Guppy balls and plants for bare bottom tanks.

[Pamelajo]

Here are some ideas that have come up on another post that I think should be saved here.

From Joyce on keeping guppy fry safe.

To keep my guppy babies safe I make a plant ball. I just bought a bunch of the long plastic ivy looking plants. Make a ball of them and secured the ball with a rubber band. You can't see the rubber band. The ball is pretty tight. Not unattractive either. This floats at the top of the water. The baby guppies know they are safe in that maze. The open spaces aren't big enough for the parents to get in. Also larger fry can't get the little ones. I will have to take a picture. When I feed I always sprinkle food over the ball too. The babies venture out when they know that its safe. If you want to see how many babies you have in the ball. Turn out the lights and shine a flashlight on the ball. All these little eyes will be stareing at you. Its cute. I think the baby guppies prefer to stay at the top of the water.

From luvs,

Pam, another idea is to get some fake plants from Michaels or Walmart or somesuch, and then tie it to a big ole suction cup, the kind you hang suncatchers onto the window with. You get like 10 or so for a buck at Dollarama.

Tie the plants to the suction cup with FISHING TWINE, and stick to the bottom of the tank.

That should keep 'em in place

Luv,
Thats a great idea. My Canas can pull those suction cups on the heaters right off the glass.But if I got those big suction cups they couldn't pull those off. I don't think they could. I always have my tank heaters floating in the tank. Got any idea how to stop that. No show tanks here. Tank heater floating around the tank with a snail or two rideing it. The big suction cups wouldn't fit on the tank heaters.
I don't even have fake plants as the Canas pull those up. But am going to try the idea you just gave.
Hugs,
Joyce

From Melody,

As someone who has just started mixing species, I greatly appreciate the time & effort put into this thread.

Just a few notes regarding plastic plants not designed for aquaria. First, make sure there are no metal wires inside the plastic - the plastic isn't sealed and it will rust through & contaminate your water. Second, I soak all non-aquatic plastic plants in warm water in a white bowl for at least 24 hours to make sure no dye comes out (especially with dollar store plants). Third, I've stripped the plastic leaves off the wires (there's usually at least 2 leaves joined with a hole in the middle) and threaded a fry-saver ball together with fishing line. I like the other idea better though - sounds easier . You can also weave a cork into the top if it doesn't float well for you.

Be sure to shake out your floating plants when cleaning the aquarium as food often builds up in them, including Java Moss. A bundle of Java Moss and Hornwort is my fave fry saver. There's also one you can make with rolled out plastic pot scrubbers that I have pictures of if anyone wants to see it. The 'Plant Mats' that you see in stores are great too - you can cut them to size or use the full size. I insert corks into the base and flip it over so the plant side is down. I have pics of that too.

As for plastic aquatic plants in bare bottom aquariums, I encounter that in breeding tanks a lot. I siliconed rocks from my Son's rock collection into the plastic base.

[luvfishies]

And here's Joyce's picture of the floating Guppy Ball(s)

[Pamelajo]

Thanks Luvs.

[Melody]

Pot Scrubber Fry Saver:



I put floating plants around it both to hide its tacky look and to attract the fry to it. I use those little 'Chubby' pop bottles to float it and keep it open or put another pot scrubber in each end. The pic shows a Chubby bottle in one end and of course, a pot scrubber in the other.

I didn't come up with the idea, incidentally, but the picture is mine and it works like a charm. I certainly like the looks of Joyce's better .

Here is the 'Plant Mat' fry saver:



Its very easy to cut into smaller sections, and I use a lighter to burn the cut ends as they're quite sharp.

This one is weighted for protection on the bottom of the tank, and also hides eggs or provides a place to lay them for fish who like to spawn on broad-leaved plants. Great for hiding Cory eggs & fry. I stripped the leaves and threaded them into a ball with fishing line (also at the dollar store, man I love that place ).



Last but not least, a dollar store laundry bag placed in a small tank, using the drawstrings to tie it in place around the top, makes a far more comfortable brooder for female Livebearers than those horrible traps. It is also perfect for egg scatterers. I don't have a pic of that but I'll take one the next time I have a spawning tank set up. The 2.5G glass tanks with the glass lid seem to work best. For brooding females, I prefer to have a tank divider handy and usher her into a small section with lots of floating plants so I don't have to net her at all. I suppose the idea could be adapted for a clutch hatchery too.

[joyce tryoon]

MELODY,
I use those laundry bags too What I do is put a piece of styrafoam in the bottom to keep a flat surface for the snails to rest. Its nice cause then you can make the bag as deep as you want. The ball up there is all plastic, no wires. I bought a long vine that had a center with a wire. I just pulled off all the plastic long leafy parts. It made me happy to see my old gal up there in that picture. She is over two years old going to be three years in about 3 months. L ooks beat up but she has been through a lot. Shes Maws favorite.

Those laundry bags are great to collect things in at the lake too. Just a dollar a piece. Can't beat the price.
The scrubby pad pulled out like that is a neat idea. If you cut both ends out of the plastic bottle, it would make a pretty good fish trap.
Joyce

[Melody]

Ooo good thinking on the Styro - pics?

I love old, scarred snails. I don't know why... character I guess... like wrinkles.

[Melody]

Sounds like a comfy place to sit .... underwater porch swings...lol.

There's a great pride to be had in perfect adult snails. It says a lot about the work put into caring for them and its quite an accomplishment. However, having a snail live a long time is also a great source of pride. It says a lot about the heart you've put into caring for them on top of the work. I daresay that very few reach over 2 years old without some 'wrinkles', yours just had a couple of more battles than some others. Your pride in her says the best part.

[Pollux]

And here's Joyce's picture of the floating Guppy Ball(s)

does anyone still have a copy of this photo? thank you.

[badflash]

Ihave a mutant hornwort that grows so fast you can not believe it. Baby guppies and little critters of all types hide in it and are safe. I have to remove half each week to keep it from choking my tanks. Bes tstuff I've ever seen. I need do water changes only weekly.

[Pollux]

wow. yeah i think i remember you mentioning it before. where did you get that mutant strain anyway? it needs a fair amount of light doesn't it? - some of my tanks don't have lights, my axolotl and tetra tanks do but they really bother the fish. i just bought a tank on ebay that i'm setting up this weekend hopefully, i plan to keep black moors in it, so i've been thinking of growing some in there for water quality purpopses. ive never successfully bred goldfish but if they did then some hidouts would be nice. i wanted to see the photo because i've been thinking my guppie and mollie fry need something to hide in the floats, not just the java moss and plastic plants that are on the bottom. ive been having a lot of luck with them actually, at the moment they can swim right past the adult fishes mouths and the dont try to eat them. i don't know why.

[badflash]

I give it 12 hurs of daylight. My problem is hornwort ships poorly. Anything that grows that fadt detoxifies the water. The leaves provides loads of hiding places for all sorts of critters. My dwarf crays go there to molt.