Jessemama

well i just got back from the pet store not to long ago with 6 new fishy friends! I got 2 male guppies and 4 females. They are tequilla and turqoise guppies. i know i spelt the names wrong LOL cant wait to get some pics of them!

BoSox Fan7

Cool!

Jessemama

Thanks! Im just waiting for them to get used to the water temp they been sitting for a good 7 min or so since i got home so its almost time to put em in :-) I cant wait

Jessemama

i think one of the females i got from the store is pregne but im not sure and if she is im not sure how far along she is!

susitna-flower

STOP!!!!! If you haven't added them yet, let the bag set there for awhile, and add a little water from the tank (1/4 cup) every 15 minutes, do it for an hour or more, then let the fish out, you will have much better success....

Have you done a water change on your tank today? You might also do a 25% change, as you are waiting to release your new kids. Just a thought.....Don't know what your tank set up is.

OH By the By,
WELCOME to FISHLORE!

Jessemama

ill try to pist some pics of em but they look pregent! im not sure >.<everytime i try to get a pic it is blurry

Jessemama

but if she is pregnt how can i really tell and how can i tell how far she is? cause i mean she is fatter then the other girls o.O im SO excited if she is yet..nervous

Chief_waterchanger

You talking about the guppies you got?

If you keep sexually mature female guppies with sexually mature male guppies they ARE pregnant.

Female guppies have a gestation period of 28-32 days under normal conditions, and can and do hold sperm for up to 6 months to reinseminate themselves after they have babies. That is why if you mix different strains up and are specialty breeding it basically ruins your breeding, but if you don't care what colors mix its fine.

Guppies can be sexually mature as young as 3 months of age, but reach their peak spawning periods between 6 months and 18 months of age, usually.

Jessemama

i got em from pets mart and they only time i know they were together with males is when i brought em homw from the store.. If they were together before that i dont know cause they keep em seperated but i aint sure if they were together like beofre they got to the store. i have some pics but they are so darn blurry.. What should i do? cause if she is i dont want her to loose any frys but i dont want to but her in the breeding tank and she isnt >.<

Chief_waterchanger

If your camera has a zoom feature you can try standing 3-5 feet away and zooming in, but what I find to be the best method is to wait until feedin time. Toss a bit of food in near the front of the tank after having cleaned the glass on the front surface inside and out, put the camera right up against the glass and when she is in the sights just snap as many pictures as you can, without doing any sudden movements. Post the pictures that come out the best.

Jessemama

i got some pics they aint the best but they were all i could get right now ... now i was told she was a girl.. i hope petsmart didnt lie >.< let me get em downloaded and ill post em

Jessemama

dark blue one with big belly... sorry its so big >.< i don know how to make it smaller

Chief_waterchanger

The two in the foreground are definately females.

You see how they have that purple crescent moon shape at the back of their belly, near their tail? That is the clear sign of a female, it is the equivalent to a uterus. That is where the baby guppies are "housed" while they develop. They are both large enough to be sexually mature, and I would bet are probably pregnant, because even if the stores do not ever let the males and females together in their tanks, the majority of the fish farms do have the genders together. Fish farm are where most stores get their livestock.

I would watch the guppy, she should begin to bulk up even more within a week or two, but the way you really tell she is near having them the bulkiness will begin to square off, as though she swallowed a small square block, rather than a large round pea (which denotes earlier portions of pregnancy.)

That was a good picture, don't worry about the size.
Good luck.

Jessemama

So the big fa lookin one closer to the front who is dark blue is gonna be a mama!! OOOMMMGG soo if she does square off should i then put her in he breeding tank? im not to sure on when i should put her in it o

Ima gonna be a grandma!! LOL

Chief_waterchanger

lol. I would actually put her in as soon as you can. The later in the pregnancy you move them the more it could stress them, causing them to naturally abort the fry. It is not a huge concern, but a small one atleast.

There are some people that get success by waiting until the guppy squares off to isolate them, but that is mainly a preference call.

Good luck, Granny to be.


Oh and actually the yellow one, on the right looks further along than the blue one. Notice the bulge midways the belly on yellow?

