A Trip To Walmart And 1 Very Pregnant Guppy...

[Scott MacAdam]

Well I just got home from Walmart (I know.... only option....) and there was a guppy in one of the tanks that looked like it was about to BURST, and we all know that is not just fat from over feeding , being at walmart... so anyway, having extra tank room, and looking for an opportunity to deal with breeding, I got the guppy because the fry would only get eaten as soon as they were born anyway....so I got a breeding trap and some fry liquid food...

now, I don't know TOO much but I think I can handle this rather well because even if only a few actually survive, they are not all eaten in a tiny tank of hungry guppys at walmart... is there anything else I should be prepared for? I'm pretty sure judging by size that tonight or the next she will give birth.... she is HUGE!!!!

if pictures and such are needed they can be provided.... just let me know

THANKS AGAIN!

 

[Scott MacAdam]

update : I have a sponge over the filter intake...

the pregnant fish is in a 10gallon to it's self

after givving birth, she will be moved to another 10 with some other fish, danios and other guppys and such,

the fry will stay in the 10 they are in untill they can be sexed and are big enough to go into a tank with out being eaten

(how long is this exactly?) also, she is very slow moving and seems to stick closer to the bottom.... is this normal for a pregnant fish?

anyone want to add anything.... any response will be greatly appreciated....

 

[Baozer]

Wow, you really are a benevolent person

It seems like you made the right choice of saving the poor fish's babies. Maybe in the future, the fry will grow to be pretty in heart such as like you =]

Now to get to the point, a breeding trap is necessary since the babies when born will fall to the ground, and if there's a trap there to secure them, the mother wont have to waste useful energy picking up her fry. Fry food in a bottle is good also if you cannot afford the money to hatch live brine shrimp. From my past experience, I'd say it would have to take at least 1-2 months before the fry are not considered live food anymore. But that's just my two cents. Best luck!

 

[poopsydrew]

Wow, you really are a benevolent person

It seems like you made the right choice of saving the poor fish's babies. Maybe in the future, the fry will grow to be pretty in heart such as like you =]

Now to get to the point, a breeding trap is necessary since the babies when born will fall to the ground, and if there's a trap there to secure them, the mother wont have to waste useful energy picking up her fry. Fry food in a bottle is good also if you cannot afford the money to hatch live brine shrimp. From my past experience, I'd say it would have to take at least 1-2 months before the fry are not considered live food anymore. But that's just my two cents. Best luck!

Are you sure guppy females pick their fry up off the bottom? Why would she do that anyway? They arent antaboids so im pretty sure they wpuldnt need to be near the surface for air...I thought like most livebearers the parents will eat the fry sooner or later? I would really like some confirmation on this as I feel I must respectfully disagree.

Drew

 

[afishdude]

are you positive its pregy? how about a grivid spot? it could be "fat" from a bacterial or parasite infection from bieng in walmarts crowded tanks and bieng mistreated.

but other than that good luck hope u get a good fry batch sounds like u no ur stuff about fry already.

sexing for guppys is right around a month (3-4 weeks) and they should be big enough to go in with other small fish at about a week.

if they want to eat the fry they will do it in the first half hour. and yes they do give birth on bottom and will eat fry directly off the bottom.. theres accualy a video on youtube about how guppies eat fry and other problems if u want to take a look at that.
i can get u url if you want

heres url:
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy9Cm1kY8SM

its pretty interesting how they give birth.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

wow... good responses... thanks! well i'm not 100% sure it is pregnant, I'm just used to buying fish and getting a few fry in there for some reason... too small to see untill I take them out... so I know it does happen regulary, I just figured I caugt the mother before she gave birth this time...

anyway, is there any way to tell a pregnancy from being"fat" from a bacterial or parasite infection??

as I posted before, I will put up some pictures if they will help...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You shouldn't put her in the breeding net as it will be very stressful for her, generally speaking its unadvisable to buy heavily pregnant fish from petshops as the process of being removed from one tank, going on a journey, and then being made to acclimatise to a completely new environment can be very stressful for a heavily pregnant fish such as a guppy, by doing such a thing you can risk the fish aborting/miscarriageing its fry or suffering other birthing complications.

Its good you have got her in her own tank gallon now (i assume you mean gallons and not litres?), but is the tank cycled at all?

I know you were trying to do a good deed by buying her from walmart, but you must realise that because you have bought her, walmart will only buy more guppys now that are in the same situation. Often the best thing you can do, is not buy anything at all from bad fish stores, but instead just spend your money on the ones that actually practice good fishkeeping etc.

