Live bearer laying egg and hatching???

[jaydens71748]

I Have two female guppies and one male guppy. I kept them in a 3 gallon tank together for about a week and then transferred them into a 10 gallon tank. I let them breed for about a week until I noticed the gravid spot on them getting darker. I then removed the male from the tank and put him back in the 3 gallon. There had been no babies in the 3 gallon tank at all. I then moved the male to another separate tank in another room and left the 3 gallon tank alone with no filter running and have been letting it sit. Today I looked into the neglected 3 gallon tank and saw a baby. The baby looked to be not even a day old and yet I haven’t had fish in it for at least a week. And the only ones I’ve had for weeks have been the male in that tank. I know guppies are live bearers so it doesn’t make sense to me how that would’ve happened without it being an egg placed in the tank and then the hatching. Is that even possible with live bearers? I’m just confused.

 

[DragonScales+Doubletails]

are there babies in the 10 gallon?
I'm thinking you may have scooped up a baby when transferring the male.
the easiest way IMO is to remove the fry as they are born rather than removing the male, as long as there are hiding places in the ten gallon.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If the female guppies had partially developed eggs in them when you moved them, and the fish got stressed, they may have aborted some of the eggs and they continued to develop in the tank until they hatched. It happens sometimes and is normally related to stress from being chased around a tank by the fish keeper or put into a breeding trap/ net or small tank.

If you have to move gravid (pregnant) livebearers like guppies, mollies, swordtail & platies, carefully catch them in a net and keep them in the water. Put a plastic container in the aquarium and scoop the female up in the net with some water. Transfer her to a new aquarium and then pour the bucket and fish into the new tank.

 

[jaydens71748]

are there babies in the 10 gallon?
I'm thinking you may have scooped up a baby when transferring the male.
the easiest way IMO is to remove the fry as they are born rather than removing the male, as long as there are hiding places in the ten gallon.

No they haven’t had any that I know of at least

 

[jaydens71748]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If the female guppies had partially developed eggs in them when you moved them, and the fish got stressed, they may have aborted some of the eggs and they continued to develop in the tank until they hatched. It happens sometimes and is normally related to stress from being chased around a tank by the fish keeper or put into a breeding trap/ net or small tank.

If you have to move gravid (pregnant) livebearers like guppies, mollies, swordtail & platies, carefully catch them in a net and keep them in the water. Put a plastic container in the aquarium and scoop the female up in the net with some water. Transfer her to a new aquarium and then pour the bucket and fish into the new tank.

Hi and welcome to the forum

If the female guppies had partially developed eggs in them when you moved them, and the fish got stressed, they may have aborted some of the eggs and they continued to develop in the tank until they hatched. It happens sometimes and is normally related to stress from being chased around a tank by the fish keeper or put into a breeding trap/ net or small tank.

If you have to move gravid (pregnant) livebearers like guppies, mollies, swordtail & platies, carefully catch them in a net and keep them in the water. Put a plastic container in the aquarium and scoop the female up in the net with some water. Transfer her to a new aquarium and then pour the bucket and fish into th

Hi and welcome to the forum

If the female guppies had partially developed eggs in them when you moved them, and the fish got stressed, they may have aborted some of the eggs and they continued to develop in the tank until they hatched. It happens sometimes and is normally related to stress from being chased around a tank by the fish keeper or put into a breeding trap/ net or small tank.

If you have to move gravid (pregnant) livebearers like guppies, mollies, swordtail & platies, carefully catch them in a net and keep them in the water. Put a plastic container in the aquarium and scoop the female up in the net with some water. Transfer her to a new aquarium and then pour the bucket and fish into the new tank.

I was thinking that but that must have meant that the egg hatched while it was sitting and I didn’t think that was possible

 

[emeraldking]

I Have two female guppies and one male guppy. I kept them in a 3 gallon tank together for about a week and then transferred them into a 10 gallon tank. I let them breed for about a week until I noticed the gravid spot on them getting darker. I then removed the male from the tank and put him back in the 3 gallon. There had been no babies in the 3 gallon tank at all. I then moved the male to another separate tank in another room and left the 3 gallon tank alone with no filter running and have been letting it sit. Today I looked into the neglected 3 gallon tank and saw a baby. The baby looked to be not even a day old and yet I haven’t had fish in it for at least a week. And the only ones I’ve had for weeks have been the male in that tank. I know guppies are live bearers so it doesn’t make sense to me how that would’ve happened without it being an egg placed in the tank and then the hatching. Is that even possible with live bearers? I’m just confused.

Well, it must be an aborted egg. But yes, such an egg of an ovoviviparous livebearer can hatch outside the mother's body. For all they need to develop or grow is already in the egg. So yes, it's normal. Once an egg of such an ovoviviparous livebearer is fertilized, a mother's body isn't of any use anymore with the exception that it's a safe cocoon where the embryos in the eggs can develop and grow. But the developing and growth is not depending on the mother's body.

 

[jaydens71748]

Well, it must be an aborted egg. But yes, such an egg of an ovoviviparous livebearer can hatch outside the mother's body. For all they need to develop or grow is already in the egg. So yes, it's normal. Once an egg of such an ovoviviparous livebearer is fertilized, a mother's body isn't of any use anymore with the exception that it's a safe cocoon where the embryos in the eggs can develop and grow. But the developing and growth is not depending on the mother's body.

That was the only way that made sense to me

 

[haley2800]

Help please...
I am searching to see what has happened in my tank, and I came across this post... can you all confirm if my situation is the same the one in the post?
She has been pregnant for a while...
I removed the male and other fish on Saturday and Sunday.
Yesterday, I gently put her in the breeder box... she was good.
this morning I woke up, and there were those "eggs" in the bottom part.
What do I do next?
this is my first time with a pregnant fish!

 

[Ichthys]

Sounds like she may have miscarried undeveloped eggs. Don’t use a ‘breeder box’. They cause a huge amount of stress, keeping the mother out in the open at a very vulnerable time, when what she needs to do is hide in the plants.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I agree with the above, breeder boxes are the pits. In future, just leave the fish to get on with it. As long as you've provided enough places for babies to hide and you keep the tank well fed then a good amount will survive. You only want the healthiest and fittest fry to survive anyway and allowing them to fend for themselves is what they instinctually want to do

 

[emeraldking]

This wagtail variatus platy just pushed out some undeveloped or even unfertilized eggs. Which is normal. So, it's not that they seem to be egglayers. Mostly stress, seems to be key in pushing out undeveloped, unfertilized eggs or even premature embryos.