Black Female Guppy Birth?

[Platail]

Hey,
 
So I'm not exactly new to guppies and their breeding, I used to keep them as a child and I currently breed swordtails and platys, though my brother has recently gotten 5 guppies, and all has gone well, they have settled in and now I've realised that one of the three females is very pregnant and looks to be nearly ready to give birth, the only issue is that her entire back half is solid matte black and I am unable to see her gravid...
 
She is about two or three times the size of the other females, (who might also be pregnant but not very far along), and she seems to be perfectly happy.
 
I haven't bred guppies for a very long time so I don't remember what their behaviour before birth is, do they hang around the bottom or top to give birth?
Also how long can she stay in the breeding box, the most I've ever left a swordtail in there was a day while I was at uni (and I felt pretty bad about it).
 

Thanks guys

 
 

 

[fluttermoth]

The so-called 'gravid spot' is really not much use in diagnosing pregnancy anyway; it's very often part of the fish's gut.
 
What you want to look out for is the fish 'squaring off'. that means her belly will develop distinct corners (it will look like she's swallowed a box!). Once that happens, they usually give birth within 24 hours, although they can hold on to their fry, if they feel stressed.
 
We don't recommend the use of breeding boxes. They're stressful for the female (which can lead to her holding onto the fry, or aborting them, if placed in there too early) and far too small for fry to be able to grow properly.
 
If you want some fry to survive (and it's impractical to try and save every fry), you're far better off adding lots and lots of live plants to the tank for them to hide in

 

[Platail]

Hmm that makes sense, I just remember being told as a child by my local pet store that you could tell with guppies that way so I was going on that. She does seem to be rather squared off, so I guess she will soonish.
 
They actually have a lot of plants and java moss as it's my old swordtail tank (I upgraded them and gave this one to my brother) and I stopped using a breeding box with them awhile ago because I hated it and I found it stressed them, so swapped to moss, which seems to work better anyway... but my brother insists on it because he wants to monitor their growth and such, therefore he wants to look at them up close as newborns (to get pictures I guess), and then the pet store suggested to him, to use the breeding box to do so 

 
Though I've never heard of people leaving the fry in them! That sounds rather curious to me... 

 
 
Thank you

I'll go back to trying to convince him to just leave her in there.
 
 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hmm that makes sense, I just remember being told as a child by my local pet store that you could tell with guppies that way so I was going on that. She does seem to be rather squared off, so I guess she will soonish.

Well, there's a lot of urban legends that permeate still. So, likely you were told that by someone who had been told that, by someone... you know. When something is repeated often enough, it is often starts to become perceived as fact.  
 
 

They actually have a lot of plants and java moss as it's my old swordtail tank (I upgraded them and gave this one to my brother) and I stopped using a breeding box with them awhile ago because I hated it and I found it stressed them, so swapped to moss, which seems to work better anyway... but my brother insists on it because he wants to monitor their growth and such, therefore he wants to look at them up close as newborns (to get pictures I guess), and then the pet store suggested to him, to use the breeding box to do so 

 

If one wants to raise fry, a far better solution to a breeder box, is a rearing tank. You move the female over a few days before she's ready to go - so that she can get used to her new surroundings, then remove her after she has dropped the fry. This saves the trouble of having to move the fry later. They can then just grow up in the new environment... best to have a sponge filter in place on that with LOTS of plants, moss is a very good option. Adding a bit of leaf litter also helps as the leaves will grow infusoria which the fry can eat (as they would in nature) before they can handle larger foods.
http/seriouslyfish.com/all-the-leaves-are-brown/

 

Though I've never heard of people leaving the fry in them! That sounds rather curious to me... 

  
Thank you

I'll go back to trying to convince him to just leave her in there.

Some people leave the fry in the box to 'protect' them.

 

[Platail]

Yeah, I assumed something like that must be what happened, though it seems to be written as fact all over the place... O.O
It isn't true for my swordtails or platies... but oddly I for some reason just applied it to guppies. 
 
I actually breed swordtails and platies and have done for at least 6 years now, and I do have rearing tanks for them, though my brother doesn't live with me, so I can't move her into those, and he mostly just wants to keep them as pets, not breed them specifically or anything like that... That said I will pass this information on to him thank you (because he isn't listening to me over his pet store

 ...)
 
I guess that logic kind of makes sense, in a way.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah, I assumed something like that must be what happened, though it seems to be written as fact all over the place... O.O
It isn't true for my swordtails or platies... but oddly I for some reason just applied it to guppies. 
 
I actually breed swordtails and platies and have done for at least 6 years now, and I do have rearing tanks for them, though my brother doesn't live with me, so I can't move her into those, and he mostly just wants to keep them as pets, not breed them specifically or anything like that... That said I will pass this information on to him thank you (because he isn't listening to me over his pet store

 ...)
 
I guess that logic kind of makes sense, in a way.

Remember, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.”