guppy females

[gohabs9]

if a guppy female IS NOT preganant will she have a visable breeding spot (gravid spot), or is it always there just darker at breeding. I bought a female today and shes has a grey coloured gravid spot...is she pregant?

so with a non preganant guppy is there a visable spot?

 

[Zagz]

I have some female guppies with that spot you are talking about, I sure hope they aren't all pregnant! I already have fry everywhere. I don't think it means they are pregnant.

 

[sudz]

I was going to open a new post, but this one seems perfect! I'm going to attach a picture of a female guppy i got at a local fishclub auction, shes fairly fat, so i'm wondering if shes pregnant. Anyone tell?

 

[Zagz]

Yes she sure looks pregnant to me.

 

[youronlysin]

Female Guppies most always have a visible gravid spot. It does get dark and grow during pregnancy. Depending on how they are adapted to the current conditions, they can be very selective in when they actually bear fry. You might not see anything for months, or it might only be days. Crazy fish.

 

[sudz]

My mom said she used to have guppies when she was little, she also said that the bent spines was because they were held in the mother too long. If this is the case, how can i make sure this doesn't happen with this generation?

If she is pregnant, how long can i expect? Do guppies eat your young? I think i have some google time ahead of me

 

[Elmware]

I was going to open a new post, but this one seems perfect! I'm going to attach a picture of a female guppy i got at a local fishclub auction, shes fairly fat, so i'm wondering if shes pregnant. Anyone tell?

One of my famale guppies has the same style tail. She pretty much looks just like the one in your picture. The other two have speckled tails. One is pinkish red and the other is bluish pearl. I bought the one wich was like the one in your picture the other day, and the one with the pinkish tail slipped into the net, so the petstore just gave her to me because he didn't want to try and get her out.

 

[sudz]

sweet deal. Yeah, i just bought 2 more females, both highly pregnant, I also bought the cheap netted nursery, and got some "plastic paper", made a V and cut a slit in the bottom of the valley. i'm thinking the fry will fall through this slit, and live happily below away from the mothers. Its hard to tell which one is the most pregnant, so i have all 3 of them in there.

Anyone know how long it takes a mother to eat her babies when they're laid?

 

[Skyrmir]

Umm, they're guppies. Isn't the question "When aren't they pregnant?" 8O

She does look pregnant in the pics though.

 

[Elmware]

sweet deal. Yeah, i just bought 2 more females, both highly pregnant, I also bought the cheap netted nursery, and got some "plastic paper", made a V and cut a slit in the bottom of the valley. i'm thinking the fry will fall through this slit, and live happily below away from the mothers. Its hard to tell which one is the most pregnant, so i have all 3 of them in there.

Anyone know how long it takes a mother to eat her babies when they're laid?

I have a breeder designed pretty much like that. I bought it at PetsMart for about less than $5 CAD. You can also take the V trap out and use it as a small holding tank. The ends have holes so the water can flow through it, and it's designed to float.

 

[sudz]

HEY!! i came home from school and took a gander... 6 babies! i've taken the females out of the breeder. It came from a peach colored guppy with a red - yellow rainbow tail! I'm feeding them super finely crushed up flake food! Will that do it?

YAYY!! i'm so happy!

LOL at comment about guppies always being pregnant!

My home made "guppy seperator" worked perfectly, the guppies fell into the valley and through the slit. The mothers were all at the top!

I removed the females from the breeder, This was the "best" female specimen i had, so i'm thinking if the otherones do lay while these little guys grow up, i won't be horribly upset!

I've also througn in a floating watersprite into the breeder.

 

[Skyrmir]

Grats!

 

[sudz]

I think the count is up t 9 now. its hard to tell. I have another guppy that's ready to pop, i have her in my nursery too, seperated by the plastic "valley" so the fry go to the bottom, mom's stay in the top!

Can't wait! I swear the fry have grown TODAY. jus tin 6 hours. is that possible?

 

[Zagz]

Congratulations! It is the beginning of many LOL. I have 7 pregnant guppies right now 8O

 

[sudz]

You're telling me! The count is now at 18 fry!!! and one is loose in the tank, but is a freaking FAST swimmer. Sooo We shall see if he survives. Hopefully!

On a bad note: I just switched tanks last weekend, i checked the water 2 days ago, it was fine... Had a dead fish this morning, caught between the nursery and glass, figured it just got stuck and killed itself so to speak...

Ammonia at .25, Nitrites at .50, Nitrate ataround 3ppm

Water change in order, do you think it'll be fine and not kill any more fish?

 

[Elmware]

Hope you have some good plants for the loose fish to hide in. If not, then it may just becomes someone's dinner unless it is caught and put back in the breeder or you put a barier or do something to seperate it.

I don't know how long you need to keep the Guppies seperate for, but my other livebearers were big enough to be with my other fish after two weeks, just as long as they are big enough that the adult fish can't swallow them so easily, or fit them mostly in their mouthes, then they should be OK.

Baby fish are kinda neat. They get curious about you after awhile, and get to know you better than the ones from the store because they've been around you from the time they were born. I could put my hand in the tank, and the ones which I raised would practically swim right into my hand. Try that with a store bought fish, if it doesn't die of a heart attack or something.

 

[sudz]

cool! i definately feel maternal about them... Thing is... my tank is cycling right now, i just swapped from a 10 gallon to a 15 gallon. I just did a 25% water change... any lower and the nursery will go dry.

Fry count is at 30. I've removed the mothers, any further fry can fend on their own in the rest of the tank :-S

Whats the typical live:die ratio for these fish?

 

[mvigor]

Do guppies eat your young?

*MY* young? They are 2 and 4 years old...much too big to be eaten all in one bite and I'm not going to let them stay in the tank long enough to be eaten.

 

[Elmware]

I hardly had any fry die unless they got accidently crushed in something or sucked into the filter, so you have to be careful of those things. They pretty much all survive.

My suggestion, if you can't provide a big enough tank for them, is to talk to a few lfs in your area and ask if they will take them when they get big enough. Give them as much notice as possible. Some are pretty good about taking them and giving you store credit for other fish, plants, and maybe food or bloodworms. Some chain stores might not even take them.

 

[sudz]

Thats a good idea. I can breed to feed my addiction.

Bad new sthough, I think i got a lemon batch of fish from that auction i was talkinga bout. The female in the picture died last night, out of the blue, as did 2 males that i recieved with her. The 3rd male i had died yesterday. All the younger fish i got in the auction survived, and the 4 fish i bought the other day (2 cories and 2 female guppies) survived fine, and my clown loach looks good as ever. I've finally got the ammonia under control, it got to .25. Would that have killed the weaker fish?