Pregnant Guppy Advice Please

[emmag21]

I believe i have 4 pregnant guppies and i wanted to know how to identify labour and when they need to go into the hatchery/breeding trap. Obviously i dont want to cause them stress moving them as i understand this can cause miscarriage but at the same time i dont want other fish to eat the fry. 2 of them are very large and tend to stay around the top of the aquarium so i feel they are close to giving birth. xox

 

[Jozlyn]

I believe i have 4 pregnant guppies and i wanted to know how to identify labour and when they need to go into the hatchery/breeding trap. Obviously i dont want to cause them stress moving them as i understand this can cause miscarriage but at the same time i dont want other fish to eat the fry. 2 of them are very large and tend to stay around the top of the aquarium so i feel they are close to giving birth. xox

Given the volume of fry you're about to have I wouldn't worry too much about putting the mum's into a breeder net (these are very stressful and often cause Mum to abort) just leave them in the tank, make sure you have plenty of hiding spots for the fry and let nature take it's course, then after they're born fish them out. In the mean time I'd be setting up and cycling a few more tanks for the fry to grow out in before you sell or give them away, if you haven't already.

 

[emmag21]

Its quite heavily planted and has a lot of bogwood so ill wait until the fry are born and then catch them, thanks x

 

[Jozlyn]

If you have an in tank filter, it may be a good idea to put a bit of stocking over/around it to stop them being sucked in. Although I have never (that I know of) lost any fry to a filter but it does happen.

 

[emmag21]

Its a Fluval 305 (240 litre fluval roma aquarium) x

 

[rossyboy]

Its a Fluval 305 (240 litre fluval roma aquarium) x

Yer, if you're not going to remove the babies then make sure you net the filter intake because you'll have problems if not. Some people use ladies tights (haha) or just any random netting thats small enough to stop a guppy from going through really.

Bare in my mind too that guppy babies are generally miniscule!

Good luck, breeding guppies is always fun lol

 

[OldMan47]

A better answer to keeping fry out of a filter is to cut a slot in a piece of filter sponge and stick the intake tube down into the opening you made. One way to cut the slot is to take the rough end of your filter tube and use it as a drill bit by rotating it in your hand agtainst the sponge. A thin layer of dirt like small plant leaves and such will plug the stocking and stop the water flow. The filter sponge will pass a lot of water with the same amount of stuff on it and will keep the fry out of the tube at least as well. Because it has a larger surface area, the sponge has a lower flow rate at any one point on the surface so its less likely to make things get stuck to it. That includes the fry you are trying to save.