My pegnant guppy - Aquarium Advice

sieski · 07-04-2009, 06:42 PM

Hi. I brought a complete set up with 6 tetra neons and 15 guppies. WHat I wasn't told was there was a pregnant guppy.

I want to know how long she has left as I have the breeding trap ready just want to know when I should put her in there.

She has been still for about an hour till I got the camera out typical so heres the best pics I could get.

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Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

DizzCat · 07-04-2009, 09:34 PM

She looks close to popping LOL

I have found that just before they give birth the spot above the anal fin will turn black. Right now its an orange color. The black is actually the eyes of the fry. But, I could be wrong and she could pop them any time now. This is just been my experience with guppies and platys.

Fromthelbc · 07-04-2009, 10:01 PM

she's about to pop, either today or tomorrow. just feed the guppies crushed up regular food.

sieski · 07-06-2009, 12:08 PM

Well she still hasn't popped

meegosh · 07-06-2009, 12:21 PM

Wait for the spot that DizzCat mentioned to go black. When that happens you are a few days off. If you are not sure where we are talking about, let us know and I can edit your pictures to show you exactly where.

I had tons of guppies before and it would take roughly 30 days from the point a male was introduced (mating) and the fry dropping.

sieski · 07-06-2009, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meegosh

Wait for the spot that DizzCat mentioned to go black. When that happens you are a few days off. If you are not sure where we are talking about, let us know and I can edit your pictures to show you exactly where.

I had tons of guppies before and it would take roughly 30 days from the point a male was introduced (mating) and the fry dropping.

I haven't a clue where it is lol. 30 days well I was given the tank and fish like this so haven't a clue when. Shes just become more reclusive in last 2 days and the gravid patch got alot more black in literally hours.

mom2reds · 07-06-2009, 04:42 PM

i would go ahead and put her in the trap and then turn your light off to reduce the stress on her.

DizzCat · 07-06-2009, 05:14 PM

Did you know that live bearers like guppy's, platy and swordtails will actually have between 3-6 batches of fry from ONE mating?? They store the sperm inside and as soon as they give birth a new batch of fry start to develop. So they are constantly pregnant.

I had a Platy have 5 batches of fry after the male died! Crazy, huh?

meegosh · 07-06-2009, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DizzCat

I had a Platy have 5 batches of fry after the male died! Crazy, huh?

Yes, keep that in mind as you will most likely have to cull the batches of fry over time since there will be inbreeding. I had four guppies (2 males and 2 females) explode to about ~20 males, ~9 females and countless (100+) fry. You will either need to find a way to separate the males and females or find a natural predator to keep the population down. For me a large Koi Angelfish made quick work of any fry.

I included a picture, as promised, of the gravid spot on a guppy. It will turn black right before she is about to drop. As said by another poster, the black you are seeing is actually the babies' eyes.

sieski · 07-07-2009, 04:12 AM

Ty steve. As for population control All fry are accounted for. Local aquatics store will have them off me for store credit and this batch at least friends and family want some to top up their dwindling tank population.

I am Interested In another small tank to house the 2 females I have so far so I can breed at my choice of ratee for the future, but as a week old newbie I'll get used to this first!