You can get 3 female guppies. Platy's are much faster swimmers then the fancytails, those big tails slow them down alot. I had a similar situation, 1 male fancytail and a lone platy. The fancy would tag after the platy all the time. I guess it was trying to mate >> or maybe just curious and playful. Most guppies sre pretty harmless, but someone here had a post of a "Killer Guppy". Also, if you have 1 male platy and 1 female platy, the male will also chase the female relentlessly for some tail. Livebearers like platy's and guppies should be kept at a 1 male to 3 female ratio to reduce stress from mating. Another alternative is all same sex. Livebearers are notorious bad parents. The chance of the fry surviving after birth is slim when kept with the parents and not removed to a fry tank. Livebearers mate constantly.

He's the man! If the tanks not too small add a few female guppies. If there's hiding places you'll soon be overwhelmed wity babies.

Yes - and I sure would like someone to tell my guppies that they should be notoriously bad parents. I have baby guppies galore - swimming happily amidst their parents and other adults.

Guppies are known for non stop mating. If you want to keep the babies with out them being eaten by the other fish, I would get a separate net container to put in your aquarium so they can be safe. Also plants are great for detering the other fish to finding bait frys. I bet Skygee has lots of plants in his aquarium. I have a 2,500 gallon pond of 15 koi and 2 feeder goldfish. Lo and behold my goldfish mated last spring and now I know they were a couple. I have 5 babies that survived out of the thousands, I assume, without any plants in the pond. Some Koi are awful with water plants as mine are. Ha! Sorry got off the subject a bit. But if there is a way, new life will survive.
Theresa

ineed more plants. i have never even had one guppy survive...and i think they are less hardy than "they" say. anyway, is that a myth that a female will change into a male if they are kept all females to a tank? i used to hear that. my inclination is that it was a juvie male mistaken for a female.

Fairy Toadmother,
There a some inexpensive net containers to attach to the tank for the babies to keep safe. When I was a teenager, now I am 56, I use to raise fancy guppies. The only way to keep the parents from eating their babies was to net scoop the babies, as soon as they are born, out into a separate section or container for them to begin their new life.
Theresa

Well - if you all were closer I'd be giving you my guppies. I'm running out of people to give my guppies to.

Theresa - my koi are terrible with plants, too. They think anything green is theirs to eat. The only thing they can't really eat is the broom plant, but they do nibble on the roots (which I have to jam under very heavy stones in the shallow end to keep them from getting them completely.

But I do get a few babies now and then (in my pond, they're either comets or mutts) because even without plants, there are plenty of nooks and crannies for them to hide. Also, the folds of the liner create LOTS of hiding places.

Since it's dead of winter, I really do miss the pond. All the fish are moving about veeeerrry slowly at the bottom.

Bad Parents! Had to laugh as just last night I was reading an old book by Dr Innes, whereby on the guppy chapter (and this was in 40's to 50's so were not the fancies we see now) it mentions the copious amount of breeding activity 'but nature provides the answer to this overpopulation by the parents eating many of their own fry'.

So seems they are doing a 'good' service (at least in natural environment) after all. Best (and any one want some fancy blue baby guppies let me know, lol) Sherry

My guppies are all mixed up. I wasn't really into breeding them, but did get them various resources and stock - but I loved the blue ones... so pretty! with the snakeskin patterns on the tail? No more blue males in my tank, but they did pass on their genes - so I have some very pretty watercolour guppies with soft splashes of blue, yellow, orange and green.

But of course the dominent colour (orange) is the most prominent in my tank. And I do have some females with very large tails that are beautifully coloured, too.

I seem to get the Scot strain of guppy. Get in my belly, I'm gonna eat ya'

Skygee,
This time of year, my koi are in slow motion or no movement at all. Ha! So i really focus on my hobbies inside my home. Fancy Guppies are very beautiful but my favorite tropical fish is the Discus. I so want to get a huge tank to have them again. Money is holding me up but I plan to get a 100 plus tank this 2006. My New Years goal. Theresa

lmao! woe....

i love blue...i currently have a female with a very pretty tail. i call it a sunburst for lack of knowledge. yellow round shape in the center and orange on the outside. also, a half black female and an orange male.

i was readingsomewhere that guppies need salt but can't find the thread or remember where it was. input?

