New To Guppies

[sylros]

They'll eat some, maybe even most in some cases, but you'll still have fry. And with 2 females shooting out fry every 28 days, you'll have LOTS of fry. Even if you separate the male out, those girls will keep on making babies.

The second female should have had her babies by now but when I put her in the breeding tank a few weeks ago, I think it traumatized her...did you ever see a female losing her fry?...she's been having weird poops, thick and long strands...normally it's dark brown but these were thick and dirty beige. But she continued to get big and now the male is after her like crazy, just like last time when the other female was having her fry which will be due again around Oct 26th or so. The two look almost exactly the same except one has bigger black eyes than the other. Any suggestions on names? lol

 

[sylros]

They'll eat some, maybe even most in some cases, but you'll still have fry. And with 2 females shooting out fry every 28 days, you'll have LOTS of fry. Even if you separate the male out, those girls will keep on making babies.

The second female should have had her babies by now but when I put her in the breeding tank a few weeks ago, I think it traumatized her...did you ever see a female losing her fry?...she's been having weird poops, thick and long strands...normally it's dark brown but these were thick and dirty beige. But she continued to get big and now the male is after her like crazy, just like last time when the other female was having her fry which will be due again around Oct 26th or so. The two look almost exactly the same except one has bigger black eyes than the other. Any suggestions on names? lol

Thanks to another livebearer thread on this forum, I now know what happens if they abort their fry and it's not what I am describing above. The male is after her still but a little less, she is constantly eating. I decided to caller Suzie...for the black eyed Susan flower...it's just differentiate the two. Watching Suzie very closely as she's due any day now.

 

[sylros]

Well, any day turned out to be 10 days later! Whew what a long wait but there's some fry roaming about the tank right now, during the night Suzie had a few babies. This time i am ready, java moss has been added along with a little broken pot with more plants creating in my view lots of hiding places. I want to let nature take its course this time as this batch of guppies is inbred plus my 2nd female will be delivering her 2nd batch in a weeks time or so. I'm gonna end up with lots. My first batch with the one from the petstore (a bright yellow one) are thriving in their breeding tank, I could probably let them go in the tank as they're big enough. They were born Sept 28th, what do you think? Is it time to let them go? They are fed several times a day so not sure they'll get the same if let go. What would be best?

 

[Guppyz]

My babies are three months as of yesturday and i can tell their gender clearly. My first male apeared a little after 2 months. the females have a triangular fin and males have a gonopium in place of that.

 

[sylros]

Well, I've let them go! Things have settled and now the bigger fish don't bother them much anymore. Besides they do use the Java moss, and the bog wood and around the plastic plants to hide. They do that so well, that I can't even spot them. There are 3 newborns as well that seem to be OK. So far so good but it makes me worry more...especially during feeding time. Any tips to make sure the little ones get food. I use a feeding ring but that is no good as the big fish are frenzied and push them out of the way. I've been giving them baby fish food right where they are as they tend to stay in a corner anyway.

 

[sylros]

Well, any day turned out to be 10 days later! Whew what a long wait but there's some fry roaming about the tank right now, during the night Suzie had a few babies. This time i am ready, java moss has been added along with a little broken pot with more plants creating in my view lots of hiding places. I want to let nature take its course this time as this batch of guppies is inbred plus my 2nd female will be delivering her 2nd batch in a weeks time or so. I'm gonna end up with lots. My first batch with the one from the petstore (a bright yellow one) are thriving in their breeding tank, I could probably let them go in the tank as they're big enough. They were born Sept 28th, what do you think? Is it time to let them go? They are fed several times a day so not sure they'll get the same if let go. What would be best?

Well about 2 weeks ago, I let them loose in the tank. They only got chased for a bit, now the big fish are letting them be. But there were so lots of hiding places, one wouldn't have known there were babies. LoL. They are thriving now, actually growing much faster than anticipated. They already have their colors and some I can tell the sexe...the yellow one is a female, there's a few male in the lot.

The male guppy shown above now has a gash through his tail fin. What can be done to fix it? Will it heal or harm him. The only thing that I can think could have happened is that he got caught on something pointy...yeah, I've got plastic plants with fine pointy leaves. Anything I should do?

 

[OldMan47]

The fastest way to see a tear in a caudal fin heal is to make sure you keep the water pristine using water changes and keep the fish well fed, not over fed.

