How did my female guppies have babies?

[pettygil]

How did my female guppies have babies? There are no male guppies. I looked in my tank and there are 7 to 8 very small, very tiny babies. ( looked like nats). Will the female guppies eat their fry? What should I do? I have a 6.5 gallon tank, which would be too small for my other 2 guppies. Do I need to get a bigger tank? These fish are super tiny, the babies. I also have a ton of fake plants in my tank, so the babies have somewhere to hide. Wow these fish certinally like to reproduce. lol

 

[Aiken Drum]

For what it's worth, if a pet store was telling me that I could put 2 or 3 tetras in a tank, I'd be skeptical because that is a fish specie that does much better in larger numbers. Also, the micro varieties of Tetras and Rasboras are harder to feed as they need much smaller foods as well. I would suggest 2-3 male Guppies as they are colorful, much easier to feed and you don't have to worry about overpopulation by having females in the tank. You will still have to keep up with weekly water changes no matter what fish you get. Do you still have the cory cats in the tank?

This is why you was warned to make sure you got male guppies. Livebearers will breed and the only way to ensure you arent going to over populate your aquarium is to buy only males. There is always the possibility with females that they are already pregnant when you buy them. If they have been kept with males, it's almost a guarantee that they are pregnant.

Females can also store sperm and produce several batches of fry from 1 insemination. So expect more fry.

The adults may eat the fry, they might not. They may eat some or all of them.

As for what to do. What do you want to do? You are already over populating your small aquarium. The chances are that there is a mix of male and female guppies. So when they get to breeding age they will reproduce, making more guppies. And those new guppies will reproduce as well. If you want to keep these guppies, and keep them from overpopulating your aquarium you will need 2 tanks to seperate the males and females once they are old enough to determine their sex, to prevent further breeding.

 

[Andy Sager]

How did my female guppies have babies? There are no male guppies. I looked in my tank and there are 7 to 8 very small, very tiny babies. ( looked like nats). Will the female guppies eat their fry? What should I do? I have a 6.5 gallon tank, which would be too small for my other 2 guppies. Do I need to get a bigger tank? These fish are super tiny, the babies. I also have a ton of fake plants in my tank, so the babies have somewhere to hide. Wow these fish certinally like to reproduce. lol

Guppies have the ability to store sperm so she was impregnated wherever you got her from. She also won't necessarily use all the stored sperm at one time so you will probably get more in 30- 45 days. If you keep letting them breed, you will very quickly be overpopulated in the 6 1/2 gallon tank. Yes, sometimes the females will eat their own babies. What should you do: the choice is yours. Keep them and it will be more work for you. Let nature take it's course and maybe you'll get some to grow up and maybe you won't.

 

[af2018]

Having multiple fish tanks and being in that situation is a nightmare. Like Aiken said you were already overpopulated. If I were you I’d let them eat as many as they will and not try to accommodate those fry. Let nature take its course. Don’t have a co Ed situation in there unless you know they’ll get eaten bc more fish is just polluting your tank. You should probably start separating or trying to find homes for some fish bc I can’t imagine a 6.5 gallon will take long to spike with the added fish and then kill everything.

It’s been a tough pill to swallow having to “play god” sometimes with these fish. But it’s also a part of responsibile fish keeping.

I vote remove the problems. And stick to your original commitment to your original fish. Or even swap out if your mama looks unhealthy or ugly now scoop her and leave a baby. It all boils down to what you want to do. But I was recently just as unprepared and in this situation as you. Luckily only 1 survived. It’s been rehomed, as was the male in the tank. But personally I’ll remove problems from time to time. Sometimes it’s not worth putting everything you have at risk.

Also speaking from experience. If you’re going to upgrade your tank that’s awesome I definitely recommend it if you like the hobby but things go a lot smoother when you’re not “forced” to go buy something real quick to accommodate this one thing in this one moment.

