Breeding feeder guppies

[stormhawk]

so is a big NO to breed feeders guppies myself? is there any suggestion of any feeders i can keep and breed myself to serve at feeders?

If you just need newborn guppy fry to feed small predatory fishes, then yes you can always breed the feeder guppies.

If you are planning on raising the guppy fry to adults to feed larger predatory fish, don't bother. You will spend more $$$ on the food to raise them, not to mention the time required to raise them to bigger sizes.

You should mention what fish you intend to feed these guppies to. Might be easier to help you pick something else to culture.

[Blue Whale]

Those people getting cheap cheap guppies should take note. Even if you choose a lively guppies, there is no guarantee that it is healthy.

Certificated guppies, well, people usually don't mix them with cheap guppies for fear of getting them sick. But given my Kampung experience. I can tell you that, guppies produces faster than rabbits or frogs...lol. Do make sure you have spare tanks, and if you are in for a clean tank without any plants, you should think of hooking the pump to pipes, drilled with holes, then distribute against all the tanks. It's gonna be like a fish shop, but it does save space and give you a central air supply system. Making one can be back breaking, but certainly worth it once you have finished it.

[actorial]

im keeping feeders for my terrapins. both are really predators. 40 guppies in 2 nights!! but i dun feed them so much. only once when i wanted to give them a treat, and sadly....the guppies are all gone the next morning. currently im giving them maybe 5-8 a week to chase after (exercise)and eat. they really give chase for an hour or more to make the fish tired and eat them, i sat an hour watching that. so im thinking since guppies are not their regular food, so im thinking to breed myself rather than buy from LFS as what you guys mentioned, they are not really healthy. atleast i know they are breed by me myself, the enviroment and all i can control to make sure they stay healthy.

what im doing now are buy a pack like $2 from LFS and put into a breeder tank and feed them to my terrapin slowly but before i finsh feeding all, usually 50% die off and i gotta throw them away.

sorry for my bad english as im really suck at it. please guide me along. want my terrapin to stay healthy

Kevin

[stormhawk]

Did you know that terrapins will feed on baby frogs too? I used to feed mine with baby frogs once a week and they'll really chow down. You can save $$ and just buy those dried prawns for the terrapins. Only drawback to that food is, it makes the terrapin poop smell really bad.

There are pellets to feed terrapins too, and will probably suit you better in the long term.

[cyruslaguna]

agree with storm; shrimps or the like will pungenise the poo...

[actorial]

hmm... their main diet is Fresh green and tablets. guppies are more like a treat once a month. that is why im thinking to breed and feed them. hmm... i do know terrapin eat frogs. my terrapin chew everything down. they had my 7" pleco on the valentine day night!!! gosh....i woke up the next day to clear the bones for them....

Even if im doing a monthly treat is still a no go for breeding my own guppies? hmm...

[stormhawk]

Yup a no go. The time it takes for you to raise the guppy fry up to a good size for feeding the terrapins, and the space required, not to mention the cost of feeding them, is not worth the effort. Since they're just a monthly treat, buy from the LFS and save yourself some pain. You don't have to just feed them with guppies. Maybe some baby snakehead or catfish or even baby mollies will do. I even see baby Bettas as feeders, along with small Tiger Barbs.

[Blue Whale]

You could consider Stormy's idea.

If you decided to try to breed "Long Kang" (Drain) Fish, cheap! $1 per pack. You can, but you dunno if some are sick or not. If you live in CCK, the big Long Kang there which source head is places like QianHu, Koei Farm, etc., then you just need a pail and a big net, so long you don't get washed down by the water when it rains...heh You can ask for Stormy's number to go save you...ha ha.

[stormhawk]

Not saving people who fish from big longkang without a real plan.

In any case, most of the longkang are devoid of fish. Every time some construction job comes along, the drains get filled with runoff from the soil or mud, whatever the folks dig up and pollute the drains. The siltation gets so bad, where once I could find guppies to catch, all were gone soon after the siltation happened..

[actorial]

Alright, will give up the idea for breeding feeder guppies thanks all the pros here with all the guidience without you guys i might start my foolish act.

THANKS!

[cyruslaguna]

you're welcome; just let us know if you need guidance on guppy breeding

[jiajuen900]

I gave this idea a thought, maybe you could try breeding cheaper endlers instead, they breed faster and the parents dont eat the young. Even though small but depending on terrapin size it could work.

though i think abit cruel...

[Blue Whale]

Oh yes, Bedok Reservoir is dominated by Luohan, so don't even think of finding discus or guppies there. You will be terribly disappointed.

If you want to get yamatos from Seletar, make sure you buy insurance for the rest of the fish in the tank. They'd be ending the food for the yamatos. hey! they don't call them yamato for nothing right?

[jiajuen900]

I doubt the shrimp in seletar are yamatos...? not sure bet most likely not. Should be just common feeder shrimp. firstly yamatos require slightly salty water to breed so unlikey to breed in local resevoirs and secondly they are mainly vegetarians feed more on algae. so unlikey t ogo after fish.

[Lala~]

I would like to try breeding a big batch of them too!

[AquaObsession]

breeding guppies.. easy..

have a pail or a bucket, or a fish tank, or water can contain water... put plenty of rocks inside.. those with holes... put some eleodea (a plant) that grows super fast... leave it, occasionally feed, with ..hmm bread, fish food, biscuit, etc... and just forget abt it. mosquitoes, usually not a problem, the guppies should eat it...

that is what i did when i was in mauritius.. got about 30 guppies.. after 2-3 months, it was countless... pail size was about 2*1.5*1.5 feet..

the more you care abt them, the faster they die!

Cheers, Christophe

[Blue Whale]

jiajuen, you might want to think again.
Actually best if Choy is around (hwchoy - aq admin), he is local wild life type, he can tell you much. I don't how you will invite him to this thread..heh heh.

Stormy, you should be around long enough in AQ to know the wild shrimps. Dio bo (Correct or not)? Should be during the 2003 era if not mistaken.

[stormhawk]

Uh, I'm not that interested in the wild shrimps found here. Best to ask the crustacean experts at the NUS Raffles Museum of Biodiversity. There's a shrimp/crab expert there.

[Blue Whale]

Stormy I was thinking of getting our proacher in, remember? Heh Heh...

[hwchoy]

most longkang and reservoir shrimps are probably feral feeder shrimps (do not know their proper latin names). the only chance to catch real native wild shrimps are in the reserves or just outside of it. the most common is probably Macrobrachium malayanum.

just remember do not do any catching anywhere near the reserves, and that reservoirs are also restricted areas under the care of PUB. don't be like that moronic couple who buys a kayak and expects to have a right to use it in our reservoirs.