Guppies not getting pregnant!!

[730.ii]

I've had these guppies for about 2 months now and nothing is happening. I monitor my 2 females and they both look like they've been getting bigger but there is absolutely no visible gravid spot. I'm not overfeeding as my males look perfectly healthy. It's a tad bit orange/red on the backside but none of them look "squared off", more just big and rounded. They're eating perfectly fine and look healthy. I just don't know why any of them are getting pregnant??

 

[FishGuest5123]

It takes a few days for them to settle in and then several weeks for babies to be born. Are you sure they aren’t eating the fry? Fry can hide very well too. Look closely in hiding places.

 

[730.ii]

It takes a few days for them to settle in and then several weeks for babies to be born. Are you sure they aren’t eating the fry? Fry can hide very well too. Look closely in hiding places.

I keep my guppies in a very simplistic fish bowl and I monitor them everyday. I am seeing no signs of fry in my plants or any hiding places. I am just not seeing any signs of a developing gravid spot. I've searched up several pictures on the internet and have watched countless videos of pregnant guppies with a dark, black gravid spot where my guppies are nowhere near close. My guppies seem pretty well adapted in their environment and seem perfectly healthy, I just don't get why they're not giving birth yet.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Livebearers like guppies, mollies, swordtails & platies are regularly infected with gill flukes and intestinal worms. If the fish are eating well, getting fatter but not giving birth after a couple of months, then intestinal worms is the most likely cause. Fish can become heavily infested with worms and look like they are pregnant, but they are actually full of worms.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 3-4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second and third treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

 

[730.ii]

Both my guppies look like this, the other female being a little bigger and rounder than the one in the picture. But they both don't have a dark gravid spot. It's just reddish and orange near the stomach.

 

[Colin_T]

deworm them and see what happens.

light coloured guppies (with light coloured babies) often have an orange or yellow gravid spot. guppies with darker babies have a darker gravid spot.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Some females never get a gravid spot. The gravid spot in livebearers simply means the fish is a female and sexually mature. It has nothing to do with whether or not the female is pregnant as many people believe.

 

[730.ii]

Some females never get a gravid spot.

Oh I never knew that! That's incredibly fascinating. If the female never shows a gravid spot should I just keep my eye out for the boxy shape?

 

[FishGuest5123]

Yes, that is an accurate way of knowing she is close to delivering. Your female looks pregnant but a bit more time before delivery. Watch her for the next week. If she doesn’t progress then I would follow Colin’s advice. Good luck!

 

[730.ii]

Yes, that is an accurate way of knowing she is close to delivering. Your female looks pregnant but a bit more time before delivery. Watch her for the next week. If she doesn’t progress then I would follow Colin’s advice. Good luck!

OK, thank you so much!!