Adult Parent Guppies Not Eating Or Killing The New Born Fry

HI everyone,

Recently my guppy gave birth to some 13 or more fry, they are currently in a 15 gallon tank with artificial plants and some neon tetras and the father guppy around. However what I find strange is considering that I never got the chance to place the mother in the breeder box the fry ended up in the main tank and it is indeed difficult to fish them out, the parent guppies and the tetra don't seem to be attacking or harassing the young fry. Usually when fry are born they hide underneath in the gravel or in the plants, but in my tank the fry are swimming right at the top and the middle of the tank where it is very easy for them to get caught and munched on by the adult fish as if it's totally ok and to my surprise they are okay and unharmed. I can't help but wonder what's different about these fry that they happen to be so fearless..

 

Are they large enough to not be eaten?

 

It only takes a couple of days for fry to grow large enough that they are no longer helpless bite-size morsels for small fish like guppies and tetras. They may still be in some danger, but it lessens with each passing day, especially if the adults are well fed. I'll bet yours are the 13 survivors of a larger brood, some of which did indeed get eaten soon after birth.

I've never seen livebearer fry hiding in gravel. They do like plants, but they also spend plenty of time in the open as well. I have a new brood of Heterandria only a few days old (these fish are born one or two at a time, spaced out over several days or a week), and as I type this the smallest/youngest are in the hornwort, but the older/larger ones are cruising around the surface like they own the place...which, in this case, they do, but still...

 

Are they large enough to not be eaten?

I can't say because they look pretty small to me, and its been like just 4 days now so I don't expect them to grow big right away, but what surprised me is that right after birth they were swimming at the top and not hiding at all..

 

Are they larger than the adults mouths? Most likely they are larger. Maybe they are just stupid.

 

It only takes a couple of days for fry to grow large enough that they are no longer helpless bite-size morsels for small fish like guppies and tetras. They may still be in some danger, but it lessens with each passing day, especially if the adults are well fed. I'll bet yours are the 13 survivors of a larger brood, some of which did indeed get eaten soon after birth.

I've never seen livebearer fry hiding in gravel. They do like plants, but they also spend plenty of time in the open as well. I have a new brood of Heterandria only a few days old (these fish are born one or two at a time, spaced out over several days or a week), and as I type this the smallest/youngest are in the hornwort, but the older/larger ones are cruising around the surface like they own the place...which, in this case, they do, but still...

How many days does it take for them to grow large enough to avoid getting eaten?
@bold don't know much about that because in almost every batch of fry that were born to my fish they always laid low in the breeder box and the tank dedicated to new born fry, so this was pretty new to me

I guess you could be right about them being part of a larger brood.

 

Are they larger than the adults mouths? Most likely they are larger. Maybe they are just stupid.

Well since its been four days I guess they would have grown a bit though I can't make out the difference, but about being larger than the adult's mouth I wouldn't say their large let's just say on their way to it, but even if that were the case I adults would still be able munch on them without having to swallow them whole.

About the fry being stupid, I guess they maybe or the parents are just very busy with each other to bother about the fry..

 

Guppies can give birth long before they are at their maximum size; how big are your adults? How well fed? How much food are the fry getting (less food, slower growth)? Impossible to answer this question, each case is different.

There's nothing different about these fry. They are getting bigger (and less "eatable") every day...they're the lucky ones.

What food are you providing for the fry, and how much? If they are just expected to subsist off the normal food you provide for the adults, they will be more on the move in the open simply because they are hungry and looking for food of the appropriate size. Or if you are feeding them specifically with small foods, where are you placing the food? Do the currents in your tank take it into the plants, or is it carried into the open? Wherever it goes, that's where the fry will go. Not being eaten takes second precedence to finding enough food; it's true for any fish, especially fast-growing young fry.

 

I have a new brood of Heterandria only a few days old (these fish are born one or two at a time, spaced out over several days or a week), and as I type this the smallest/youngest are in the hornwort, but the older/larger ones are cruising around the surface like they own the place...which, in this case, they do, but still...[/QUOTE]

How much hornwort do you have? I currently have a balloon Molly who I believe is pregnant, if she’s not my male Molly is working very hard to change that. I added some hornwort and will be adding java moss soon, but I just don’t know how much would be sufficient. The tank is in my daughters room and I would really like to keep her from witnessing the circle of life first hand.

 

I actually removed several handfuls yesterday, but that still leaves about 15 "linear feet" if that makes any sense. It's a loose floating mass probably 3 inches thick by about 18 or 20 inches across. Hornwort grows like wildfire in my super-low-tech tanks, and it is about the best fry cover plant that I have.

I also have a ton of Java Moss, but it's mostly near the bottom, and my livebearer fry tend to hang out near the surface. The moss is terrific cover for shrimp, not so much for fry.

Mollies aren't particularly predatory; with any decent amount of cover, and sufficient feeding for the adults, most of the fry seem to do okay in my tanks. No guarantees, of course...some will probably get eaten...but it certainly won't be a blood bath.

 

That made perfect sense! Thank you very much!

 

We are at the stage where we WISH the guppy fry would get eaten. We started about 8 months ago with guppies, and 'saved' the first 3 batches (netted and put in separate tank). We have had at least 5 batches of fry since then.We have 3 tanks,38,29,20, and all of them are overpopulated. We found someone who was starting a new 60 gal. tank, and gave them quite a few of them. We are STILL way overpopulated. Wish we knew of a place to get more of them re-homed. (They really are pretty. Many are cobra/zebra patterned and we DO enjoy them. But enough is enough.) Needless to say, we don't isolate any new fry now.

 

Then:

...We started about 8 months ago with guppies, and 'saved' the first 3 batches (netted and put in separate tank)...

Now:

We are at the stage where we WISH the guppy fry would get eaten....enough is enough.) Needless to say, we don't isolate any new fry now.

ops:

 

Lol, sorry I know this isn’t funny, but.

I went to visit my mom, who never had fish before.

I asked her how much and what was she feeding her guppies.

She said she didn’t have to feed them much, as her guppy mom’s just kept having babies and then eating them. So they were hardly ever hungry.

Sigh....