Female Guppy Behaviour

[PaulHR]

There has been a bit of activity in a smaller tank I have for the past few days and need some advice.

I've had the guppies for a couple of weeks and two of them are noticeably fatter than the other 6 we had at the same time. The past few days, there has been a lot of activity such as chasing each other etc. The two fish in question are female but although quite fatter than the others are not showing signs of the gravid spot.

Both fish have also gone into hiding, in fact one of them has hidden itself so well I can't see it in the tank anymore.

Is this the normal behaviour of a pregnant guppy? Is the gravid patch / spot "always" visible when pregnant? Are there any exceptions?

 

[PrairieSunflower]

There has been a bit of activity in a smaller tank I have for the past few days and need some advice.

I've had the guppies for a couple of weeks and two of them are noticeably fatter than the other 6 we had at the same time. The past few days, there has been a lot of activity such as chasing each other etc. The two fish in question are female but although quite fatter than the others are not showing signs of the gravid spot.

Both fish have also gone into hiding, in fact one of them has hidden itself so well I can't see it in the tank anymore.

Is this the normal behaviour of a pregnant guppy? Is the gravid patch / spot "always" visible when pregnant? Are there any exceptions?

What color are your guppies? If they are dark colored (like black tuxedo) you may not be able to see their gravid spots.

My females do chase each other sometimes the week before fry are born... two in particular get to bickering. Mine don't hide but some guppies do hide... usually not so well that you can't find them anymore. Have you had a good look around your filter? Seems to be where a lot of fish end up....

 

[PaulHR]

I have managed to trace the missing guppy, she must have got lost in the vegetation and when I did notice her she was sitting on the bottom near the filter inlet.

They are both bright orange with black tails (had them as a pair from LFS) and the black doesn't cover where the gravid spot should be so I guess I'm lucky there. The fish that has now made an appearance, I've moved to a small isolation tank just in case something else is up. I've been reading all sort of things since I've been looking.

I've noticed that the 2nd fish of the pair, which has also been hiding on the edge of the tank an inch or so off the substrate has had a couple off light coloured longs stringy poops that seem to just hang there.

In fact, I'm watching her swim around right now and it's poop is about twice the length of it's body and I now watch it snap off and fall to the floor lol Can't beat a bit of live commentary

Is that something I need to watch? I don't overfeed and I've read about swollen bellies this afternoon. She does seem to be swimming around a lot more now she has had that out, hmmmm constipation? She's still not playing with the others like she has done though.

I have managed to trace the missing guppy, she must have got lost in the vegetation and when I did notice her she was sitting on the bottom near the filter inlet.

They are both bright orange with black tails (had them as a pair from LFS) and the black doesn't cover where the gravid spot should be so I guess I'm lucky there. The fish that has now made an appearance, I've moved to a small isolation tank just in case something else is up. I've been reading all sort of things since I've been looking.

I've noticed that the 2nd fish of the pair, which has also been hiding on the edge of the tank an inch or so off the substrate has had a couple off light coloured longs stringy poops that seem to just hang there.

In fact, I'm watching her swim around right now and it's poop is about twice the length of it's body and I now watch it snap off and fall to the floor lol Can't beat a bit of live commentary

Is that something I need to watch? I don't overfeed and I've read about swollen bellies this afternoon. She does seem to be swimming around a lot more now she has had that out, hmmmm constipation? She's still not playing with the others like she has done though.

 

[PaulHR]

Ignore the duplication above, there was a server issue at the time of posting and added my resubmissions into the same reply. Very annoying!

 

[PrairieSunflower]

You might want to re-post in the fish emergencies section to get some quicker advice on the stringy white poop. It can often mean parasites, though came sometimes mean other things (though I am not sure what). Best making a post there to be sure its noticed in case it is something that needs treating. If your fish aren't swimming freely then there is a chance they are not well.

 

[PaulHR]

I will do that, thank you. They have been swimming around quite nicely last night and still doing so this morning but I'm curious to find out about the stringy white poo.

 

[animals970]

Seriously it is ok if pregnant fish don't swim much. I know someone with pregnant mollies that are so pregnant that they're bigger the balloon mollies. and they dont swim much at all