Hatchery questions (guppies)...

[Maz]

Hi, I'm fairly sure one of my guppies is pregnant. I have a plastic hatchery with a horizontal grid to separate the guppy from its fry. I'm just wondering if the guppy will try to eat the fry as soon as they are born. Also, do the fry tend to stay in the lower section of the hatchery once they're in there? Typically, how many fry can I expect?
Any other advice welcome. Thanks.

[plankton]

You are putting the fry into the "cage" and not the female, aren't you?
I've lost many females when i first kept them because I put them in an enclosed area like that.
They then either readsorb the fry or miscarry or just die.
It depends how many times the female has given birth as to how many fry you get - anything from 4 to 100.......

[Gingerlove05]

I wouldn’t advise putting pregnant fish into the hatcheries as they tend to be too small for adult fish and this can stress them out and cause issues while giving birth.
The fry go wherever the fry fancy, if thats back up to mum then they might get eaten.
The best thing if you want to keep the fry is let mum give birth in the main tank and catch the fry and put them in the hatchery/separate tank or move mum to a separate tank for her to give birth in and remove mum afterwards, leaving the fry in the 2nd tank.
Numbers of fry can vary depending on whether its mum’s first time giving birth (batches tend to be smaller), the age of mum/parents, water conditions and whether theres plenty of places to hide to give birth. Hope that helps

PS Ian beat me to it but i’m not retyping

[Maz]

Glad I asked, because on the box, it shows the mum in the hatchery with the grid for the fry to fall through (pic 2 in the photo attached).
When I've used the hatchery previously, it was for platy fry which I'd found in the main tank, netted them and put them in the hatchery for safety.

[plankton]

That's the way to do it if you want to keep the fry.
I just let mine get on with it now, but the guppy tank is pretty well planted for cover.