# Any help with fry (possibly guppy fry?) need info.



## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

I have a 25 gal tank set up, i've been stocking it very slowly over about a year. I bought my two otos yesterday and I noticed two very small grey fish swimming in the tank as I was introducing them? I am 95% sure they weren't from the bag with the otos in. 

Their bodies aren't glass looking so they're older than fry, they have gray bodies and fan shaped tails. They're probably about 1cm in length. I scooped one in a jar to look at it, I know it's not a great picture but you get idea of size and colour.









At first I thought it was my neons breeding but the tail is fan shaped rather than arrow looking like a neons. I have done a little research and my guppy is also very fat with a jet black gravid spot which makes me think they're now hers? Thing is i've had her maybe 3-4 months, my local fish store keep males and female guppies seperate and I know for sure my two platies are definitely girls. I've had them both for 1yr+ so it's baffled me a bit. 

Any advice? Does it sound like neons or guppies? One of the young is getting black pigments in its tail fins (my guppy has a grey body, black tail too.)
They are both happily eating flake food, I sometimes feed them all peas. There's plenty of hiding spots in the tank but the other fish (although my XL platy is about 3-3.5 inches) don't seem to bother either of them, they mix very well in with the other fish.

I need to know when I can tell the sex of these young for sure? At the moment they both have fan shaped anal fins, which makes me think they're both girls. That'd be convenient for my tank as i'm keeping all the livebearers female but will that possibly change as they grow into their fins? I don't want them to get sexually mature and turn out to be boys and just keep having guppy fry all over the place. I have NEVER bred fish so I am excited about these two and will keep them if they're girls but do not want anymore.

Also I do not want to seperate them into another tank.

Any help? Never kept fry or young fish? Thankyou.


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## Sebastian (Dec 27, 2012)

Elz, female guppies can store sperm for over 6 month, i.e. they only have to mate once and can produce several live clutches. Can't tell from the picture if it is a guppy, but I would bet it is. Do you have a side view?


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Yep I did read that I guess maybe it happened on the way to my local fish store.
This is about the best picture I could get of the fry. The other one looks a little more mature and is developing a black tail.









Oh and here's the adult guppy (Even though the picture is rubbish you can see)









Do you know when I can tell the sex of them? Thanks


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Def looks like a baby guppy. I cant really tell the adult guppy, but you can tell by the anal fin. If the anal fin is a triangle, female, if it is long and thin, its a male.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

It is a guppy.It could take well over 3-6 months for it to show true sex.Often in confined spaces with limited water changes hormones will build in the water cloumn(can't be measured) and a "crafty" male will appear to be a female to protect itself.Very close attention needs to given(I mean checking daily) to see if/when the change appears .I've had swords almost 9 months old switch from female to male,usaully upon removing the "dominant" male from the tank.
Good luck.


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Agreed with that one. I kept 4 of my first batch of guppy fry, all "females". A month later, I now have 2 males and 2 females lol.


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Hehe thanks, I knew the adult was a girl she has a fan shaped anal fin but was wondering if she looked like she was going to have any more?

Not sure what to do now I know they can chop and change sex. Would the colour be a good firm indicator or is that not really something permanent either? I just really don't want to be overrun with guppies so i'm wondering now when they get a bit bigger whether to take them to my local fish store to find new homes before any of the breeding happens. They have their own fry/very young tanks which they raise. With the hormones in the water prolonging them changing sex, would regular small water changes help that? I could do something like 1 gallon every other day.


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Chances are she will have more. Color wont tell ya much of anything other than what they will look like, but even now, this is way too early to tell. Most of my fry are about a month old now and they are barely just starting to show more color other than the yellow or grey body. They can drop anywhere from 2-100 fry in one batch. I would call the LFS and see if they will, they might for store credit. Doing it that way they probably wont take them until they are at least an inch big. You might have better odds posting a add on craigslist selling them for like 50 cents each.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Changing water may help with maturing the fish faster.It certainly helps all fish grow healthier.If they can't be seperated and you really don't want to breed them then I would take them to LFS ASAP as even if you can't tell they can and some livebearers produce fry at an very young age.


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Thanks, i'm still stocking so i'll ask them when I visit next. They've taken fish in for me before and have helped me quite a lot so I know they'll have no problem doing so but like you said size might be a problem for now. I am really quite gutted about having to give them away but it's probably for the best, the sound of potentially 100 fry is just yikes haha. I don't want to seperate them really just because of costs. I had to set up my spare hospital tank for a betta I took in, so I don't have anything cycled and ready or any accessories. I just can't really afford to have loads of small guppy all over the place. I never really expected it to happen since I have had a lot of livebearers in the past with no problems.

I guess it's a good sign my tank is really thriving. I have had a sudden outburst of plants and I bought the adult guppy with what looked like the starts of white spot and she recovered really fast. So I am happy


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Glad to hear!! Keep one male and one female guppy and you will have fry every 28 days or so lol.


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

Yeah your signature is a bit of a wake up call!!


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Haha its just the start too.


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## Elz7676 (Nov 9, 2011)

I guess you must enjoy it though! I have been really excited upon finding these two let alone how you must feel with 43 of them !! *r2


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Haha I do. Its fun watching them grow and seeing the colors and patterns you can get. Though at this point I am just doing everything I can to get rid of some haha


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I agree its looks like a guppie.thay are right about having frys for 6 months.all my female guppies are going to have frys any day now and I have not had a male in the tank sence jan.


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## jamnigh (Apr 24, 2013)

Haha its a lovely process isn't it!


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