# guppy fry as feeder fish?



## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

Guppy's don't lay eggs.


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## fishyfishy101 (Nov 12, 2014)

jrill said:


> Guppy's don't lay eggs.



oh my, DUH!!! I can't believe I did that, I know that guppies are LIVEbearers.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

1. No.
2. You cannot add that many, the tank would be over stocked. 
3. They are known to, but see below. 
4. They might. If Guppies laid eggs. Gups are live bearers. 

Full answer to the concept:
You are describing 'The perpetual motion fur farm'. It cannot work. 

Here is the 'perpetual motion fur farm':
Feed rats to cats. 
Kill the cats to get the fur, and feed the bodies to the rats. 
Raise a few litters of rats to feed the cats. 

Remember the basic food chain:
The prey will only support 1/10 as many predators as there are prey (based on weight). 

It takes 10,000 pounds of grass to feed 1,000 pounds of rabbits. It takes 1,000 pounds of rabbits to feed 100 pounds of wolf.

Translate this to fish:
Feed the guppies one hundred grams of fish food. 
This will support 10 grams of guppies. 
This will support 1 gram of Gouramis.

Remember that the mother Guppies burn up a lot of energy being pregnant, and a certain amount of the food they eat gets turned into baby guppy. 
If all they had to eat was baby guppies from other litters, they could not make more babies than they are eating. They could only make 1/10 as many (or less- they need energy to keep themselves alive, too). So if one mother Guppy ate 10 litters, she could produce 1 litter (or less). 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good idea to raise live food to feed your fish. 
Set up a couple of 'food stations' equipped to keep the 'prey' alive. 
Salt water tank to raise brine shrimp, some dishes of oat meal or whatever for certain worms, a box of kitchen compost for other worms, a green water aquarium for daphnia and so on. 
People do keep a tank of live bearers to feed to their predatory fish. It is a lot healthier than buying poorly raised feeders. 
If you are interested in raising these other animals, then the work may be worth it. Or, if you have a lot of tanks. But to raise enough food, and varied enough food for a balanced diet it is not worth it for just one aquarium.


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## jrill (Nov 20, 2013)

Diana said:


> 1. No.
> 2. You cannot add that many, the tank would be over stocked.
> 3. They are known to, but see below.
> 4. They might. If Guppies laid eggs. Gups are live bearers.
> ...


Holy cow gal, I think you over thought this just a little bit. [emoji6]


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Should I have just quotes the laws of thermodynamics?


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## Plakatz (Oct 25, 2014)

They would supplement regular feedings. I've worm, micro shrimp, larva cultures. A steady supply of live food in seperate containers that eat on the cheap. Stuff like bread, yeast, algae, leaf litter, dirt...


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## FatherLandDescendant (Jul 24, 2014)

I use to feed guppy fry to angle fish, though I had the guppies in a separate 10gal tank. It wasn't a supply all I needed, more like the occasional snack for the angles


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I think we are all missing the very important question of why do you want to feed them live food? It does not seem worth it.


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## Plakatz (Oct 25, 2014)

I can think of 3 good reasons right off the bat, simulate/stimulate natural behavior for better physical/mental health. 2). Breeding/condirioning. 3.) Pleasure gained from taking better care of your fish... but guppies might not be the way to go in your situation. Scuds might be more in order...


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## mjryan2176 (Nov 11, 2014)

I do this still. I set up a 10 gallon with 2 males and 4 females. Its not an endless supply of live food but its close. Guppies are neat fish in there own right. Some people say a 10 is to small for guppies, but I disagree, as long as u are using the fry as feeders. I've had the same six for 2 years, and they have produced a steady stream of food for my other fish. I'd consider it a treat as its mostly a monthly thing. So far, all my fish seem to really appreciate them. The pair of brevis I have like them the most. They are small fish so I only add 2 once a week or so. I'd say go for it, but use a smaller separate tank. You will never really see them eat fry often. They will get eaten the instant they are born if in the same tank. My guppies are getting up there in age. I have a group growing out as replacements. So far my old breeders are still doing great, but 2 years old is kinda old for a guppy.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

HybridHerp said:


> I think we are all missing the very important question of why do you want to feed them live food? It does not seem worth it.


Live food is more nutritious than what you find in a can.

Yes you can use fry as feeders. Get a 30G tank and you'll have hundreds at a time. But you can also grow daphnia, worms etc....


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

mistergreen said:


> Live food is more nutritious than what you find in a can.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes you can use fry as feeders. Get a 30G tank and you'll have hundreds at a time. But you can also grow daphnia, worms etc....



I have doubts about the nutritional quality of guppies however and would be concerned about disease and quality.

Daphnia and worms would be better I'd imagine. More nutritious too I'd bet and more sense given the fish you have. Also probably easier.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

HybridHerp said:


> I have doubts about the nutritional quality of guppies however and would be concerned about disease and quality.
> 
> Daphnia and worms would be better I'd imagine. More nutritious too I'd bet and more sense given the fish you have. Also probably easier.


You can control quality and disease when you raise them. This goes for any live foods. You can feed the worms white bread or whole wheat. The whole wheat would give the worms more nutrients.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

True, it would depend on what foods you put into them. But if you are specifically using guppy fry I feel you have less control over their nutritional content given that they'd still be small and difficult to feed specific things. I'd feel differently if it was older guppies, but meh.

Regardless, I think most of the fish the OP has are more adapt to eating small crustaceans, so those would be better and more natural. I don't think any of those fish are really fish eaters in any substantial way.


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## fishyfishy101 (Nov 12, 2014)

Thx everyone, I guess I will do something other then guppies.


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## jasonkeller (Dec 17, 2014)

OK, That sounds weird. I would not propose that.


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## fishyfishy101 (Nov 12, 2014)

jasonkeller said:


> OK, That sounds weird. I would not propose that.



I don't get it?


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## Schoolofdisabledguppies (Jun 9, 2018)

I believe so. My Little sharky loves guppies fried.


I mean, my red tailed shark loves to eat guppy fry.

Bump: I know that 40 adult females can supply a 4 inch shark, and maybe ten that are chain spawning, but I don't know if 50 guppies can supply a tank. Make sure the tank mates don't attack the females


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