 

[pettygil]

I have these fish in a 40 gallon tank. and I was wondering if I could add my female guppies to my 40 gallon high.
I have 4 glow fish
I have big pleco
I have around 10 cory fish
I have 25 small neon fish
3 red eyed tetras
Can I add 4 guppies to my 40 gallon, and would be big enough for the babies? I think my other fish would be able to eat the fry. I do not know of any pet store that would take the fry. Unless I sold them on ebay. I also could remove the plants that way they could not hide and mama fish could eat her fry. Next time if I buy fish, it would be all male guppies. I have no more room for another tank.

 

[af2018]

Pretty sure they say 5 gallons per inch of fish. Sounds like your 40 is already pretty heavily stocked. Not saying it’s not possible for you to do this but how much headache do you want here? Adding more fish to another fully stocked tank isn’t any better.

I just added a bunch of Dalmatian mollies and platies to my tank. I had the space for them but the tank wasn’t used to this many fish so I’m dealing with it trying to catch back up. Difference is I had the availability already in my tank to make wanted additions. You are well over full capacity, prior to these fry, in both tanks.

Also to clarify and add I have no clue if guppies are compatible with what’s in your 40. I personally haven’t ever had guppies and I don’t have any interest in them as I’ve heard they’re nippy.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Pretty sure they say 5 gallons per inch of fish.

The rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon. 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons is something thrown around for marine aquariums because you shouldn't stock marine tanks as heavily as freshwater.

Its a flawed metric though. A 10g tank might be fine for 10 x 1" fish, but you couldnt keep 1 x 10" fish in a 10g tank.

While flawed, as long as you consider other requirements, like giving fish enough swimming space, 1 inch/ gallon will stop you overstocking tanks when you are talking about small, narrow bodied fish.

 

[af2018]

You’re teaching me all kinds of stuff today! This is helpful to me. Since I added these new ones and have been doing extra water changes while things catch up I’ve been concerned I overstocked by a couple few fish. But this is totally helpful. I guess somewhere in my subconscious I want a saltwater aquarium that’s what I gather from our chats today!

 

[Andy Sager]

This is why you was warned to make sure you got male guppies. Livebearers will breed and the only way to ensure you arent going to over populate your aquarium is to buy only males. There is always the possibility with females that they are already pregnant when you buy them. If they have been kept with males, it's almost a guarantee that they are pregnant.

Females can also store sperm and produce several batches of fry from 1 insemination. So expect more fry.

The adults may eat the fry, they might not. They may eat some or all of them.

As for what to do. What do you want to do? You are already over populating your small aquarium. The chances are that there is a mix of male and female guppies. So when they get to breeding age they will reproduce, making more guppies. And those new guppies will reproduce as well. If you want to keep these guppies, and keep them from overpopulating your aquarium you will need 2 tanks to seperate the males and females once they are old enough to determine their sex, to prevent further breeding.

You obviously type faster than I do. There was no reply when I started typing and was when I posted it.

 

[Aiken Drum]

If you are worried about overstocking you should see my aquariums. Im trying my best to not overstock, but like to see busy tanks. I bet im nearer to 2"/ gallon. Everything is happy and healthy though, water quality is OK (could be better, but it is what it is). Nobody is perfect.

 

[Andy Sager]

You’re teaching me all kinds of stuff today! This is helpful to me. Since I added these new ones and have been doing extra water changes while things catch up I’ve been concerned I overstocked by a couple few fish. But this is totally helpful. I guess somewhere in my subconscious I want a saltwater aquarium that’s what I gather from our chats today!

Marine tanks are very different than freshwater tanks. Besides the actual nitrogen cycling process, even the microbes that do the denitrification are different so when you are ready for a marine tank, throw away 90% of what you know about freshwater tanks and do some learning about keeping marine tanks and marine fish habits from qualified sources.

 

[af2018]

Marine tanks are very different than freshwater tanks. Besides the actual nitrogen cycling process, even the microbes that do the denitrification are different so when you are ready for a marine tank, throw away 90% of what you know about freshwater tanks and do some learning about keeping marine tanks and marine fish habits from qualified sources.

I said subconsciously. I don’t have the confidence to try it honestly. Seems like a sinkhole for money. I’ve got a good thing going. It’s a good thing I found this site bc I’m learning something everyday! Even on the posts that aren’t mine!

