# How to tell if my livebearers are pregnant?



## Kyfish (Feb 25, 2011)

I have two female guppies, and two female swordtails. One of the female swordtails was huge up until about two days ago I came home from work and she looks very thin. Did she give birth and all the fry get eaten? I have a femail guppy that is swollen up pretty big, but I cant see any fry eyes in her. Is there any for sure way I can tell shes pregnant and when shes about to give birth? 
Thanks


----------



## Scalare (May 5, 2011)

Your female sword probably did give birth while you were at work and yes the fry were 
very likely eaten, if you have a small tank you could use to isolate the expectant moms
the fry would have more of a chance of survival, if there were some plants for them to 
hide in would increase their chances as well. guppies are almost always pregnant, she 
needs to be isolated in another tank or a breeding trap, though the breeding traps do 
seem to stress out the mom fish. timing is difficult, a matter of guesswork

Pete


----------



## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Good morning. Livebearers have a way of delaying birth if conditions aren't right. When Livebearers give birth, they have a lot of fry. Unless you have an extremely small tank and underfeed your adult fish, I doubt all of the fry were eaten.

To ensure good tank conditions, get some Water Sprite and float it in the tank. This will provide good hiding places for the pregnant females from the males and for the fry. 

Livebearers will do best in 20 G tanks and preferably larger, they need a lot of room to swim. I have several tanks of Fancy Guppies and don't keep them in a tank smaller than 30 G and have a lot of plants.

Livebearers are extremely active and burn a lot of calories. When I see pregnant females, which is all the time, I feed a little more often. A little bit, two to three times a day is good and feed a variety of dried brine shrimp, tubifex worms and small algae wafers. Add any of the other name brand, tropical foods to the menu too. It's been my experience over the years that well fed adult livebearers seldom bother the fry.

BBradbury


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

It's possible that the Swordtail was full of eggs, but not pregnant. If tank conditions are not right livebearer fish can discharge the eggs. I agree that all of the fry could have been eaten if it gave birth, Swordtails usually have a very large amount of fry.

If you want help with the Gups, just post a pic.


----------

