New Guppies!

[Mr.September15]

I just came back from the fish store and got 4 new guppies (3Females & 1male). These are the first guppies I ever had so can anyone just give me an over view of there behaivior...and any need to know information. I have a question on my female. Are there stomach supposed to be really huge? I mean its really big. Is it pregnant?

Please Reply...

-Arrowhead.

 

[Mr.September15]

Also how do I care for the fry IF my female is pregnant? Another question... How many Guppies can I fit in my 10 gallon I already have 3 Females and 1 male... How many others can I get?

 

[dwarfgourami]

If her stomach is huge, chances are she is pregnant. In fact, since she is a female guppy, chances are she is pregnant.

You don't need to do anything just yet, though it is a good idea to make sure there are plenty of plants in the tank for her to hide in when she is ready to give birth. Do not put her in a breeder net, but if you want to save the fry it might be a good idea to net them when they are born and put them in a net for a while; guppies often eat their fry. There are fry foods to be bought in the lfs. Make sure you keep the water clean when you have fry and feed frequently but little.

I wouldn't bother BUYING any guppies atm; looks like you'll be getting some for free

 

[Annastasia]

If you have females and males, all your females will be pregnant VERY soon. Sounds like you bought a very pregnant one already. I'd follow along with DwarfGourami's advice. Don't put her in a breeder net/trap, plant the tank up well, and if you want to save the fry, put them in the breeder net.

As for feeding, when they are young you can feed fry food, or very finely crushed flakes. If you do the flakes, it'd be best if you could suppliment them with some kind of high-protein food. You can get live BBS, or frozen. Or take some kind of Freeze-dried food and crush that up very tiny. As they get bigger, you can continue on with the flakes and supplimenting in the high-protein foods. Remembr, fry need to be fed at least 3 times a day. preferably 4-6.

However, are you prepared for these fry? What size tank do you have? Just the 10 gallon? And do you have a place for them when they grow up? You are aware that pregnant females can have anywhere from 10-100 fry per month. If you multiply that by three....you'll have a lot of fry in a few months! It might benefit you to just raise a couple batches, then do survival of the fittest.

You could probably get a few more females in the 10 gallon, but I wouldn't do that. As DwarfGourami mentioned, when all the fry grow up, you'll quickly get stocked.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree with dwarfguorami and annastasia, also although guppys can live entirely off fish flakes, they also appreiciate having some veg and high protein foods in their diet like any other livebearer and if you make sure your guppys get these(particualy the females) it should help make any fry delievered very healthy and also generally improve the health and color of your adult guppys.
Foods like algae wafers, blanched cucumber, frozen and freezedried daphinia, bloodworms, krill, tubifex, water shrimp, brineshrimp and various other fish foods are all readily accepted- create a balance between feeding veg based foods and high protein ones as too much high protein foods(like daphinia or bloodworms) can cause constipation which is not good.
You could fit a max of 5-6guppys in a 10gal depending what other fish you have but personally i would just stick with what you already have as otherwise the tank could easily become overstocked everytime a female gives birth- with the current space you have space to raise about 4-5 fry to half grown size.
Densely planted areas/hiding places, good water quality and stocking and a temp between 24-26 degrees makes ideal conditions for guppys .

 

[Mr.September15]

Yeah... Thats what I was thinking. After I posted this topic up I found that guppies are more sex driven than any other fish pretty amazing. How would I know if shes ready to give birth? I'm at school half of the day and nobodys watching them so how will I save the fry? When you guys say put the fry in a net does that mean like an ordinary net? I have 3 nets that I came with my tank is it better to seperate the fry or just leave them together? So far the fish food I have is bloodworms which I bought for my bettas but if Guppies eat them I guess the can share and Tetramin fish flakes. What kind of vegtables do they eat?

Please & Thank You!

-Arrowhead.

 

[Annastasia]

When she's ready to give birth, she'll look like she's about to pop. She may spend more time on the bottom, or hide in some plants. She also may start chasing other fish away from her.

If the fry are born while you are at school, most likely some will be smart enough to hide for a few hours. Then you can just scoop 'em out when you see them. Not an ordinary net, a breeder net. It's a much bigger net, and it hangs on the side of your tank. You have to keep it clean though, because they tend to get dirty fast. You can keep the fry all together. Unless you get a huge batch, then it would be benefical to seperate them otherwise the breeder nets will become overstocked.

Guppies will eat lots of different veggies...Mine get cucumber, zucchini, peas, broccoli, sometimes lettuce...if you search around, I'm sure you'll find what else people feed their Livebearers.

 

[Mr.September15]

A breeders net... How much are they? Well my female doesnt look like shes going to pop. Just a little Jelly in the belly. hahaha. I just always wanted to say that. Anyways I hope she gives birth on the weekend so I can save the fry. I always thought that they gave birth to eggs... I'm just so used to bettas. But guppies are a fun thing to look at especially when I feed them. I dont really think the pet store even fed them! They looked like they were starving for days. Yesterday when I was putting some aquarium salt in the 10 gallon tank. I saw them following the crystals to the bottom and watching them dissolve. Then I fed them and the female that I think was pregnant ate most of the fish flakes. .

-Arrowhead.