager]

I have 4 female guppies in once thank, and 2 female guppies and babies in another tank. I need to get male guppies, once I figure out what to do with the fish.

At this point, forget the males unless you get rid of the females. If not, you will be getting babies until the fish die. The females will eventually stop having babies without any males in about a year or 2 or 3. Until then, you are stuck with getting rid of fish.

 

[af2018]

I am tanking advice. That is why I am here. I love my fish and would not hurt them. I am going to let mama fish eat her fry, that is all I can do. I did not know getting female fish would cause this kind of problem. If I did I would not have bought them.

Sorry I got a little carried away. You’re giving me flash backs here lol. I don’t want to see anyone go through what I went through. That was also back when I didn’t have the heart to let nature do its work. That lesson really taught me that the mollies need to be in with my angelfish so she eats all the fry

 

[Andy Sager]

I am tanking advice. That is why I am here. I love my fish and would not hurt them. I am going to let mama fish eat her fry, that is all I can do. I did not know getting female fish would cause this kind of problem. If I did I would not have bought them.

There is no guarantee the females will eat the fry. Some do and some don't. There is a guarantee that the tank will get very overcrowded if the population does not get thinned regularly.

 

[af2018]

There is no guarantee the females will eat the fry. Some do and some don't. There is a guarantee that the tank will get very overcrowded if the population does not get thinned regularly.

I’m totally on the same page Andy. If I get any survivors im overnighting them to come live with you jk

 

[pettygil]

At this point, forget the males unless you get rid of the females. If not, you will be getting babies until the fish die. The females will eventually stop having babies without any males in about a year or 2 or 3. Until then, you are stuck with getting rid of fish.

Well hopefully my guppies eat their fry. They ate some babies already. Is it ok to do the following . Get all the fry and put them in my 40 gallon, for my fish to eat. Just the fry, not the grown fish. Then those fish could have a tasty snack. It would get rid of the fry and my fish can have a tasty treat.

 

[pettygil]

I’m totally on the same page Andy. If I get any survivors im overnighting them to come live with you jk

That is my job. I am selling my fish to ebay. Is good money over there for fish fry. And the rest of fish I will ship to Andy. lol. Hope you do not mind. We can have babies together. You know what I mean to say. lmao.

 

[Andy Sager]

Well hopefully my guppies eat their fry. They ate some babies already. Is it ok to do the following . Get all the fry and put them in my 40 gallon, for my fish to eat. Just the fry, not the grown fish. Then those fish could have a tasty snack. It would get rid of the fry and my fish can have a tasty treat.

Normally I would say Yes but your situation is the following: IF you have any disease in the Guppy tanks or inside the fish themselves, you could contaminate the 40 by putting the fry in there. Some fish diseases are passed from Mother to child. Because of this, you run the risk of having problems in the 40. Farmed Guppies are known to not be the healthiest so there's no telling what's inside them. So if you do feed the fry to your other fish, you are taking a chance that there may be no recourse to. It's just a gamble you have to weigh for yourself.

 

[af2018]

Personally that’s exactly what I’d do if the current fish aren’t eating them. Or take them out and give them an ice bath or put them in a cup of water with some clove oil. There’s more “humane” ways to do it but I like the thought of them as a free extremely healthy snack for my other fish.

 

[af2018]

Normally I would say Yes but your situation is the following: IF you have any disease in the Guppy tanks or inside the fish themselves, you could contaminate the 40 by putting the fry in there. Some fish diseases are passed from Mother to child. Because of this, you run the risk of having problems in the 40. Farmed Guppies are known to not be the healthiest so there's no telling what's inside them. So if you do feed the fry to your other fish, you are taking a chance that there may be no recourse to. It's just a gamble you have to weigh for yourself.

I didn’t think about that. You’re right!

 

[Andy Sager]

I didn’t think about that. You’re right!

Most don't. When I was breeding Oscars, my Mentor told me that I had to learn how to breed goldfish to feed them all so that they had healthy fish to eat. ( And that was back in the 1960s before there was any of today's health problems with feeder fish. )

 

[pettygil]

See you can make money selling your fish for 39 dollars over at ebay for 10 guppy fry.
I would lead you over there but the link is really long.

 

[af2018]

$39 for 10 you said you have 7 or 8 so is all that leg work really worth it? Especially if you mess up and sell diseased fish and it wipes out someone’s population. You get to live with that and have a bad rep on your eBay seller account.
Do they cover the shipping as well or are you paying to ship as well as for the packaging supplies?

 

[pettygil]

Normally I would say Yes but your situation is the following: IF you have any disease in the Guppy tanks or inside the fish themselves, you could contaminate the 40 by putting the fry in there. Some fish diseases are passed from Mother to child. Because of this, you run the risk of having problems in the 40. Farmed Guppies are known to not be the healthiest so there's no telling what's inside them. So if you do feed the fry to your other fish, you are taking a chance that there may be no recourse to. It's just a gamble you have to weigh for yourself.

Well I do not want to contaminate my 40 gallon, so I will not do it. Thanks for letting me know. My 40 gallon is doing very good right now. I do not want to mess things up.

 

[af2018]

Well I do not want to contaminate my 40 gallon, so I will not do it. Thanks for letting me know. My 40 gallon is doing very good right now. I do not want to mess things up.

“Cranial concussion, decapitation, vodka, clove oil and iced very cold saltwater are all acceptable methods of euthanizing a tropical fish.”

 

[pettygil]

$39 for 10 you said you have 7 or 8 so is all that leg work really worth it? Especially if you mess up and sell diseased fish and it wipes out someone’s population. You get to live with that and have a bad rep on your eBay seller account.
Do they cover the shipping as well or are you paying to ship as well as for the packaging supplies?

What am I to do with the fish then? If I cant sell them or give them away? What if guppy mama does not eat all the fish. What I am trying to say is what do I do with the fish? Do I put them in clove oil to die, makes me feel bad to say that, but is that the only way to go?

 

[pettygil]

Looks like I am going to have to buy another 40 gallon, not sure where to put it but would a 40 gallon long be big enough for all the guppies, with just the guppies and no other fish. How many guppy fish can fit in a 40 gallon long? I know of a place that sells fish tanks.

 

[af2018]

What am I to do with the fish then? If I cant sell them or give them away? What if guppy mama does not eat all the fish. What I am trying to say is what do I do with the fish? Do I put them in clove oil to die, makes me feel bad to say that, but is that the only way to go?

It’s obviously not your only choice but it’s the best choice for you and your situation imo. I know it sucks but do it now and save the headache or keep going further in to accommodating this mess and learn for yourself that what I’m telling you is the best for everyone all the way around.
Unless you have some well thought out business plan and space money equipment etc you need to do what’s best for yourself and your fish. Learning is fun but it can also be very frustrating especially if you don’t have anywhere to turn. This isn’t fruitful and like Andy said these could be diseased. You won’t even put them in your 40 to be eaten why expose them to the general public ?

 

[af2018]

In this hobby if you want to be successful you have to get on board with “playing god.” In this controlled of a setting you have to be the natural selection. Like I said earlier sometimes these tough calls are necessary for the greater good of everything and everyone involved.