panic: pregnant guppies

[cutecotton]

while i have dealt with livebearers before, i found myself at a state of lost today after realizing that my guppy was pregnant!

okay..that was a bit of a lie, i bought it from the store today pregnant I'ts in a 25G tank righ tnow with 3 female bettas, 10 white clouds, 3 otos and a male guppy (who just WON'T leave them alone )

i have no clue how to tell when theyr'e ready to give birth, and i know next to nothing about raising baby guppies. i know i need to put them in some kind of breeding trap or osmething like that, and i've seen them at walmart, but how on earth with 2 batches of baby guppies live in a 25G? my white clouds are vicious

Anyways, i have no clue what to do next, and the male keep nipping at both of them (the'yre both pregnnat, pretty big stomach i'm afraid they'll be ready to blow any second now). I'ts sort of exciting! baby fry! wow! even if tis' jsut guppies..

anyways, i've heard that it is possible for the feamles to give up the prengnacy if they are nagged too much by the males (who keeps nipping them down there. can't be pleasant i dont' think). So any advice to waht i can do? i don't plan to raise the baby fry completely (maybe just a few), but i do plan to feed a bit of it to my bettas, please dont' shoot me!

 

[MrMashashin]

its simple. get a seperate tank for them to give birth in then once its all over with put them back in with the rest of the fish. Feed which ever you want to the betas and keep how ever many you want. simple as that

 

[cutecotton]

how big of a tank do teh baby guppies need? do they need all the fancy filter and air pumps and heater and all that?

i dont' want to sepnd all that money on some guppy fry...if i get a something like a 10G tank, put water in there wil they live? i'm guessing they need aeration right...shoot.

 

[snowyangel]

how big of a tank do teh baby guppies need? do they need all the fancy filter and air pumps and heater and all that?

i dont' want to sepnd all that money on some guppy fry...if i get a something like a 10G tank, put water in there wil they live? i'm guessing they need aeration right...shoot.

For over half a year I've been raising guppy fry the cheap way, no filter, and no heating. There's other ways to get around it. Use the hood light or a desk lamp to create heat, then do daily water changes to supply them with enough oxygen for the day. I've even raised fry in 1 gallon bowls, just as long as they have plenty of light, frequent feedings(3-4x a day, preferably with live/frozen food for better health), daily water changes, and then are moved to a bigger area after a months time . When the fry reach around 3months its then safe to add them back with their parents(parents will eat their young if too small). I've raised fry to adults this way and it hasn't failed me yet. Fry are fairly easy to raise if they have these conditions. Once the fry are 2 months old, feed them as regularly as their parents.
You are right about females becoming too stressed to give birth. If you can't move her to another area, add more plants and shelter for her to hide in to get away from the male, or you can up the female/male ratio if you have the room to house more future fry.

 

[cutecotton]

hi all thanks for teh reply, i've changed my mind and decide that i do want to try and rasie the babies (maybe give htem to my lfs), anyways so far the situation is:

2 females and a male in a 25G along with 3 female betats nad 3 otos.

Problem: male keeps chasing the feamles, i mean 24/7 CHASING, must be really annoying..i got plants all tucked nicely in a corner but i figure..how the hell can teh female give brith the male on her back like that all that time?

i wanted to isolate either the male or the female..i got a breeding net thing ready, but i dont' know how to tell when my females ready to go, i can't just leave her int eh net nad wait...that might just stress her out and make her not want to give birth. I have extremely confused, their bellies are getting bigger and the gravid spot getting darker by the minute, very scary.

any adivce??? please should i isolate the female int eh bag and just and wait? or shoudl i isolate the male so they can both be at peace?! ahhhh

 

[KnuckleHead]

When the females belly takes on a boxy look from the rear then shes ready to give birth. Females while giving birth have been known to eat their young as soon as theyre born. it would be best to house the male and any other aggresive fish in the net breeder to give the fry more of a fighting chance. The more plants the better. If you can get a hold of java fern and java moss that will also help. The fry will nibble on these while hiding out. Hope this helps!!

 

[jeffrey]

I hope I'm not the only one that has a female guppie for the sole purpose of giving my other fish a live high protein meal every now and then.

I think I might have one fry that lived from the last birth, but the khuli's are pretty good, even when the fry are in the plants.

 

[HotStuffGal]

Hey Don't Panic. Though you don't know when your Guppie may Have babies there are some tips I can give you on an estimated time. Day by day your female may get larger or become 'Lazier'. The black spot at the end of her stomache also called the "Gavid spot" will get darker and a few hours before she is do her back end will become square preparing her for the arrival of her fry. When you see her square transfer to a trap where she can safley have her babies and she won't eat them. Then when you are sure she is done (Guppies can have anywhere from 10-100 babies but usually smaller on her first batch) Remove her from the trap and transfer teh babies to a seperate tank where they can BE BY THEMSELVES! Then they will need to be fed 3 times a day because they empty there stomaches every 20minutes! Crush up flakes in a bag so it is turned into a fine dust and sprinkle plenty in! I Hope this helps you and hopefully your Gal has a safe and succsesful birth!

 

[KribFreak]

Watching them give birth is really cool. Once five at a time came out of my guppy. There's no blood or anything.