New guppy fan here!

Keeping em in a small pond, about 15" wide. Just added a water cabbage to reduce algae growth. I know algae is good for the fry, but it gets too much at times, until cant see anything beyond depth of 2". They're thriving, altho occasionally a fry dies once a week. I suspect it's being bitten by the others, cos the fins are all torn apart. Probably cos it's getting a bit crowded. (about 50 fries, and 6 adults).

Now planning to get a small aquarium to keep the male adults, while letting the fries grow without being harrassed too much.

It's not really a pond. Dunno what to call it.

Thanks

That was after a 50% water change. Wondering how much green can they tolerate.

A few months ago was like this:

Lots of water cabbage, and water tend to remain clear. The plants grew buds really actively, almost covered the entire pond. Had to remove some once in a while. But after a few weeks, the plants started dying (the leaves and root rot easily) and the water turned green. No idea what happened.

This post has been edited by danny_sp15: Feb 27 2015, 12:36 AM

Well it is being exposed to sunlight directly, cos it's on the balcony. I wanted to move it indoors but we dont have the space. I added a pair of algae eaters a few weeks ago, but it doesnt seem to help.

The previous water cabbage dies off easily. The new one I bought (different type, not sure what is it called) seems to be sturdier, though it doesnt really propagate.


Starting a small aquarium to separate the males cos I dont want any more fry. The pond is overcrowded as it is.

A small bedside table to put the aquarium


20 mins assembly + really sore hands.


Small aquarium with black gravel. Personally I like white better, but worried it might look dirty easily.

Thanks for your suggestions

Stopped by a petshop today, they're selling Ottos for 4.50 each. They seem to work really hard sucking every inch of the aquarium, but I'm just worried it might not be as hardy as the guppies and might not survive the pond. The Golden Chinese Algae Eaters i have are not helping much with controlling the algae.

The black gravel in the aquarium is kinda okay i guess. Not too sharp, but I wouldnt say smooth. The guppies seem to be okay for now. Not sure if it will be safe for corydoras or ottos.

Sharing pics

You mean the guppy on the left in second pic? I think just because of the way he swims. They all look fine in real life.

The tank hasnt been cycled though. I dont have other fish to cycle it with. So have to use the guppies. Gonna do frequent water changes as well. I hope the plants will help also.

My only concern at the moment, is the guppies are extremely active in the new tank. And they like to play with the water current from the pump, rather than wiggling along in the other half of the tank where the water current is minimal. They're behaving like a school of fishes as well. If one guy goes to one side of the tank, the rest will follow as well. One goes to the bottom, the rest will follow. Just wondering if this a sign of stress or is it normal behavior.

i let the water stand for 1 day, and run the pump for 1 day. on the first night, they seem restless and not feeding well. but the next day they're eating again.

yeah they're not schooling fish, which is why im wondering why are they always doing everything together in groups. maybe just bcos the tank is too small.

yea, should've let the pump run longer. too eager back then.

i dont want them to breed anymore and so far this all-male tank seem ok. everyone's getting along quite well. i keep a daily lookout for any clamped fins, any torn fins, anyone biting each other, and whether they are able to rest at night. anything else i should keep a lookout for? they're really small and cant stay still, so i cant look at the scales or pectoral fins properly.

i think im just lucky. these guys arent too picky. i have 2 more males, different type (Delta tail i think), which like to harass others. tried putting them in the tank, but they werent doing so well. macam no mood, not swimming much. so i put back in the pond then terus active again. will try them again in a few weeks.

once i have more experience, might plan to get another and bigger tank later on.

That I didnt know. Thought a bigger tank would require more maintenance, and also of course would cost more. The thought of getting a tank in the first place only crossed my mind when i saw the price of the small tank being quite reasonable.

The filter is kinda strong. Rate is 350L/hr. The valve can be adjusted though, already set to minimum. But still, tank is only 11L. Went to the shop to get a replacement but they dont allow cos already used. So probably gonna get another filter and sell this one. Lowest rating HOB i can find is 185L/hr with valve as well.

At the moment, only the area directly below the filter has turbulent flow. The other half of the tank is alright. The guppies only swim around the filter area during the day. By night they usually rest on the other side of the tank, between the plants.

Might get a slightly bigger tank if I can sell off my current tank. But not much difference, aiming for 18L. Cos space is a limitation.

I changed the HOB filter to a smaller one, rated 185L/hr, valve set to minimal. Water is much calmer, and so are the fishes. They're not playing with the water current anymore since it's not as strong. Only concern now is the filter's intake is kinda short. So the debris at the bottom is not sucked in as much as before. Guess I'll have to vacuum the gravel more often.

I think i've seen that kind of tube. Is it this one?



Thinking of converting to a planted tank. But still searching on how feasible it is.

2 feet memang no space. cos im keeping the tank in room.

just vacuumed the dirt manually. stirred the water a bit to bring up the debris so that can suck easier. turns out all the debris now stuck in between the cabomba plant.

Also manually calculated my filter rate. At lowest setting, it's filtering at 90L/hr. So that part kawtim.

This post has been edited by danny_sp15: Mar 3 2015, 10:17 PM

yeah, 1.5ft is the max i can stretch.

the plants are KIV. at least i just wanna get a bigger tank for these guys. they seem happy for the moment, just that they dont have that much space to move around, feel kesian pulak.

kesian this guy got torn caudal fin. i suspect nibbling by other guppies.

Thanks

I have 5 of those. Memang active all the time and like to kacau each other, but no serious injury or anything. So far all looks healthy

The torn fin on the big one Im monitoring first. If they keep on nibbling him, might have to return him to the pond.


Update on pond:

Got foam filter now. Doesnt help much with mechanical filtration, but hopefully the biological filter will establish well. Algae growth is still as persistent as before. But I guess it will provide food for the fry.


The water cabbage is growing a bud! Hopefully it wont die off like last time.

Small tank, 1ft only. about 11L capacity. The table, i think should be ok. they didnt mention the max capacity it's solid pine though. RM29.90 from Ikea.

that should be roughly the weight of a thin person my table wont even fit that aquarium size, let alone handle the weight

My pond miraculously became crystal clear almost overnight. No idea what happened, cos I didn't change anything. Hopefully the guppies wont mind the clear water.

1 month ago:


Now: