# We've got babies



## danilykins

I was feeding mommies in the 10g upstairs and saw 3 babies swimming around  I tried to figure out which momma it came from but who ever she is, she's not done, because they all still look pretty fat!!

How many days after birth should I wait before I move her back to the big tank??


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## FishTeen

My LFS always told me that Guppies usually have about 8 to 12 babies at a time. If you can tell how many babies were born, 8 or more means she's about done. 

I have raised over 30+ guppies from birth in our Guppy and Danio breeding tank  . I usually return the female to the main tank after about 2 days from the first birth.


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## danilykins

ok 2 days sound good, I had a female die 2 days after giving birth because she was in the main tank  so after that I scooped up all the remaining females and put them in the baby tank. They have been there for a while and I have been impatiently waiting for the to have their babies lol


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## chris oe

Not in my experience. I've come down to the basement and found as many as 40 in a drop tank, and I've heard of drops as high as 60 all in one night. Usually if you only see 8 - 12 its a new mom, or a fish in a community tank and other members of the community are picking off some of the other fry.


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## Tankfull Tropicals

It is so exciting isn't it. Congrats; and I would give her a rest on her own if you have room for 3-4 days. Spoil her, she's yours. I still get as excited as I did 45 yrs ago at the site of babies. I am the new owner of 150 baby catfish myself last week. Cheers > doug


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## FishTeen

I guess it varies...i've never bred any guppies that gave birth to over 10 fry at a time. Are your guppies fancy or regular?


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## automatic-hydromatic

one of the females in my 30 gallon dropped over 20 about a month ago

guppies can span their birth out over a period of time. mine dropped about 5, waited a week, then dropped the rest. so don't be surprised if she stops at that number and waits a week to have the rest


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## chris oe

The big drops were usually fancy moscows, big pampered full grown girls. I usually set them up in their own five gallon tanks, feed them really well and try to keep their stress as low as possible. They're big fish, but they also have big fry. Generally a mom that has to compete with too many other fish in a crowded community tank her whole pregnancy can't really get as much nutrition as she can on her own someplace quiet.


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## danilykins

I think it depends on the size of the guppy too.. my guppy that gave birth last night only had about 5, but she is small... I have a very large one and she will have at LEAST a dozen, probably more.


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## chris oe

Yes, young ones have smaller drops, little ones have smaller drops, older and bigger have bigger babies, larger drops, more food, better food, more babies, bigger, healthier babies. Prenatal care-!!!!

During the depression they'd see moms who'd skip feeding themselves to feed their husbands and children even when they were pregnant, and then they'd have terrible deliveries and the babies would have terrible health problems and it took all kinds of education to convince people that you feed the pregnant moms first. But you can't tell guppies what to do.


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## jrman83

chris oe said:


> The big drops were usually fancy moscows, big pampered full grown girls. I usually set them up in their own five gallon tanks, feed them really well and try to keep their stress as low as possible. They're big fish, but they also have big fry. Generally a mom that has to compete with too many other fish in a crowded community tank her whole pregnancy can't really get as much nutrition as she can on her own someplace quiet.


Something I haven't given much thought to, but it makes sense I guess. I've yet to have a Guppy give birth to more than a dozen (I think). Hard to know for sure when the tank is full of threats to be eaten. Mine aren't that big nor do they get that big when pregnant. My Swordtails on the other hand, get really huge. Got two soon to give birth that I know will be 50+ each.


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## wltrdragon

Congrats on the babies. its been a few years since i had any babies. but after my lfs closed and left me with no where to sell the babies at i usually left my females in the community tanks which i keep heavlly planted and just let nature take its course. i would usually have a good number survive even with cannibalsation. i just learned to cover my power filter pickup tubs to prevent filter fatalities.


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## mec102778

*w3

Congrats on the babies!


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## chris oe

How are your babies doing?


