another round of fry!

Question
Hi Chris,

First the stats:
10 gal Tank has been set up for 2 months, completely cycled with ammonia and nitrite at 0 for quite some time. pH has been at a steady 7.2 for a while. I have one dwarf gourami, one swordtail, 1 black skirt tetra, 1 small rainbowfish, a cory cat, and 3 swordtail fry in a plastic floating guppy breeder.

I have a swordtail that gave birth to fry about 5 weeks ago. I managed to save 3 of them (I just started my tank a couple weeks before that, and I had no idea she was pregnant!) Regardless, the three little guys are still doing good, I've been feeding them crushed flakes and doind lots of water changes. My first question is how big should they be before I can release them. Right now they are about 1/2" to just about 5/8" long. The only thing that makes me hesitant is that I have an aggressive Gourami in the tank that I just have a feeling will attack them as soon as they are released. So what kind of size should I wait for?  OK...now, it appears that my swordtail (I only have one) is about to give birth again, I recognized her body changes exactly as they looked before I found the previous batch of fry. Is it ok if I put the barrier back in the breeder (with the 3 current fry in it still) and then put her in it and wait for her to give birth again? I don't know if she would eat the ones that are in there now, because they would still be able to swim through the gap in the barrier that lets the fry through, I checked. So i'm kind of stuck as to what to do with her and/or the fry that are in the breeder now. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Nathan

Answer
Hi Nathan;

If the little ones are big enough not to fit into the mouths of the bigger fish they will probably be okay. However, aggressive fish may try anyway. What you need is another aquarium for babies. The little guys are going to cause the tank to be over populated as they grow up anyway.

At a half-inch long I doubt that the mother would eat them. The older babies may pick at the newborns though. Personally, I would opt for a new tank. But I'm always looking for an excuse to get another one. ;-)

Good Luck;
Chris Robbins