# Hi! New here and have some questions!



## ARice (Sep 10, 2013)

I'm new here and have some questions. I have a male and female guppy pair and am wondering about breeding. I have no knowledge about breeding but I'm very interested in it. This is what I know so far and some of the questions I have. Any other tips, info or ANYTHING is welcome.

Is it safe to assume that 'fry' are newborn fish? I apologize for me lack of knowledge in the lingo department, I'm sure I'll catch on. 

- I have a smaller tank lined up for later on.
- I also have a mesh breeder. 
- I was told the gestation period for my female guppy would be 6 - 8 weeks. And close to that time I should place her in the breeder (but not for too long, I don't want to stress her out) and then to place the babies is a separate tank. 
- How is caring for the babies different from caring for adults, what extra care should i provide?
- Also I was wondering what people do with all the fish they get from breeding; do you sell them? Where? Can you give them away?

Thanks again! :goldfish:


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Besides what I mentioned in your intro ,the guppies(all livebearers) will give birth in aprox.28 days.The female can carry sperm from a male to have 6-8 sets of fry without seeing a male more than once!


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## ARice (Sep 10, 2013)

I remember the person in the store saying that, How will I know if she's pregnant? They said something about a black spot in her lower abdomen, but there is already one there. It's not big and her belly isn't enlarged.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

She will not only be large(fat) but will appear "squared off".
Here's some good info on breeding livebearers.
How to breed livebearing fish | Features | Practical Fishkeeping


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## Tolak (Mar 10, 2013)

As far as selling privately owned shops will often take livebearers in for store credit. Local clubs are another sales outlet, they often have auctions & such every so often, if not at their meetings.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Did you plan to do something with them? So many people buy livebearers and end up with a lot of fry that they protected and placed in another tank and they are not sure what to do from there. I think most get over the whole newness of fry in their tank after the first birth and usually change their initial idea.

I have had livebearers in my tanks for as long as I have had tanks and have probably seen over 1000 fry, but still would not consider myself a breeder. I have also never done anything special to protect them other than giving them places to hide. A large female Guppy can have over 100 babies, although mine and the size they are usually only produce 20-40 at the most. If all of those fish survive, what happens when they become sexually mature around the 3 month point? You need to think about everything. Bottom line, a "breeder" has quite a few tanks usually to house fry at different stages of their development and have to think about colors and tails and any other geno things to keep them looking like something someone would actually want.


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## ARice (Sep 10, 2013)

I have found some local shops that I plan on asking if they will take the fry at some point. If not I have some family members that would take them as well


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## FishFlow (Sep 13, 2011)

Not alot needs to be done to breed guppies. In that respect, I'd doubt any LFS would pay much, if anything for guppies. If they take them off your hands, consider yourself lucky.


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## Avraptorhal (Jan 24, 2013)

I had my platies present me with fry shortly (a couple months) after acquiring them. I don't plane to breed them but from the looks of her I'll have another batch soon.

I live in a semi rural area. The only pet stores within a reasonable distance (less than 50 miles) are Petco and Petsmart. There is a LFS that I bought some driftwood from that kinda gives me the creeps. The majority of the fish there are large ~10 to 12 inches. It is dark, doesn't smell too bad and has a large selection of snakes. Not my cup of tea.

I'm at a loss what to do with fry. I don't have the room for a multitude of tanks and I wouldn't be able to care for them.

Any suggestions? I would ship them to anyone willing to pay for the shipment and packaging only with no fish based cost.

Another problem is they are in my community tank which I call my jungle due to the plants. I have been thinking how to catch them with all the live plants.


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