 

[Lynda B]

You'd be surprised at how many local fish stores, not chain stores, might be in your area. You won't know they are there until you really search them out. Ask local fish clubs where the stores are and you'll see a tremendous difference between the health of the fish you get from them versus WalMart, PetsMart, Petco and that type of store.

Good luck with your guppy!!!

 

[Scott MacAdam]

hahahaha! believe me , I have searched it out... A LOT, I'm from a small Island on the east coast of Canada.... the largest city being about 35,000... all we have is walmart... although, there is a city, Halifax about 4 hours away, so when I do go there, I look at the fish, but other then that I 've got nothing...

as for the tank, it's 10 gallons (not liters) and has been cycled for about 2-3 years... so no worries there...
well, the way I see it, Walmart is ALWAYS going to buy more fish here, because they are usually sold out of most fish a few days after their weekly shipment... because they are the only provider, fish keepers of Cape Breton really have no other choice... I have spoken to A LOT of the other people there buying fish and I have come to the realization that maybe 1 out of 10 has a general Idea of proper fish care, let alone cycling tanks and breeding... So I just didn't want this fish to be neglected and dead within a few days.. I honestly thinkmost other situations would have led to either all the fry getting eaten or the mother fish dieing herself before death....

anyway, carrying on, when these fish are born, assuming that some survive this ordeal, 1-2 months in the 10G by them selves should be long enough before adding them in with the other larger guppys and danios?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

update : I have a sponge over the filter intake...

the pregnant fish is in a 10gallon to it's self

after givving birth, she will be moved to another 10 with some other fish, danios and other guppys and such,

the fry will stay in the 10 they are in untill they can be sexed and are big enough to go into a tank with out being eaten

(how long is this exactly?) also, she is very slow moving and seems to stick closer to the bottom.... is this normal for a pregnant fish?

anyone want to add anything.... any response will be greatly appreciated....

as for the tank, it's 10 gallons (not liters) and has been cycled for about 2-3 years... so no worries there...
well, the way I see it, Walmart is ALWAYS going to buy more fish here, because they are usually sold out of most fish a few days after their weekly shipment... because they are the only provider, fish keepers of Cape Breton really have no other choice... I have spoken to A LOT of the other people there buying fish and I have come to the realization that maybe 1 out of 10 has a general Idea of proper fish care, let alone cycling tanks and breeding... So I just didn't want this fish to be neglected and dead within a few days.. I honestly thinkmost other situations would have led to either all the fry getting eaten or the mother fish dieing herself before death....

anyway, carrying on, when these fish are born, assuming that some survive this ordeal, 1-2 months in the 10G by them selves should be long enough before adding them in with the other larger guppys and danios?

You said in an earlier post that the "the pregnant fish is in a 10gallon to it's self", this would imply it is the only fish in the tank, if the tank had no fish in it beforehand it is not cycled.

How many guppys and danio's and other fish do you have exactly in the other 10gal and what type/s of danios? How long is the other 10gal?

 

[Scott MacAdam]

well... the tank the pregnant fish is in... HAD a Betta, snail, some frogs, some minnows (and many other fish for the past few years) in it UNTILL I got this fish, so I took them over to another community tank, for the time being, and the betta back to a 1G bowl... so yes it is cycled... I DO have more then just the 2 ten gallons so don't be worried, you can take my word on the cycling, I'm not necessarialy a newbie! lol! i wouldn't put it in an uncycled tank....

The other tank, in question, has 3 guppys and 3 danios in it (along with a small snail...) but as I said, I have a few tanks so no worries....

as for length, they are both standard 10G's not sure exact lengths, but the most common ones, AKA not 10G long, or 10G wide, or 10G tall or anything like that...

 

[afishdude]

good way to tell if they are pregy is the "grivid spot" its just infront of there anus and behind there stomach. it will be a small kinda square dark black or brown spot. if you see tiny black spots in that grivid spot those are the fry's eyes and that mean she is ready to drop them.

so hope it helps.

ps if she doesnt give birth wihtin a week then she is prob not pregy.

 

[Scott MacAdam]

ok good advice... I'll look out for that grivid spot....

 

[Scott MacAdam]

WOAH! lol....

got this while searching the Gravid spot...

"A female will produce fry on average, once per month, even if a male isn't present in the tank. If the female has been with a male even once, she will have fry for up to 6 months after one mating. "

lol... Now thats Bang for your Buck quality.... pardon the pun...

 

[poopsydrew]

WOAH! lol....

got this while searching the Gravid spot...

"A female will produce fry on average, once per month, even if a male isn't present in the tank. If the female has been with a male even once, she will have fry for up to 6 months after one mating. "

lol... Now thats Bang for your Buck quality.... pardon the pun...