# Fancy Guppies



## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

I have a breeding tank set up. I have my pregnant guppies in there (5 of them). Here is my problem: as of right now I have at least 6 fry in the tank and I have no idea who owns them!!! I've been told that since guppies can fertilize their eggs more then once from one mating that they always look pregnant. I want to move the mothers back out after they have babies but how will I know that they are done??


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Question I have is how did you determine they were pregnant? The gravid spot will always show on a Guppy....doesn't mean they are pregnant or ready to give birth.

Mine always bulged to a point that you just knew it would be soon. Some people refer to the triangular look at the rear, but I've never really noticed that myself.

Are you saying that six fry are in the tank and you don't notice a difference on the females? If so, you could have fry from more than one in your tank. I say that because I have had Guppies have just 2 fry and that was it. Where it came from I have no idea.


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## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

I never thought about it that way. I thought that if they had a gravid spot-they were pregnant. So, if I ignore that part what should I look for?? Big fat guppies?? Will they all get really fat before they give birth?? How will I know that they are done and it's safe to put them back in the regular tank??


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I have pregnant gups give birth and the gravid is still just as dark, just not as large. "Usually" there is some bulging. Most fish are fairly slim in general and you sometimes may not notice a slight bulging. Some there will be no mistake. Most of the fish that I have that give birth that I notice the bulge....when it goes away I know they are done. I know that sounds real simple, but the only way I can describe.

Normal gestation for a Guppy is 21-30 days. If you watch your fish as much as I do, you'll know and you'll figure the cycle of most of your fish.

You obviously got it right for at least one of them


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## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

Thanks!! Think I'm going to take out the smaller ones and see how it goes.... Might put the really plump ones in the little breeding net too. The pores in the net are large enough that the fry are able to get out so I might do that....


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

When you get a chance try going to guppies.com and checking out the forum there. Many breeders come to the site and contribute to the forum. Some breed show class Guppies. Outstanding info on Guppies there.


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## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

Awesome!!! Thanks


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

After a while you'll get the hang of it. Instead of a breeding net you could use lots of java moss in the tank. I found like that most of the fry made it, even though some might get eaten. Like that that the mothers are not so space restricted.


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## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

I'm trying to grow moss but so far it's been unsuccessful. I can' find any around here for sale so I ordered some Christmas moss from ebay but it arrived dead. I'd love to have all my tanks planted with real plants and christmas and java moss seem to be good beginner ones to start with. Also, I don't want to plant any in the substrata until I change it from gravel to the fine looking almost like white sand stuff (which I need to find out the name of)


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Thats too bad you got dead moss. Did it take a long time to arrive or was it badly packed?What light does your tank have?


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## intensejustin (Sep 8, 2010)

Ive been breeding guppies for awhile.. I dont use Breeder nets or boxs, at the LFS here they have fake plants called "Fancy Plants" they work wonders for fry to hide in. If you have your males and females separated in different tanks, after the mother gives birth i usually just use a tank divider to keep her away from the fry and so the fry can come out and eat.


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## intensejustin (Sep 8, 2010)

Next question is what are you gonna do with all those fish? I arranged a trade type deal with the LFS here cause technically selling fish you have to have a license for... or something like that. 

I give them guppies, they give me what I want/need!


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## Amie (Sep 15, 2010)

The best answer I could get from the store so far was that they would see if they had room for them when the fry were big enough cause at the time they had lots of guppies. But there are 5 or 6 different stores in the area so one of them should be able to take them by that time. I would like the same arrangement-fry for store credit. If not then I'm going to sell them privately. I don't think they have the same licensing thing here. I see lots of posts on kijiji and the online classifieds of fish that people have for sale. 

The lighting in my tank is......I have no idea.....the bulbs that came with the tank.......I talked to the seller of the Moss and I have to provide them with a picture and they will send me a new one. It seemed to be packaged okay but it did take a long time for delivery.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

If you have lighting that came with it might not be much to grow plants with, but moss can grow with very low light, although it grows slower. If you are interested look at the bulb it will tell you how many watts it is, for example 15W or 30W. That tells you how strong the light is. There may also be other info that says what kind of light it is, some types of light are better than others for growing plants.


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## chris oe (Feb 27, 2009)

Once a female has dropped fry, if you introduce her to a male within 24 to 48 hours after the drop, if mating occurs, there will be a preference toward the fresh sperm. In other words, the female will not use stored old stale sperm instead of the new stuff they just got, but you have to get that 24 to 48 hour window. 

Just after the drop the female that dropped fry generally will have thinned down some, and will be showing some stress. Dropping fry takes some out of them. You can tell when a female is about to drop because they will look kind of square, both from the front and from the side from the shoulders (or where the shoulders would be) through the end of the silvery abdomen area will look like a rectangle, and in lighter colored females you will begin to see eyespots through the blackish/brownish area at the back of the abdomen. Then within a few days that female will suddenly look skinnier, and you will (hopefully) have fry. 

But listen, there's a good chance that if she's in a tank with other females the other females will eat a lot of the fry. A drop can be anywhere from 10 to 40 babies, and if there are other adult fish anywhere in the tank during the drop not only will you have to be alert to figure out who dropped the babies, but you will lose a good percentage of those babies. I usually put gravid (pregnant) females by themselves in a five gallon with a lot of java moss ('cause even moms have been known to snack on their own babies) so they can have some peace and quiet. At least, that is how I do it.


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