How long are Guppies pregnant for?

[Elisabeth83]

Hi,

I think 1 of my female guppies is pregnant....her tummy is bigger than the other girls..and keeps increasing in size. Just wondering how long guppies stay pregnant for? I asked today at my lfs and they said they are usually pregnant for about 4 weeks.....I was told also they can decide when they want to give birth???

Also how many fry do they usually give birth to? Also what do you do with all the babies? Do fish stores usually buy just from regular people?

Also I'm new to guppies...so I'm not sure what the mating rituals are....I just noticed one of my male guppies waving his tail near the girl..and then she kinda turned on her side a little and he kinda "kissed" her side. Like sucked it a couple times.

Thanks!!!

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

4 weeks is about right, but it does vary alot..

if its a first time pregnancy dont expect many fry, they can have anything from 1 - 40+, i keep my fry and grow em up and sell em on..to lfs or anyone who wants them..

Most lfs will take your fish, but not when they are small..they have to be a sellable size. i hope i helped you abit

 

[teamfargo]

I am very new to the guppy thing as well, but they do seem to decide when to give birth. I tried a breeder tank and she refused to give birth and looked stresses. I took her out and we had babies everywhere! lol

She also waited until I ran to the grocery store. I was going to put her back in the breeder tank when I noticed her 'getting ready'. I read that they take on a more square - boxy shape just before birth.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Do you guys keep your guppies in their own tank?? I have mine mixed with other fish...but I'm thinking about putting them in their own tank...because I think I might of overcrowded my tank....

Whats a good size tank for guppies?? I was thinking of getting like a 15-20 gallon hex tank. I thought that would look really nice.

Also...if I do move them....should I use the water from my tank thats been running for 7 weeks..or should I use new water...and let it sit for awhile?

 

[Elisabeth83]

DevilsAdvocate...I notice that you have a 20 gallon tank....which has fish in it similar to what I have...I just put a post up in tropical chitchat..asking if I had too many fish...

what I have is a 26 gallon tank with:

1 dwarf gourami
1 kissing gourami
1 sucker fish
2 sailfin mollies
2 white mollies
2 swordfish
2 male guppies
4 female guppies
1 baby swordfish fry in breeding net

Some say thats way too much to have in a tank that size....what do you think? Do you do ok with yours? do you do water changes frequently??

Thanks!!

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

i keep my guppies in my brackish water tank with my mollies..its far from ideal but i have no choice at the moment. a 15-20 hex would look great with guppies in it..id use new water aswell not stuff from your other tank...just be sure to cycle the tank, and pretty soon you'll be upto your neck in guppy babies!

My tank is overstocked...i have too many fish in it at the moment..but it should be sorted within a month hopefully...i think your tank has the perfect amount of fish for its size..but thats just me..different people have different opinions on what is "overstocked" I change my water every sunday..i haven't had any problems so far, Fingers Crossed

 

[Elisabeth83]

Yeah everyone seems to have different opinions thats the problem lol

Well eventually I am going to get another tank for my guppies. Yeah I agree I think a Hex tank would look beautiful with a bunch of guppies in it.

When I cycle the Hex....should I cycle it with the guppies or without? some say cycle without fish...some say cycle with....

I went to a website and put in my tank mesurements...and it said I could have 2 large fish, 5 medium fish and 10 small fish for that size tank.

I wanted just 1 tank...but I have the feeling....I'm going to end up with more

Thanks!!!

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Fishless Cycling is probably the better of the two options..it saves buying fish and having them die if things go wrong.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Ok I'll do the fishless cycling...how long will that tank about??

Was just told my kissing gourami....can get to be 6-12 inches long.....so thats a big problem right now...plus was just reading and they are supposed to have minimum 55 gallons...

Do pet stores usually tank fish back?? I've had him for about 6 weeks now.

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

Elisabeth83, whats your sucker fish? because if its what i think it is it will grow to be to big for your tank to, is it 1 of these? http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di...=21&pCatId=1021


as for the guppy question, mine have hers anywhere from 4-5 weeks apart but yours might have hers sooner depending on how pregnant she was when you bought her

 

[Elisabeth83]

No no....Mine stays small...I'm not sure of the name...but someone in another post I posted....told me it stays small...I'll get the link and paste it here...so you can see what kind it is....maybe you can tell me the name of it

 

[Elisabeth83]

http/www.ingebrand.de/aquaristik/fische/...8%20640x480.jpg

heres what I got))

 

[Dakota Ice]

Dont wanna beat a dead horse here.. but.. lol.. Guppies are pregnant for 4 weeks, sometimes 3, sometimes 5.

But what I really want to say is that I think all plecos get to a considerable size; as in 5 inches +, but yes, you are right, those dont get to the foot long monsters that the common plecos grow to.

Good Luck!
Dakota

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hi Dakota,
What do you usually do with all the guppie babies? My lfs wont buy fish...so I'm just wondering how many guppies can live in a 15-20 gallon hex tank? I'm afraid I'll be over run with fry

Don't you just love guppies? I think they are soooo beautiful!!

 

[Dakota Ice]

Yes -- I love guppies, I can never got off of them, they fill all my tanks. Thats probably why I am mostly posting in the livebearer forum. I know my guppy stuff!

Hmm.. you could always put an add in the classified section of your local newspaper, it probably only costs a few dollars or so. Most likely people will jump for it, because I know that the only fish I see in the classified are koi.

Hmm.. if there were NO other fish, and frequent water changes, Id go for 20. Guppies arent exactly pooping machines, but they arent super light on the bioload like tetras, either. If you had really good filtatrion, maybe 23 or 25.

Good Luck!
Dakota