Pregnant Guppies

[bengriff]

just wondering if anyone can help.. i bought 8 female guppies last week and put them in a 50litre tank with 4 male guppies, hoping they will breed.. i know its only been a week but after doing some research i think some are showing signs of being pregnant. She has quite a large belly and at the bottom of it she has black spots. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.
 
 

 

[FishHelper101]

Yes she is definitely pregnant if you see the gravid spots. I had a molly with the same gravid spot but she unfortunately passed on because of a sudden ammonia spike in the tank. She should be fed high proteined foods along with the other pregnant guppies. Be sure to keep an eye on them and separate the males so that he won't stress them and make them abort pregnancy. Be sure to just keep watching for fry! 

 

[Paradise3]

Yes she is definitely pregnant if you see the gravid spots. I had a molly with the same gravid spot but she unfortunately passed on because of a sudden ammonia spike in the tank. She should be fed high proteined foods along with the other pregnant guppies. Be sure to keep an eye on them and separate the males so that he won't stress them and make them abort pregnancy. Be sure to just keep watching for fry! 

 
Gravid spots don't always mean pregnant. They don't need any special food when pregnant, they don't need to be separated from the males at all. However, if there is very little plant life in the tank then very few, if any, of the babies will survive. They will all be pregnant by now, guppies are easy peasy to breed. All you need is a decent sized tank, a male and a couple of females and a month later you'll have fry. They are the rabbits of the fish world and need no special care at all when pregnant.
Your tank is not going to be big enough. You already have 12 fish in there with just the adults alone and the females will all grow to about 2" long each, males about 1-1.5" long each. This is not including the tail. Each female can have up to 150 babies every month.

 

[bengriff]

thanks that will be a great help.. any idea to how long will carry for? sorry im new to the breeding side of things.. i have got another tank that i will be moving the babies into.. plus what sort of food do i feed baby guppies? 

 

[Paradise3]

thanks that will be a great help.. any idea to how long will carry for? sorry im new to the breeding side of things.. i have got another tank that i will be moving the babies into.. plus what sort of food do i feed baby guppies? 

 
Females are pregnant for 4-6 weeks, babies can be fed on finely crushed flake. Guppies are easy to breed. What size tank are you moving the babies too? Also, do not get conned into using one of those horrible "breeder traps". They are way too small and will stress the female immensely.

 

[bengriff]

thats good then got a few weeks to get the tank ready.. its a 30litre tank.. no i wont! once female has given birth is it best to take babies away or leave them together? 

 

[Paradise3]

thats good then got a few weeks to get the tank ready.. its a 30litre tank.. no i wont! once female has given birth is it best to take babies away or leave them together? 

 
Females and male will eat the babies, hence why you need plants for the babies to hide in, so it's better to remove the fry. However, by saving any that you see you'll soon be over run... Like I say, up to 150 babies every month from all 8 females.... That's a possibility of 1200 babies in 1 month. It's highly unlikely they'll have more than about 30 at this stage but the possibility is always there. If you have some live plants in the tank then I'd leave the babies to grow up in there and let nature take it's course. I would also say, don't keep any of the babies as your tank is going to become very overstocked if you do. I have my 2 female guppies in a 30" tank with about 55 babies, 6 Threadfin Rainbowfish and 3 Shadow Catfish and all I want to add is 6 Sparkling Gourami's and another 6-8 Threadfin Rainbows. I'm not keeping any of these babies unless there is a very nice male and maybe some of the nicer females. Other than that, they are being sold/given away.

 

[bengriff]

okay thanks.. i thing am going to separate the males and females after breed.. because like you say dont wont to become over run.. would you recommend is? 

 

[Paradise3]

okay thanks.. i thing am going to separate the males and females after breed.. because like you say dont wont to become over run.. would you recommend is? 

 
Yes, highly. The females will continue to give birth for a few months after as they hold sperm but after that they will not get pregnant again unless you add a male to the tank with them.

 

[bengriff]

right okay thank you for all your help.. will keep you posted how i get on..