Well since everyone is on the subject of guppies having their babies maybe someone can answer this question. To start with I have 3 F guppies, 2 M guppies, 2 F black Mollies, 1 M black Mollie, 2 F Red Wag Tail Platies and 1 M Red Wag Tail Platy. The question is, where the black spot is in the back of the female guppy, one of my females is black and red, what would the red be from? All three of the female guppies, one of the Mollies, and one of the Platies are pregnant. So it looks like I may be having some little ones around. But the only other thing is When I got the Guppies, they were in seperate tanks at the pet store until I brought them home on March 30, 08. I have a combo of live and plastic plants in a 20 gal. tank A lot of plants for the fries to hide in since I don't know when the mothers will give birth. I have them temp. set at 70 degrees and do a water change every other day to keep the PH and ammonia down. I don't like using too many chemicals. The tap water we have has high PH in it also so I have to really watch the PH. I would use bottle water but that would cost too much everytime I need to do a water change. Any one have an answer for the red/black spot?

You could do with one more female guppy, but how large is your tank?




Well the gravid patches darkness in color is basically the dark pupils of the developing fry inside the guppy showing through the guppys skin- guppy eggs are orange in color, so if the fry are only partially developed inside the female then this would explain the reddish color- some fry have pale eye's though so not all female guppys show a gravid patch etc.




If you are having to do water changes every other day to keep the ammonia down then something is definately wrong with the tanks water quality- are you using dechlorinator to remove the chlorine from the tap water you are using? As long as the ph is not really extreme, guppys are generally very adaptable to ph- the main thing is preventing it from fluctuating. What is the ph of the tap water you are putting into the tank and what is the ph of the water in the tank?
The ammonia thing really needs to be sorted out though, since in an established tank ammonia should always be 0 and no more, if you are getting ammonia on a regular basis then something is very wrong.

What are the total amount of fish you have in the tank and what types? How many gallons/liters is the tank and what is its measurements? How long has the tank been set up for and how long have you have fish in it? What are your most recent test results for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph and do you use dechlorinator/water conditioner and any other chemicals? How often do you clean out the filter in the tank and how do you go about it exactly? Does the tank have any rocks, shells or driftwood etc you've used as decor in it?
More info on these questions will help greatly in finding the cause of your tanks ammonia and ph problems and how to sort them out permanently, as regularly fluctuating water quality conditions are not a good environment for livebearers to give birth in .

Hello all, im all new at this also and just wondered if you can let me know what you all think.

Looking at all the information on here and peoples veiws can you let me know how long you think my guppy has to go till she produces fry.

Thanks

Wow thanks for posting this thread. This has helped me a lot!

I must say this is certainly an avid discussion with so many interesting views and opinions. I'm still new to the group, but thought I would join in anyway. I have had 1 female guppy die immediately after giving birth before. Not only did she look completely wasted, but her fins fell off.... or something. Very sad. But the fry were strong, and I still have them today, though one has a deformed back, so they were probably inbred. She was pregnant when I bought her.

Also, I think if buying from pet stores, many places get thier fish from the same distributor/breeder, so even if a store tries to keep males and females in seperate tanks, when you bring them home and put them in your tank, they will breed, and more likely than not, end up being inbred as well, especially if they all arrived at the same store at the same time. I think that's how it works anyway, so essentially, it is almost impossible to avoid inbreeding on some level if you buy your fish from a store (not that I have any room to talk, all my fish come from either Petsmart or Petco in the US).

I have a 10 gallon fry tank. I used to separate my gravid females, but if I keep doing that, I will have too many fish. THey are not easy to get rid of sometimes. So now what I do is just make a baby check here and there and scoop out those who survived the main tank and place them in the fry tank.