P.S. I never isolate guppies for a drop. The result is this 10 gallon tank. The cover means I have an endless supply of adult guppies to sell.

 

[sylros]

Thanks, already I've noticed some healing as the gash seems to be not as long as before. I'm relieved with that.

When it comes to isolating the pregnant females close to their delivery date...it actually interferes. All I did was to put her in a new smaller tank so that the fry are already separated from the rest. This way they can be fed properly...but again she seems to have lost weight but no babies. Meanwhile the other one, who just had a small batch in October is almost ready to pop. Again! So far, I've got about 9 babies from 2 deliveries, they seem OK as there's lots of places to hide...they love the Java Moss. I'll be putting the isolated female back with the others.

It's better to just let nature take it's course.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I had a separate tank for the males and females. When I wanted to get some fry, I'd take my best males and put them in with the females for a day or two, and that did it! But I did the same for letting everyone be after that.

Funny thing, too, the females would become very still when it wasn't feeding time. I'd get photos of them, not moving. It was almost creepy! The males, however, never stayed still long enough to get a decent shot.

 

[sylros]

Thanks, already I've noticed some healing as the gash seems to be not as long as before. I'm relieved with that.

When it comes to isolating the pregnant females close to their delivery date...it actually interferes. All I did was to put her in a new smaller tank so that the fry are already separated from the rest. This way they can be fed properly...but again she seems to have lost weight but no babies. Meanwhile the other one, who just had a small batch in October is almost ready to pop. Again! So far, I've got about 9 babies from 2 deliveries, they seem OK as there's lots of places to hide...they love the Java Moss. I'll be putting the isolated female back with the others.

It's better to just let nature take it's course.

I'll also separate the male from the rest. As I'm aiming to have a community fish tank, I need to control the number of guppies. It's now getting easier to tell between the fry which is which, so as soon as I'm sure, the males will be separated.

How many times can a female have fry, 3-4 times, right?...does the fact that a disturbed delivery means that it prolongs things? As I've read that the female will deliver the batch at a later time when she feels all's OK.

 

[the_lock_man]

Thanks, already I've noticed some healing as the gash seems to be not as long as before. I'm relieved with that.

When it comes to isolating the pregnant females close to their delivery date...it actually interferes. All I did was to put her in a new smaller tank so that the fry are already separated from the rest. This way they can be fed properly...but again she seems to have lost weight but no babies. Meanwhile the other one, who just had a small batch in October is almost ready to pop. Again! So far, I've got about 9 babies from 2 deliveries, they seem OK as there's lots of places to hide...they love the Java Moss. I'll be putting the isolated female back with the others.

It's better to just let nature take it's course.

I'll also separate the male from the rest. As I'm aiming to have a community fish tank, I need to control the number of guppies. It's now getting easier to tell between the fry which is which, so as soon as I'm sure, the males will be separated.

How many times can a female have fry, 3-4 times, right?...does the fact that a disturbed delivery means that it prolongs things? As I've read that the female will deliver the batch at a later time when she feels all's OK.

Guppies can store sperm for around 6 months, so you'd be looking at around 6 batches of fry.

 

[sylros]

Latest update! I've got more fry! You guys warned me! I didn't let things be good enough alone...It's funny on how it's always a surprise, you look in the tank and voila, something's moving that wasn't there before. lol

The first 2 batches of fry are flourishing in the community tank. The yellow fry is a female.
To feed all the various fish, I ended up removing the feeding ring and spreading the crumbled flakes around. At the beginning, I was swirling fry food in the tank...this way it went everywhere...the shrimps didn't mind it either. Feedings are twice a day only.

A few weeks ago, anticipating the female #2 to deliver, I decided to start a small tank just for her. So, was moved there along with a couple other fish...the substrate at the time consisted of this glass marbles, 3 deep...hate the look and it's a pain to clean but...the female was much less stressed than being in the breeding tank. I wasn't sure if she had gotten stressed enough to lose her fry but a couple days ago, I saw them swimming about. Turns out they were all hiding in between the glass beads...all 17 of them. In other words, that worked! The tank has since been emptied, the female returned with the others. Now it's time for Suzie to go in this little tank (redone another way)...just because now my 10gal is over populated! Plus it's much easier to manage the newborns this way.

I will be separating the males from the females...as I'm loosing control fast!
BTW - I'm in the process of cycling a 36gal tank, where the males will go for a little while.

Let me know if I should be doing something different? Always looking for ideas.