Jessemama

OMG im SOOO excited!!! even my mom is HAHA!!! i dont have to put anything into the bredding tank right? just put it ino the tank and let it fill up with the tank water?

Chief_waterchanger

If you have to use dechlorinator that is the only chemical I would use on it (if you are on well water you do not have to dechlorinate.) Fry (baby fish) are quite weak against most chemicals, so the fewer the better, and there is no real reason to use chemicals, so you are absolutely correct.

I would get some floating and midwater plants. Heavily plant the tank, with live plants if you can. The live plants not only help to keep the tank clean and clear, but also serve as both hiding places and first foods for the fry. If you ever watch your guppies around live plants occasionally they'll nibble on them, not enough to show any damage, but enough for them to get some veggies in their diets.

So heavily plant the tank if you can. Make sure if you are using an over the side filter on it that the intake is covered either with panty hose and rubber band, or slice a slit longways in a dense filter and slide it over the intake with a rubber band to hold it in place. Over the side filters will suck babies up, sometimes, if not covered.

Best of luck. Glad yall are excited, that's what its all about.

Jessemama

Thanks SOO much yeah i got her in the breeding tank now, i guessall i got to do now is wait I wonder what they will look like since i have no idea what the dad looked like

susitna-flower

Do you have food for the fry? I don't have guppys, but my molly and platty fry both get food that I crush myself. I mix algae flakes, a shrimp protein flake and tropical flakes, all together and put them in a baggie, then use a rolling pin and make a fine powder out of them. I feed a little of this 2 times a day, and frozen BABY brine shrimp two times a day. As the fry grow you can cut it down to just a couple of feedings a day.

Remember fry are MUCH more sensitive to bad water conditions, and since they rarely can find much of the food, you have to do water changes every day or other day. Once again, use a filter over the syphon tube so you don't suck up and out all your little fry!

Chief_waterchanger

I'm sure they'll be cute lil buggers. The hardest part is not knowing how long and not knowing what to expect colorwise.

You're so very welcome, thank you for caring so much for the fish, it is a joy to have people like you on the site. I commend you.

COBettaCouple

An alternative to the breeding tank would be floating plants, especially the "guppy grass". We had 5 mature guppies in a divided tank, 4 females and every time they had fry, most of them would be hiding out in the floating guppy grass thing. The rest would be hiding in the flat glass marbles that we used instead of gravel. The gaps in the marbles give them hiding places to dart to.

But you could even put both females in the breeding tank and maybe get a couple males for the male to have for company since guppies like company. And floating plants in the breeding tank plus any other hiding spots will help more of them avoid getting eaten. Each female will drop most of her fry to start with but they often drop a few more in the next few days.

If you don't have it, Prime would be a great water conditioner to use to protect the fish since the tank isn't cycled yet. It helps protect fish from ammonia, nitrites and nitrates plus it takes care of the chlorine & heavy metals.

Jessemama

I bet they will be cute! yeah that is the hardest part im always like omg! i wonder what color they will be and always wondering when she will drop em... i bet ill be at work when she does >.< LOL

Awww thanks, i love fish so much ive had em since i was like born, though we only had goldfish at the time :-) just watching them makes me relax SO much :-)

to bad they dont make food just for fry >.< Ill try that sustina-flower, is there really a better brand for like tha might have more nutrients for the fry?

I would keep her out of the breeding tank Cobetta but since this is my first time having a fish have babies im so excited and dont want em to be eatten even though there are pleny of places for them to hide in the tank. the breeding tank keeps floating under the floating plants in the tank

Thanks SO much for the imput everyone

Jessemama

well sadly one of my non pregnet females died so i returned her and got 2 more ( one for free ) one is definatley pregnet and he other has a high possability of being pregnet but not to sure yet have to wait a little longer to see!! and the one i got yesterday that is pregnet is doing well :-) and i bought some baby food

COBettaCouple

They do make food for fry, but it tends to be much cheaper to make your own powdered food, crush cooked egg yolk or do a BBS hatchery.

Jessemama

oo ok well i got som fry food and it was cheaper then the stuff i buy for my adult fish o.O lol im always checking up on the females