That was me. I'm sorry - I'll try and hunt for the reference, but I started putting salt in my guppy tank for a while now.... hence the many many babies and my family getting tired of getting guppies for presents instead of the other gifts they'd rather have. ;) (I always preface the giving with - ooohhh, you'll like these - really pretty tails and colours!)

Anyway - I use 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water. This ratio has worked out well for me. The plants I have in this tank are salt tolerant - and the pencil fish that also reside in this tank are doing fine, too.

thanks! i look forward to reading your update, skygee. lol on gifts...

Here are some various references inre salt used in guppy tanks!

http://www.aquariumfish.net/information/aquarium_salt.htm

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/guppy.htm

http://guppyplace.tripod.com/TankMain.html

http://www.fishdoc.net/faq/faq_details.php?faqId=1989

http://www.fishlore.com/Articles/BreedingTheGuppy.htm

ooo, guppy place has a pic of those gorgeous blues! this site also states, "Amquel also plays with pH and adds a synthetic slime to fish which should not be needed in a routine water change..."

i have never ever heard that, specifically regarding synthetic slime!

thanks for the links, skygee!

I think Amquel changed the ingredients and it is now the amquel+ >> . I do know that Amquel did have an issue with pH but it is supposed to have been resolved. Either way Prime does the same thing and is way cheaper to use.

Skygee, Thanks for the laugh...tears were running from laughing so hard....no guppy gifts please. LOL

Sierra

a couple of months ago, I bought two female guppies and one male guppy from wal-mart. They went strait to work and I had a pregnant guppy in less then a week. unfortunately she died when she went into labor and the other female went crazy so I isolated her. She soon got better and I returned her to the tank where she got pregnant in a couple of days. i now have 15ish baby guppies in a separate taNK( i LOST SOME OF THEM TO HUNGRY PARENTS SHE GAVE BIRTH WHILE i WAS AT SCHOOL) I don't think all that mish mosh about special things you have to get for your guppies is really important. all you need for the parents is a 5 or more gallon tank, a good filter, light, thermometer, and something to put some oxygen into the water. For the babies all they want is some crushed flakes, light, and a little room to swim around in. An underground filter is best.all this I got at wal-mart cheap and also remember to get aquasafe and parasite anad ick tablets to have healthy water!

`i wish my guppy's would have their babies already.. how do you know when the male is mating with the female.. i have 4 females and 3 males the females all have the black dot on their bellies, but i got them from walmart like that so i have no idea as to when i will have lil ones... and how and when does the male do what he does in mating? i want babies and i dont know when it might happen.. im all ready for them with a breeder box i just dont know what i should look for to know when i should put my female in the box. also is a 5 galon tank big enough for all 7 of them plus the babies when theyre born

first of all you need to chill out second the females have babies in their bellies and will ahve them there for two months at the most, third you need to get a separate tank just for the babies because the parents will eat them. You will have alot of babies if all of your fish are pregnant. I strongly disagree with any kind of breeder net or box because it will put a whole bunch of stress on the fish its like putting a pregnant female in a closet for a week till she has her baby. The females will have their babies fine and if you hurry you can get most of the babies out and into their own little tank untill you can figure out which are males and females then you should separate the genders unless you want more babies. giving birth is a natural thing for fish and they need no help whatsoever except someone to clean their tank every once in a while since they don't have hands! hahaha

Okay...so I went to school and when I came back, my fish was a hell of a lot smaller, so I think she finally had her babies and then they got eaten. IÂve been told I need plants, but do they have to be real? Also, my guppies are continually hungry, so I feed them a little at a time and no matter how little I give them each time, they always miss most of it and it ends up on the bottomÂI think my fish are retarded, because they are always hungry, and never seem to realize thereÂs food down there. Should I get some sort of a bottom feeder to take care of this?
-Taylor
(goalietms@hotmail.com)