# Best fish for eating guppy babies



## MihaiS

I have a 35 gallon hex planted tank - nothing really fancy, setup mainly for minimal maintenance. Recently I got a problem - after adding a couple of guppies, they starting pouring babies and their babies started to pour babies of their own. For a while about four angel fish took care of it, but once they reached maturity they became aggressive, first toward each other, then after selling the first two, toward the rest of the fish in the tank. So now they're gone and the guppies keep pouring babies. I got a pair of gouramies, hoping that they would help, but they don't do squat about the guppy babies. I don't know what I can get that:
- would eat baby guppies
- would not be aggressive toward the rest of the adult fish in the tank
- would not eat my shrimps (some ghost shrimps that were sold as feeder shrimps - I like them!)
- would not be overly sensitive - my tank is not kept at fixed Ph, and temperature for example.
- would live comfortably in a 35 gallon hex tank -the angelfish were a stretch in this respect.
- pretty is a plus.

Thanks for the advice,
Mihai


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## theemon

Why Not Just Sell The Guppies Off? Put An Add In The Paper, 20guppies 20$.


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## theemon

Or Rarely Feed The Fish, Theyll Take Care Of The Fry


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## mistergreen

try other cichlids, paradise fish, gourami, rainbowfish, or any predator with the mouth the size of a guppy fry.


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## MihaiS

theemon said:


> Why Not Just Sell The Guppies Off? Put An Add In The Paper, 20guppies 20$.


Yeah, it crossed my mind but I don't mind a few adults, and I sort of like the idea of feeding some of my fish live food.



> cichlids, paradise fish, gourami, rainbowfish, or any predator with the mouth the size of a guppy fry


I don't know much about cichlids, but I got the impression that they are picky regarding the pH and that they are aggressive (so they're out). Gouramis I have a couple and they don't do squat. Maybe because I have some Elodea (Anacharis) on top and the fry hide in that. The other two - rainbow fish and paradise fish - I'm not sure what are those - never heard about them - I'll check them out.

M.


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## redman88

my beta started eating my guppy fry. i think he did any way since i don't see any more that are small enough to fit in his mouth.


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## jthompson

An angel of most any size "loves" baby "anythings".....


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## MihaiS

The angels are beauties - mean beauties . No more angels for this tank (they were a bit on the big side anyway), now, the beta - that's a different idea - I used to have a pair, I can give it another try - they are relatively short lived however (about a year if I recall well).

Thanks,
M.


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## mgamer20o0

i agree with the angels lol its why i kept a bunch of guppies in my 120 with my angels.


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## jus1time

Mihai, why not sell the guppies. I believe fish pros on western blvd. will take them off your hands and will give you a store credit. Ive sold my fish to them before. They usually give you 1/3 of their selling price, of whatever you bring in. They will even do the same for any extra plants you might have.


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## seAdams

> The other two - rainbow fish and paradise fish - I'm not sure what are those - never heard about them - I'll check them out.


Paradise fish are basically giant, super aggressive bettas (same family). They should not be kept with any of their relatives, like gouramis or really with most other species either. They also don't care for tropical temperatures.

I doubt that any rainbows large enough to eat fry would be suitable for a tank that size, especially since it's a hex tank.


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## plakat

MihaiS said:


> they are relatively short lived however (about a year if I recall well).


Should be around 3-4 if properly cared for.


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## marrow

golden wonder killies will eat them.


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## epicfish

marrow said:


> golden wonder killies will eat them.


+1

Golden wonders are beautiful fish!


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## joy613

If your male guppies have fancy delta type tails if you go with a betta they will get nipped a lot. The thing with having guppy baby eating fish, that is shrimp friendly is nearly impossible to figure out. Once the shrimp shed they can be eaten, I know my bettas will kill ghost shrimp in a heartbeat.


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## MihaiS

It crossed my mind to sell them, but since feeder guppies are about $1 a piece to buy, they would be about 30c each after they grow up, the gas to get there is more expensive than the payback . Not to talk about the fact that it goes against my "low maintenance" philosophy. I'd still like something that would eat them.

I really love my shrimps... and yes, the guppies have long tail fins (delta type). So the bettas are out, paradise fish are out. Any other ideas? I was thinking zebras (danio), but I'm not sure if they are really eating guppy fry; also not sure how aggressive they are in a mixed tank.

Thanks,
Mihai


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## Karackle

I was going to say the same thing, I've had problems keeping Bettas and male fancy guppies together, i think they see the long tails and associate it with being another Betta. 

If you like the way zebra danios look, they're very tolerant of less than stable water conditions, very good community fish and will definitely help keep the guppy population in check. 

And feeding less will help as well. 

Really any fish will go after live food though, the neons and glolight tetras in my 20 did a pretty good job keeping the guppy population down when I had females dropping babies in there.


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## Trallen44

What about swordtails? Unless there is lots of moss for their babies to hide in they eat them. So I would think they would do good at eating the baby guppy fry and not bother the adults.


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## Walking_Target

Mollies (the terrible omnivores of the aquarium world)


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## Complexity

If you don't find a solution to your problem, consider keeping only male guppies. Then you can have your guppies without the proliferation problem.


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## MihaiS

Swordtails and mollies don't do it (as I have both in the same tank). The "only males" is how I keep the swordtails in check (and only female how I solve the mollies), but by now I have lots of mixed guppies - I don't want to chase them all down if I can help it. 

The "funny" thing is that I have the exact opposite problem in my saltwater tank, where between the corals, anemone, pumps and other fishes, none of my clownfish fry ever make it despite having 30-50 released each month. In that case, I wish some would survive...

Anybody can confirm the zebra danios as an eradication method for guppy fry?

Thanks,
M.


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## amphirion

you can try the half beaks...although if they grow too big they might try to tackle more "grand" things.


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## jaidexl

Bettas really shouldn't be aloud to overeat, their digestive tract isn't built for it and they constipate easily, which is often fatal. An advantage to using schoolers like tetras or danios is the fact that there's more than one fish competing over the offerings.


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