 

[Andy Sager]

I have these fish in a 40 gallon tank. and I was wondering if I could add my female guppies to my 40 gallon high.
I have 4 glow fish
I have big pleco
I have around 10 cory fish
I have 25 small neon fish
3 red eyed tetras
Can I add 4 guppies to my 40 gallon, and would be big enough for the babies? I think my other fish would be able to eat the fry. I do not know of any pet store that would take the fry. Unless I sold them on ebay. I also could remove the plants that way they could not hide and mama fish could eat her fry. Next time if I buy fish, it would be all male guppies. I have no more room for another tank.

The Red eyes and the Glo Tetras will eat the fry and may chew on the guppy's tail. Not a good mix. Even worse if you tried with male Guppies.

 

[af2018]

The Red eyes and the Glo Tetras will eat the fry and may chew on the guppy's tail. Not a good mix. Even worse if you tried with male Guppies.

So you’re saying it could also be an easy way to let nature run its course if that’s what they should choose? Or?

 

[Andy Sager]

So you’re saying it could also be an easy way to let nature run its course if that’s what they should choose? Or?

The question was : Can I add 4 guppies to my 40 gallon, and would be big enough for the babies? The answer is: not if you want to keep the guppies. Her fish are not Guppy friendly.

 

[pettygil]

Pretty sure they say 5 gallons per inch of fish. Sounds like your 40 is already pretty heavily stocked. Not saying it’s not possible for you to do this but how much headache do you want here? Adding more fish to another fully stocked tank isn’t any better.

I just added a bunch of Dalmatian mollies and platies to my tank. I had the space for them but the tank wasn’t used to this many fish so I’m dealing with it trying to catch back up. Difference is I had the availability already in my tank to make wanted additions. You are well over full capacity, prior to these fry, in both tanks.

Also to clarify and add I have no clue if guppies are compatible with what’s in your 40. I personally haven’t ever had guppies and I don’t have any interest

I have 4 female guppies in one tank, and 2 female guppies plus babies in another 6.5 gallon tank.
I talked with a friend of mine and she has a pond of fish, she said once the guppies get bigger and I do not want them, she would add to her pond. Is this ok to do? If not do I just keep the babies to they get bigger? Right now I hope my guppies eat their fry, well see. Ill see how many babies live before giving them away, or if their mom eats them.

 

[pettygil]

The question was : Can I add 4 guppies to my 40 gallon, and would be big enough for the babies? The answer is: not if you want to keep the guppies. Her fish are not Guppy friendly.

Thanks for letting me know. All I can do is keep the babies until they get bigger, then sell them, or give to my friend. she has a pond for fish.

 

[pettygil]

The Red eyes and the Glo Tetras will eat the fry and may chew on the guppy's tail. Not a good mix. Even worse if you tried with male Guppies.

I have 4 female guppies in once thank, and 2 female guppies and babies in another tank. I need to get male guppies, once I figure out what to do with the fish.

 

[af2018]

Thanks for letting me know. All I can do is keep the babies until they get bigger, then sell them, or give to my friend. she has a pond for fish.

You have very small odds of rehoming fish for free let alone trying to sell them even for the $4 they sell them for at petsmart. It took me months to find mine a home. I will never put myself through that again. You won’t take the advice you haven’t yet. Your tanks are overcrowded and it’s a pure lack of respect for the animals. Play god now to avoid a several month or longer headache of musical tanks and new set ups, or most likely in your case since you said you can’t add another, dead fish.

 

[pettygil]

The question was : Can I add 4 guppies to my 40 gallon, and would be big enough for the babies? The answer is: not if you want to keep the guppies. Her fish are not Guppy friendly.

I will have a good talkin to my guppies and tell them to be nice to my other fish. Do you think that would work. I think it would. Did you know that fish can read your minds, so I will tell them be nice or else. lol. will be worth a shot, don't you. but I do understand what you mean. I am going to let mama guppy eat her fry. Be a tasty treat for mama guppy. I think mama guppy ate some fry, well unless they are hiding. I see some missing baby's.