Guppy fry care?!!!?

Question

My female guppy just gave birth to 15 fry, was able to save them all with luck. I seperated all the fry into a seperate tank, The problem is i cannot afford to buy a filter due to reasons. So i have to change water, but i do not know when should i be doing that, i mean weekly or everyday, and how? How much gallon tank will 15 fry need?!

Answer 1

fry are hard to change the water because they are so small. try changing 3/4 of the water once a week and leaving the rest with the fry in it until it gets really dirty on the bottom. make sure the water you change is well oxygenated.

Answer 2

You aren't doing the babies any favors by putting them into a small, unfiltered and *uncycled* tank! Much better would be to have left them in the existing tank with some breeder grass and/or other cover plants (live or plastic). Yes you might have a few get eaten but the ones that 'pass the juggernaut' will be the ones smart enough to survive (natures plan).

Since you've 'trapped' them in less than ideal conditions I'd probably recommend daily 10% water changes until they've doubled in size at which point they go into the 'real' tank. I learned a long time ago that I could speed they're growth by giving them a weekend feeding block. Yes those block do sort of pollute the water but it's just a short term step and will help get the fry into the good tank fast!

You do at least have an airstone in the tank with the fry? With no filter to stir up the water O2 almost certainly needs a boost.

Edit:

Just saw Robin's response. I like that she agrees with me on the water changes but maybe disagree with the feeding. Guppy fry need frequent feeding (thus the food block) but they can't overeat. They can (of course) die from pollution caused by lots of uneaten decaying excess food though!

Answer 3

Buy a filter. At the risk of sounding harsh, if you cannot afford a 6 dollar small sponge filter, you should not be attempting to raise fish fry.
How big is the tank they are in? In anything smaller than 2 gallons, even with a small sponge filter, you should do daily changes. Fry are susceptible to poor water conditions, and it is easy to overfeed fry. Use a clean turkey baster to suck up 1/3 of the water along with uneaten food, fish waste, dead fry, etc. Replace it with fresh dechlorinated water.
If you have a larger tank you can let it go for longer, like 3-4 times a week.
15 fry will survive in a 2 gallon tank, but if you get something bigger, they will grow faster and better and more colourful. When I first started, I was stupid and I get them in a 1.7 gallon tank with no heat and just a sponge filter. They lived fine but they didn't grow until I faced that fact that I had to spend some money, and I bought a proper 5 gallon tank with a real filter and heater, and they started growing like crazy. It also helps if you feed small meals every few hours instead of large meals twice a day.

Answer 4

a 10% daily water change will help but a filter is the best suggestion i can make. be very careful with regards to feeding. the fry are small and overfeeding will hurt the waterqualiy and kill the fry.