Space for Fry

Question
Hello,
I have a 12 gallon tank of guppies. Recently I set up a 2 gallon and a five gallon tank. The 5 gallon has 4 male guppies in it and the smaller tank I set up for fry. Normally I only have 1 or 2 fry at a time. If I see fry in the adult tank I "rescue" them. However over the last week I have been rescueing one or two fry a day, and yesterday I found another 10. I now have 20 or so fry in my little tank. I'm going to take the adult males into the pet shop for store credit to free up their tank. I'm wondering how long the 5 gallon tank will do for the babies once I move them into it. I change 1/3 of the water every 5 days or so in the adult tank. If I change it more often in the fry tank would that help? Also, my 5 gallon tank has 2 corrycats in it so I like to keep the water a little cooler (78), will a lower temperature stunt the growth of the fry?  

Answer
Hi Katie,
Oh yes, changing more water will do wonders for your guppy fry. There is really nothing better you can do for their health and growth than very frequent water changes. I have found that 20% every day causes a huge growth spurt. You will have to sort of use your own judgement in how long your little fry can live in the 5 gallon. It depends on how much and what kind of food they are fed and their current size. Of course though, the more water you change and more frequently, the more fry you can safely keep. Try to get them moved out once they reach half an inch or so into at least a 10-20 gal if you can.. I'm sure you already have plans to move them to larger quarters.

Cooler temperatures certainly won't stunt their growth but they may not grow as fast as say when they are kept in 80-82 F. Otherwise they are not bothered and adapt well to cooler temperature. If you are keeping them at 78F (and not going lower than 78 if that's what you meant) that's perfect.

Frequent small feedings with good quality foods, constant fresh clean water and not overcrowding them too much will insure you have healthy happy fry with excellent growth.

I really hope this helps! If you have anymore questions, feel free to email me...

My very best wishes and Happy fishkeeping!
Karen~