Bad Wolf

When will molly and guppy fry be ready to be introduced to the main tank? as in, how long or big do they need to be?

i have an angelfish that is sicko. i put a 8 week old guppy fry in the tank today to see if he/she would survive. the results, not big enough.

The fry was 2 cm, very nearly an inch and the angel was 3 inches tall, including fins. the angel had a few goes at the baby and after about 5 bites he got the baby head first in its mouth. the baby was to big to swallow and after about 5 minutes the angel spat it out. the baby died.

why are angels so agro? he couldn't eat it but he still had a go at it.

i also have a batch of 13 or 14 week old molly fry and they are ever so slightly shorter than the other baby mentioned. why is this batch growing slowly? shouldn't they be over an inch at 14 weeks?

any suggestions why they are so small?

sorry it's so long.

Nick G

They won't grow because the tank they are in is too small. When overcrowded, livebearer fry release a hormone which restricts growth. Once fry are a month old they need about half a gallon of water each to grow too their full potential.

Bad Wolf

i thought so, i used to keep them in a tiny breeder but then i set up my other tank. i did a post asking will it stunt their growth keeping them in a small breeder. they said no.

do you know how old they will be when they are about 3 cm?

thanx

ABCDemily

Probably because when fish see a foreign object that you yourself have placed within the tank, they mistake it for food. For example, if you give a guppy a bloodworm, they chew, spit it out, then chew, and repeat until they believe it it mushed up enough to eat.
The angel must've thought it was food, then realised it wasn't.

Bad Wolf

ahh, thanks