My main tank is a 55 gallon long and home to quite a crew:
5 mature mollies (1 creamscicle sailfin lyre tail male, 2 silver females, 1 black female, 1 dalmatian female)
8 platys (3 female red wag, 1 female black hi-fin, 1 female golden sunset, 1 male golden sunset, 1 male mickey mouse, 1 female mickey mouse)
4 mature male guppies (2 half-black red delta tails, 1 wild-marked lyre tail, and 1 German pink round tail [I think that is what he's called. Will try and get a picture of him too] )
7 mature female guppies (fancy)
2 juvenile wild-marked male guppies (both appear to be fan tail)
5 juvenile female fancy guppies (about 3 months old)
3 corydoras catfish (2 albino, 1 green)
2 plecos
3 Blue Paradise Gouramis (Paradise Fish, 1 male and 2 females)
2 Golden Wonder Killie fish (1 male and 1 female)
3 White Clouds (genders unknown)
10 Neon Tetras (genders unknown)
3 Black fin Tetras (genders unknown)
20 (or so) juvenille mollies (survivors from Freckles' last pregnancy)

My fry tank is a 10 gallon and is currently home to:
15-20 (hard to count the little buggers when they're small lol) guppy fry born 5/18
10 -12 platys born about 2 months ago - they are still small.. I'm afraid they will get eaten, because actually it is a really interesting brood. The mother was a red wag (very brilliantly colored, a rare find actually for out here) and the father was the golden sunset (I know this because they were born before I got the male mickey mouse). So all the fry, save for one, have the deep black fins characteristic of the red wag. The one who doesn't sports the top and bottom line on the tail characteristic of the golden sunset. Now here is where it gets interesting: Only ONE of the fry sports the typical deep red-orange of the mother, all the rest are very very pale, with a couple that are actually white. And they all have blue eyes (they look blue to me anyway). Any thoughts on this from anyone?
7 "unknowns" (not yet properly identified fry scooped out a couple weeks ago.... I am fairly certain some are guppies though and at least 2 appear to be mollies) More on that when they mature a bit.

So those are my tanks, basically. I am in the process of resealing a 30 gallon octagon, not sure what I will do with it. Might use it to separate sexes or for fry rearing, the possibilities are endless, but as I am sure you all can see... I need to offload some of these youngsters soon lol. Not many people are interested in juvenile mollies and platys though, they all want mature ones, and I am not yet eager to offload any of my guppies. Guppies were the first fish I ever kept, and while it has been a few years since I had an aquarium, I am already addicted once more. My other half thinks I am insane, especially since I am the only one who does anything with the tanks lol.



And, I thought I would take a moment to offer some insight on this question:



I have a female dalmatian molly who is heavily pregnant. She produces copious amounts of fry (average 30 or more) per drop, to the point there I now just keep her in the main tank or she will have me overrun with babies lol. She has become a little bossy and territorial now that she is gravid as well. She is huge... hopefully I can catch a picture of her. Mollies are typically pregnant for about 35 days, sometimes as much as 40, at least with my girls. So it is possible she is just trying to catch some peace and drop her fry. If you have a separate tank available, you can put her in that to see what happens. My dalmatian girl ("Freckles" I call her) also gives birth to very large fry, I was amazed the first time she gave birth as to how big they were.

How long does usually 1 stage lasts, approximately? because I think my dear fish is already in stage 2 or 3, but seems like she's stuck there for a week now. nothing happens. her belly is not big for me to say she's pregnant but her spot appeared that wasn't there before. a dark red one. hope you can help.

thanks.

I've read through most of this discusion, lots of good info, and I saw a question about salt but no answer. I know that it saved my betas life at one point when I started putting small amounts of salt in his tank but would it be all right to put it in a tank of guppies?

1st of all, u guys really need 2 add mosquito fish 2 the fish u guys talk about, cuz i hav 2 of them. 2nd of all, would the stages of a GUPPY pregnancy be the same as the stages of a mosquito fish's pregnancy? cuz one of my mosquito fish is pregnant. also, is the hormone in guppies that allows them to not eat for 12 hours in mosquito fish? im 12 so i dont kno alot..... plz help! -heart , ally86ozzy

This post has been edited by ally86ozzy: Jul 7 2008, 02:01 AM