Fry Question. Please Advise!

[Mtp81]

I saw a few fry in my tank. After a few days, I realized that they were all eaten. Saw only a couple more after that for three days and now none. However, I'm not giving up hope. I went to buy more plants for future fry to hide in. I now know how important that actually is. I also now know that breeder boxes are of absolutely no use! Those little guys went right out of the sides and were eaten immediately.

I know guppies can have multiple batches of fry from one "encounter"... how long in between births? One of my guppies, who I swear just spent the last three days giving birth still looks really fat with a very dark gravid spot. The other looks much slimmer but still has a large dark gravid spot. So, my question is... if they are going to give birth again, from the same sperm, how long will that be? Is the the typical month in between? Or is it shorter as they are technically already pregnant?

 

[LordGrim]

Once I had a female guppy which give birth to 4-5 healthy fry and stop. (her belly is still square at that time) 2 days later she give birth to all (I presume because her belly flatten), but many of them are born dead, think I manage to get 7-8 fry out of 20s. So I think guppy will stop giving birth if stress and continue when she feel all right.

Usually what I do, when I spot a very pregnant guppy (squarish belly shape, big, dark gravid spot & alone from crowd) I will catch her and place in a plastic container with air pump. I don't own a breeder box so I place them in another separate container with 50% new water and the rest tank water. Grab some hornwort and toss into plastic container, remember to change water every other day. Usually I will have success in 3-4 days, longest wait is around 7-8 days for her to give birth. After giving birth, if shes not very aggressive to fry (fry will hide in hornwort) I will keep her there to 3-4hours before transferring back to tank. (rest time after birth). I will grow the fry up in the plastic container before deciding to keep or give away. Thats' what I did and work for me.

Currently I had around 70-80 fry in 4 separated plastic containers and I have separate the males guppy from the female into different tanks as I don't have enough tanks or space to keep if they keep on producing.

 

[Momgoose56]

I saw a few fry in my tank. After a few days, I realized that they were all eaten. Saw only a couple more after that for three days and now none. However, I'm not giving up hope. I went to buy more plants for future fry to hide in. I now know how important that actually is. I also now know that breeder boxes are of absolutely no use! Those little guys went right out of the sides and were eaten immediately.

I know guppies can have multiple batches of fry from one "encounter"... how long in between births? One of my guppies, who I swear just spent the last three days giving birth still looks really fat with a very dark gravid spot. The other looks much slimmer but still has a large dark gravid spot. So, my question is... if they are going to give birth again, from the same sperm, how long will that be? Is the the typical month in between? Or is it shorter as they are technically already pregnant?

Welcome to Fishlore!
Healthy guppy females in a cycled tank with good water conditions can give birth every 25 to 35 days. They may or may not store sperm. Hornwort, left to float on the top of the water is an excellent 'cover' for new fry. There are also many 'bushy' plastic and silk plants that provide good hiding places. Good luck!

 

[emeraldking]

I know guppies can have multiple batches of fry from one "encounter"... how long in between births? One of my guppies, who I swear just spent the last three days giving birth still looks really fat with a very dark gravid spot. The other looks much slimmer but still has a large dark gravid spot. So, my question is... if they are going to give birth again, from the same sperm, how long will that be? Is the the typical month in between? Or is it shorter as they are technically already pregnant?

Well, first of all if a female is only storing sperm packages, she's technically not pregnant.
While the average gestation time will be between 3,5 - 6 weeks, doesn't mean that a female will reproduce fry almost every month. For it's the female itself which decides to let a sperm package pass through in order to fertilize the eggs. But in general most female guppies will reproduce very frequently.
If a female isn't feeling too comfortable to deliver the fry, she will hold the pregnancy until she's comfortable enough. Which means that sometimes it will take longer before giving birth despite of the huge belly.