Baby Guppies

[vix]

Got my first babies today, although in a bit of a dilema. Three of the female guppies all look very pregnant and i can't see which one is having her fry. I have rescued 6 fry so far, my questions are how do i know which female it is and how many more should i expect. Also if possible how long she will take to have all her fry.

Many thanks from a very excited new fish mummy

 

[Neal]

She should have finished within 2 hours. Just see wich female looks thinner, and if your lucky you may see her giving birth. They can anything anything up to 100, but some only have very little like the ammount you have found already.
I hope this helps,
Neal

 

[Annastasia]

Some females take a few days to have their fry, some about a week. It's not always a fast thing. And it may be near impossible to tell which one it is. See if any of them appear thinner with a lighter gravid spot though.

Congrats!

 

[vix]

Thanks for the replys, strangely enough it was the female i didn't think was pregnant! She had 14 fry altogether, and sadly when i got up this morning she had died.

I seem to be losing at least 1 guppy every night.

 

[Annastasia]

Did you cycle your tank? What are the water stats at? Guppies can be very sensitive fish, thanks to all the inbreeding they've been through.

 

[vix]

The tank has been up and running for over a year, although i think its going through a mini cycle or something it was very overcrowed. Here are the stats from this morning:


Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 80ppm

This was before my daily 25% water change

 

[Annastasia]

So you did a water change? That's good, the Nitrite and Nitrate weren't the best. And knowing how weak Guppies are, that may have been the issue. What were they at after the water change?

 

[vix]

Give me 15 mins and i'll report back

 

[vix]

Ok here goes:

ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite - looks the same maybe slightly lighter, definately a reading though so over 0ppm and under 0.25ppm
Nitrate - still looks the same around 80ppm

To be honest i have trouble deciding which one is the right reading

 

[Annastasia]

Hmmm...it's strange how they don't go down at all with the water changes. Does the water come out of your tap that way?

 

[vix]

nope tap water is all clear