# MAJOR Guppy Overpopulation



## SmellsFishy (Dec 9, 2013)

Hey people. About 3 months ago, I started up my first planted aquarium ever (lightly planted) and the original inhabitants were 4 guppies, 3 otocinlcus cats, a pleco, 3 apple snails, and 2 whisker shrimp (Population of the tank was probably already too high, i'm planning on getting rid of the pleco and maybe the snails). 

Well, now everyone's still there but since I've added some plants in (water sprite, anubias nana, and a few dwarf sag) the survival rates up the guppy fry have flown through the roof :eek5:. I'm probably pushing somewhere close to 10 adults and an uncountable amount of fry.

The first thing I'm going to have to do is give as many as i can to my lfs and find something to do with the rest.

But, the thing I REALLY wanted to know was what would make a good centerpiece fish for a 10 gallon community tank and help reduce the number of guppy fry??? I love guppies but having to deal with new fry every few days can be a bit much. 

Thanks for any input! :thumbsup:


----------



## sdrober1 (Nov 29, 2013)

Golden Wonder Killies seem to be a common choice.


----------



## SmellsFishy (Dec 9, 2013)

Ya I was thinking that but my lfs sold all there males and only has females


----------



## sdrober1 (Nov 29, 2013)

Liveaquaria sells. Maybe you can find someone in the swap n shop selling?


----------



## SmellsFishy (Dec 9, 2013)

I'll check it out


----------



## wicca27 (May 3, 2009)

a pretty male sword tail or 2. mine eat up any fry i get. what size is the tank though that will make a big difference in what you can house in there. also i would get rid of the pleco if its a common plec cause they add more waist than help with and can get over 18 inches ive seen them that big people bring in to the local pet shop.

oops sorry its a 10 gal. i would get a nice male sword tail. you could always take fry to the pet shop for credit as well they can use them as feeder fish


----------



## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Definitely a nice male swordtail. A platy might also work well...


----------



## Art by Stef* (Jan 27, 2013)

I nominate a pretty swordtail. Just make sure it's not a guppy tail nipper.
Funny on the guppies. Yes, they are incredibly easy to breed. Unless you really want them to 
-Stef*


----------



## SmellsFishy (Dec 9, 2013)

I'll probably get a swordtail then to control the population. Haha! Dang! I wish I would of saw these posts earlier today and I would of grabbed this really nice swordtail from my lfs when I was there earlier.


----------



## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Swordtails are cool and they'll work, but the males can be a little snotty. My ones even pick on my cichlids! 

Why not try a dwarf cichlid? Apistogrammas, Laetacaras, and Nannacaras are built for ambushing and eating fry, and if you got one male (the males get bigger and eat more and look cooler), you'd be set. And, they're pretty darn tough, too.

As for stocking, if you just take the pleco back, you should be set. Plecos poop a ton (the scale of how much is unbelievable, trust me), and the otocinclus will do a MUCH better job of keeping the tank clean.


----------



## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

I'm heading down a similar road with my Endlers. I hate to dispatch any but they are going to overpopulated my 40 in no time. I'm going to attempt to start culling the largest females. But there are new fry every day or two it seems! I was ok with just an Endler tank before I found celestial pearl danios so I have a group of those also. The CPD go after newly hatched RCS but don't hurt the population, not sure if they go after Endler fry. I'm assuming a dwarf cichlid would nom my shrimp also?


----------



## Soothing Shrimp (Nov 9, 2011)

"I'm assuming a dwarf cichlid would nom my shrimp also? "

yepper


----------



## mistuhmarc (Oct 1, 2013)

How big are the shrimp?


----------



## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

I have red cherry shrimp, not a huge colony but they have been multiplying. My CPD hunt the newly hatched but after the shrimp are maybe a couple weeks old (guessing due to size) they don't bother them at all. The shrimp colony is still growing just not as fast and I'm fine with that as this was never intended to be a shrimp only tank....but...I don't want them all gone either.


----------



## toddnbecka (Sep 4, 2006)

I found that Akysis catfish will eat endler's fry but nothing much larger. Likely would eat shrimp too, didn't have shrimp in the tank with them though.


----------



## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

Would you consider upgrading the size of tank? a 10 for a swordtail with all those other fish is pretty small. Maybe consider getting rid of all your female guppies via rehome.


----------



## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Soothing Shrimp said:


> "I'm assuming a dwarf cichlid would nom my shrimp also? "
> 
> yepper


+1. Shrimp and any cichlids don't really go well. Only one winner in that situation. There's always exceptions, but the general rule is that the shrimp are goners.


----------



## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

In my case, some fry get sucked into the filter intake and I find them in the canister filter (over a dozen this weekend!). I put them all into a deli container and contemplated what to do with them for several hours...that's a lot fry to "cull". They ultimately went back in the tank.

I'm thinking I might setup a bare 10g with just a sponge filter and then put any fry I can catch from the tank (yea right!) or rescue from the canister in there until they are large enough determine male or female. I will keep males and either sell/give/cull females. I'm also thinking in the off chance my CPD breed and fry get sucked into the canister, I will have saved them using this method as I will know what they are as they mature.

The only down side is I don't want to end up with two tanks exploding with Endlers. Most of the fry in my tank that are several weeks old appear to female, I haven't discerned a single new male yet.


----------

