Pregnant guppy

[MissD]

I currently have 4 female guppies. Three of the four appeared to have gravid spots, so I've been keeping an eye on them all for the last few days as they had them since I brought them home, and I was unsure how pregant they were. Last night at about 9.00pm, I went up to check on the tank again, and discovered 3 guppy fry hiding in amongst the plants. I quickly removed them and put both them and who I discovered to be the mother in a breeding trap incase she dropped more. Unfortunately, they were a bit retarded and two swap up into the compartment with the mother and have since been eaten...not nice.

Anyway, I'm having a very hard time telling whether or not there are any more babies inside the mother. I've taken her out of the breeding trap now as I don't want her to eat the last fry. She doesn't appear to have a solid gravid spot any more, rather 2 or 3 black dots (eyes?) visible through her stomach. Just before she gave birth this time, I noticed vertical lines show up on her face, just below her eyes, that looked sorta like run mascara. These were gone after having her babies, but they are now back again.

I'm really new to the guppy scene, and really don't know what I'm looking for. Does it sound like she's going to drop more? A couple of my males are chasing her around non-stop...could this be because she's letting off some sort of hormone or something, or could it be where she's had babies and is ready to become pregnant again? She isn't massive, but still looks quite round. Is it likely for her to have more since it's been about 24 hours since having her first few, or do they usually give birth all in one go? I've not had her long so I don't know if this is her first lot of babies or not...

Any responses would be great...like I said, I'm a bit clueless and would like to have a rough idea of what's going on.

 

[tank212]

Do you have an extra tank for the fry? If not leave them in the main tank with abunch of plants for them to hide in.

 

[paige]

If not leave them in the main tank with abunch of plants for them to hide in.

but the other fish will eat them if they find them



i put mine in a container and i hav one lot of 1 month old guppy fry and a new born lot of guppy fry they were born yesterday in the afternoon

 

[GSD]

use a breder net if you defo want some to live!

 

[MissD]

I had to rush and get a temporary plastic breeding trap to try and save the fry...big no-no! They just swam straight back up the slots and got eaten. I've managed to save one, and he's doing well...apparently a good size for only being about 48 hours old.

It's annoying that the mother showed no signs of being pregnant though. She wasn't any bigger than any of the males I have, but she still gave birth to three...it's annoying to know there could have been more that got eaten.

Still, I suppose I can put it down to experience. This is my first baby guppy, so maybe it is better not having a load to try and care for all in one go.

 

[paige]

at least u saved 1 if u would of left them in the main tank u wouldnt of had any fry alive not even one

 

[MissD]

Yeah, definitely not. There's a fair amount of cabomba plant in the tank which is where I found the babies hiding, but the adults like to wedge themselves in the plant at night...they're always asleep in there whenever I check them in the mornings. The fry wouldn't have stood a chance. Still, I suppose at least with just the one baby, I don't have to choose which ones to keep and which to sell back to the fish shop