Guppies?

[Aquai]

Anyone succesfully kept guppies in a reef environment? I heard they could be converted to saltwater like mollies but can't believe it myself, and google gives mixed results...

 

[oicu2]

I could be wrong but the fancy guppies are strictly freshwater, but the feeder guppies can be converted to brackish water. I have quite a few of them in my brackish water tank and they are breeding like crazy. I originally put them in there to feed my puffer and moray eel but they have no fear and have continuously mated. I've recently taken one of the feeder guppies out of his tank and put him in my reef tank to see if I could get my anthia to eat. He was gone the next morning. I'm assuming he became food. From what I've researched on the internet, feeder guppies can be freshwater or brackish water. I'm not too sure if they will survive in full saltwater though. Hope this helps.

Katherine

 

[Aquai]

Yuh, that sounds about right, i don't think the fancies can go marine, i may try it with a cheaper one, acclimatise him over a month or so...

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Even fancy guppies can be converted to saltwater. I'm sorry that I don't have any pictures for you, but I've done it before. Mollies are a slightly better candidate because they are naturally brackish fish. Acclimation should be done carefully.

For feeding your fish, I definitely don't recommend feeder guppies or mollies. They tend to clog a fish's intestinal tract. Using things like ghost shrimp is a far "smoother" alternative

oicu2, if you are having trouble getting your Anthias to eat, try using unseasoned, not dyed fish roe. Smelt Roe is easy to come by in Asian food markets. It usually goes by the name Masago. If you can find it, a better option would be Flying Fish Roe. This usually gets Anthias to start eating and eventually they will be trained to eat other prepared foods.

 

[Aquai]

They're not for feeding, they're for movement. How did you acclimatise btw? Over a long period (i.e. days to weeks) or slowly over a day or similar?

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

It would be very safe to acclimate the guppies over a period of a week for best of health. The stress from acclimating not only will take a physical toll on the body, but it will also decrease the immune system as it is being subjected to new bacteria, diseases, etc as you chance them over. While you could probably get them acclimated within 30 minutes, it's generally a good idea to let them acclimate as long as possible.

 

[Aquai]

Hmm, maybe i'll start by putting in some salt tonight then . . .

 

[oicu2]

Update..... male feeder guppy is alive and well in reef aquarium. I came back from work and there he is king of the reef. He has been in there for one day. As for acclimating my feeder guppies...because I thought they would get eaten up by my puffer and eel, I just threw them in from freshwater straight to brackish. They've been alive and well and breeding for about 4 months. Go figure! Aquai, I'd say go for it!

Thanks Travis for the suggestion. I'll try it and see if it works.

 

[Aquai]

I think i will, i've got 3 fancies on my desk next to me, will add a bit of slat each day until salinity is right, could be interesting... They would really add something i think, if no1 eats them >_<

 

[epicentyr]

I just dumped my black mollies into salt water from freshwater. they lived for months and bread fine. they were later fed to my octopus

 

[Aquai]

Mollies are brackish though and generally reared in brackish, with guppies it seems to be mixed so i don't think dumping them is gonna be a great idea...