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## danilykins

The babies are doing fantastic  I have about 3 dozen babies maybe more. Last night I moved them to the large tank, and they are loving all the nooks and cranies they can hide in  The are large enough (maybe a half inch) to where the large guppies will leave them alone. My balloon molly finally had babies, and lemme tell ya, I thought guppy babies were cute, balloon molly babies are adorable. They almost look cartoonish due to the way they are shaped


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## automatic-hydromatic

keep an eye on them if they're all in the same tank

once the boys and girls reach "of age", if you don't separate them, you're going to end up with HUNDREDS of them in no time


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## jrman83

With my experience and my 2 livebearer tanks, Mollies and Platies don't mature as fast as Guppies. My platies were about 6 months old before they were of age to have their own, or at least before they started. I have some 4-5 month old Mollies that still haven't reached that point. My adolescent Guppies are about 3 months old and already doing the deed. No babies yet, but they start sooner it appears.


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## danilykins

eek! when they get mature enought I was gonna start giving them away either to schools, friends whoever wants em... I just really wanted to move my betta to the 10g she looked soooo sad in the vase I had her in  She is really happy in the 10g right now.


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## danilykins

Ok... so I have moved all the babies to the large tank. Now I have gotten a really good look at them. 

There are a lot of female guppies. I would say 95% is female. I have 1 confirmed male and a couple Im not really sure about. I have 2 balloon molly babies. I had 3 but one seems to either have died or its hiding.
Is this a normal occurrence with guppies, to have lots of females and very little males? I can see how that can cause hundreds of babies


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## mec102778

danilykins said:


> Ok... so I have moved all the babies to the large tank. Now I have gotten a really good look at them.
> 
> Is this a normal occurrence with guppies, to have lots of females and very little males? I can see how that can cause hundreds of babies


Yes it is, and from what I understand they can carry sperm till the conditions are right and spawn at that time. If left un checked the moms don't care they will just eat the babies.

I don't even know how many babies I have had since setting up my 10G, and not they are spawing more easiley in the 20G I have them in.


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## chris oe

How are you confirming male? the gonopodium develops really slowly, so if that's your confirmation it will be a month or more before you know for sure how many will end up male. Color develops really slowly too, so that's not much confirmation. Gravid spot, that's the way I figure it out, and I usually get slightly less than 50/50 when all is said and done, but males are always more fragile than females at birth across the animal kingdom, and if there's an illness or predation that tends to take a big toll on the boys.


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## jrman83

danilykins said:


> Ok... so I have moved all the babies to the large tank. Now I have gotten a really good look at them.
> 
> There are a lot of female guppies. I would say 95% is female. I have 1 confirmed male and a couple Im not really sure about. I have 2 balloon molly babies. I had 3 but one seems to either have died or its hiding.
> Is this a normal occurrence with guppies, to have lots of females and very little males? I can see how that can cause hundreds of babies


That is the way I thought my group of babies was also. Over time and color development, and even some normal sexual activity, I realized I had four males. It's almost a 3:1 ratio, but that is about what it should be anyway. I'm happy with it. I only have two adult males and six female.


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## danilykins

I have seen one with a gonopodium. He was doing the "flicking" thing with it that males do. I have only seen one with it so not sure how that happened. There are A LOT of dark guppies with grey or black second half of their body. Im assuming that these are female.


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## wltrdragon

only way i could ever tell which hwere males was when the male genitaliya develops. ive had some females that had as much or more colors then males. on another note i just got some baby red swag platies last week. i was disapointed when my red mickey mouse platie deid before giving birth. so far i have seen about 6 little ones swimming and hiding in my floating plant mat.


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## chris oe

it wouldn't be the second half of their body, the "half black" pattern can be on males or females. The gravid spot is where, if you were looking at a completely uncolored female you would see a silvery bean shaped sack where all the organs are located in males and females, and in the female at the back of that silvery sack there's a little area, black, brown or pink, not much more than a dot in a juvenile guppy, called the gravid spot. 
(look at this website for a good picture with arrow of an adult guppy with a gravid spot) Pregnant Guppy

But when you are looking for them on the fry they will be tiny, smaller than a poppy seed when they first start out, and if you have half black guppies, it will be complicated by the dark pigment in the skin of your half blacks, but you should still be able to do it. It will get easier and easier the older your fry get.


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