a few questions on guppies please?

Question

1.can i place some hollow ceramic bacteria thingy on the bottom of (1)2 liter plastic tank with 5 newborn guppy fry (2)5 gallon tank with adult and fry

2.my two female guppies are swimming up and down the glass walls of my tank.. why is this? they do it at least an hour a day.

3. can i replace my carbon/ zeolite filter cartrage with ceramic thingos?

4. do guppies jump out of the water?

Answer 1

Q-1. I would not add anything to the fry tank besides live plant. It might have something toxic on it.

Q-2. They do this. I think they are eating from the glass. Mine do it also.

Q-3. Not sure about that someone else will have to answer that one.

Q-4. No not usually. The fry are very fast and can jump if something is after them.

I have 6 fry a months old and last night another one had 12 fry.

They are so cute.

Congrad and good luck

check out my site for more info on guppies and fry

Answer 2

1. If by "ceramic bacteria thingys" you are referring to the ceramic tubes or tiles used to support beneficial bacteria necessary for the ammonia-nitrogen consumption process, then yes, you can purchase them, but they should be placed into a canister filter or a trickle filter. Water must be FORCED through the ceramic tiles or tubes in order for the ammonia-nitrogen process to work. If the ceramic pieces sit on the bottom of the aquarium, your fish will not fully benefit from them. The ceramic pieces won't hurt anything if they sit on the bottom, but they won't be working to their full capacity.

Before you place the ceramic pieces into the aquarium, I'd wait until the fry are older. Although the ceramic pieces won't directly hurt the babies, the ceramic pieces contain microscopic traces of dust and debris that could leach out into the water and clog the gills of the babies. This debris passes through the gills of larger fish more easily.


2. I've seen guppies do this for the last 26 years that I've been in the fisheries and aquarium business! I've never known this behavior to be a sign of ill health, so assuming that the fish look healthy otherwise, they should be fine. They are probably just doing "fish stuff."

3. You can replace the carbon/zeolite filter cartridge with ceramic tiles/tubes, however, as I mentioned before, the ceramic pieces should be placed into a forced filter of some type, such as a Fluval canister filter or an Eheim canister filter.
If you have a filter that hangs on the back of the aquarium, do not waste your money on the ceramic tubes/tiles because those type of filters are NOT forced filtration filters and will not work as effectively with the tiles.

Also, what is your rationale for replacing the carbon/zeolite with the ceramic pieces? Both types of filter media perform entirely different tasks:

Carbon/Zeolite - Carbon removes colors that leach into the water from rocks, gravel, etc., and it also removes any medications you put into the water (if you ever have to treat your fish with medicine, be sure to remove the carbon). The Zeolite is primarily used to keep ammonia levels at a minimum.

Ceramic tiles/tubes - Used as a biological "home" that houses beneficial bacteria needed to keep the ammonia-nitrogen (nitrite) cycle in balance. Again, these tile/tubes work much more effectively in a canister filter, not the kind of filter that hangs on the back of an aquarium.

4. Although guppies are not notorious jumpers, ANY fish can jump, and I've seen guppies jump also.

Hope that helps! :)

Answer 3

Ans 1 . - Yes. If you have a thick enough layer, the fry might hide in it.

Ans 2. - Sorry no idea about this one as it has not happen to me.

Ans 3. - You don't need carbon and zeolites permanently in your tank. And anyway, these items have life span. Once they get saturate they don't work anymore, in that situation they become just like any item in your tank, they become host for your bacterial. Of course they are not as efficient in hosting bacterial compared to the ceramic rings you got. So do replace them.

Ans. 4 - Normally they don't.

Answer 4

I think your ceramic thingys might be the ceramic rings used as filter media (see photo: http://aquarium-supply.biz/products/RHG11470_LG.jpg )?

1)yes
2) might be normal, or might be related to water quality - have you tested for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
3)yes, but these only provide surface area for bacteria to grow; if you need to remove phosphates or medications from the tank, you'll have to switch back to the others
4) sometimes - if a predator is after them or the water quality is bad (see #2)

Answer 5

1. cannot, because the plastic tank to small, enough space to the fish swimming and enough oxigen.
2.because they are happy and healthy.
3.cannot
4.sometimes will. If you new buy the guppy is 50% will jump out,becayse they don't like that place.

Answer 6

what are "ceramic thingys"?

can you get a link or something