guppy: black spot when pregnant...

[rodgey_p]

my guppy has a fairly large black spot after the anal fin, and i am pretty sure its pregnant due to its size, but my other female guppy has this black spot too. does this mean this one is pregnant also?
cheers

[Fluff]

Chances are it is. lol

[rodgey_p]

does the black spot represent them being pregnant...(if they have the spot does that mean they are pregnant, or is it just a marking?)

[aquariumaddict]

Most female guppies show this black spot which is called the gravid spot. It usually gets larger the further along that she is. The easiest way to tell if a guppy is pregnant is by her size. If she's fat, she's probably pregnant. Female guppies have their young every 28 days, give or take a day, so if she does have her young, mark the date on a calendar. Females can also store a males milt and have several drops from one impregnation. I had one female have 4 batches of young without a single male in the tank.

Jon

[rodgey_p]

thanks!
i have a fluval pump in my smaller breeding tank, would it be an idea to have this turned off to prevent fry from being sucked up it?
cheers

[rodgey_p]

how long does it take the guppy to give birth?

[Billsgate]

I would suggest you keep the filter running, it's not good to turn it off. Besides, the fry will likely be strong enough to swim away from the filter intake.
How long does it take to give birth? Depends, but I would say you can expect to see new fry every few weeks-month

[rodgey_p]

thanks billsgate!
how long does it take for the actual act of giving birth to take place

[dnaelting]

Actual birth is a few minutes per fry. You can watch as a new "fin" is seen, then it gets longer, and soon a new fry is out. A few moments later it will repeat until she is done.