Livebearer post - Dwarf blue panda guppies

[cichlid-gal]

So I have had a pair of these for a couple of months now.  I just recently moved them to my 9G nano and they seemed to have settled in very nicely.  Yesterday I was taking pics of the female and was thinking I would be seeing babies shortly and low and behold...they arrived today.  Here's a few pics of the setup.

The tank (this is when it was initially set up with the rachovi...same setup now but with the guppies)

The male






The female


Babies




I counted 10 babies today...but I think I might have missed some.  Hoping they will survive and do well in this tank.  

 

[MorganEA]

You could suck the babies out with a turkey baster and place them in another tank. We have a 5gal set up in our bathroom as a baby tank.

 

[cichlid-gal]

There is a lot of cover in this tank and not much flow except at the surface (which is where the babies are hanging out right now) so I think I will just take a wait and see. Thanks for the suggestion but I would have to set up another tank for them as all my others are taken already.

 

[MorganEA]

or you could get a breeder box that hangs on your tank. If you get fry to survive I would love some, I'm setting up a guppy only tank.

 

[CrazedAce]

Nice looking fish! How big do they get compared to a regular guppy? Hopefully the babies survive!

 

[cichlid-gal]

Nice looking fish! How big do they get compared to a regular guppy? Hopefully the babies survive!

Thanks CrazedAce. Males are about an inch (1") in size and females are just a bit bigger. A really nice nano species.

 

[cichlid-gal]

or you could get a breeder box that hangs on your tank. If you get fry to survive I would love some, I'm setting up a guppy only tank.

MorganEA...did just that this morning as I panicked when I looked at the tank...I could only find 4 babies...yikes. So I put on a hang on box and as I was gathering them up others showed up. 9 was the final count that went to the box. If I get enough survivors I'd be glad to share some with you when they are ready.

 

[pbmax]

Congrats and good luck with the babies! Where did you get these? They're gorgeous.

I'm betting you'll be up to your ears in them before too long

They almost make me want to get guppies again... almost. I always ended up with way too many females and the females were always HUGE in comparison.

 

[cichlid-gal]

These came from Aquarium Co-Op (thank you so much Cory). I'm not sure about the "ears" thing...we'll see and I'm always happy to share when I can and if there is an interest.

 

[pbmax]

These came from Aquarium Co-Op (thank you so much Cory).  I'm not sure about the "ears" thing...we'll see and I'm always happy to share when I can and if there is an interest.

Ahh, that makes sense. He is into guppies...

That's always how it works for me with livebearers. I'm SUPER careful with the first few batches of fry, and then before you know it they're EVERYWHERE!  :shock: Now I'm extremely cautious with mine (platies exclusively at the moment) - males are only allowed in a tank with 1 or 2 females at once, and only the ones I'm breeding - all other males are kept in a separate tank. Male fry are taken out of the grow-out as soon as I can sex them and placed with the other males. I don't mix colors either.

Regardless, I hope they breed that well (ears) for you.  :cheers: 

 

[Livebearer]

Panda guppies are a nano variety produced by a late Japanese hybridizer (will post his name when I get it from my notes) and have broods only up tp 15 or so.
They are not Moscows as some are advertized as.
They are slower growing and DON'T breed like your average guppy.
They come in a blue or black phase and stay very small and males sport a beautiful flag-like dorsal fin!
Females have a blueish scaled back, are pale below and behave very differently than the average hyper female guppy does.

I had a brood on Jan 13th. of only "13" and 12 are still going strong and will be ready for homes in mid April.
I feed them Banana worms and "Lots-O-fish #2 twice a day, I tried to switch to Hikari first bites BUT They will not eat this! HAH

I house them separatley from their parents in a Fluval spec III and did this so they were not out competed for food. The parents will not eat their fry unless their starved!
I do not use those breeder boxes as the water goes south real fast. They need to be in free flowing water like an adult does.
They have held their own in this nano set-up great from day one and were born at the Post Office in the BAG upon picking them up shipped in from Pennsilvania. Yes, they're Ahmish Panda guppy's! They are a wonderful little fish and are NOT like your average guppy.
Thanks Donna for showing folks that not all guppies are alike!

 

[cichlid-gal]

Thanks for the info Sherry and glad to know there are some others of these beauties out there even if they are Amish and not Washingtonian (much preferred...sorry).

And I found two more babies in my tank yesterday that went into the hang on box. I don't want to turn this into a hang on box discussion but I've used these boxes before and never had any trouble with them. I use a special siphon for cleaning them and don't let foods accumulate in the bottom of the box. The one I have also has an adjustable flow into the box so you can ramp it up to increase the flow as the babies are able to tolerate it which keeps the water recirculating quite well. It is also the larger box not the smaller. Hang on boxes are not meant for long term keeping of the babies so when the babies are a little bigger they will go back into the tank with Mom & Dad. I just wanted them to have the opportunity to, like you said, not have the competition for food and not have the stress of being in the main tank with mom & dad. My mom and dad are not starving but they were chasing the babies around if they saw them. I think it is more the "nature" of them ... hungry or not they will want to eat whatever is there if they can...fish are just kinda that way.

My babies are eating BBS and Hikari 1st bites which they seem to love. I also have some freeze dried cyclops also that all my other babies have liked. They will get a little of that today.