# Help me with my guppies!



## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

So my sister decided that she didnt want to have guppies in her community tank anymore, so she put the 2 she had left into my sorority tank today.

They are both female, and look REALLY gravid, so I moved them both into the same breeder net with a bunch of extra java moss, duck weed, and some anarchis. 
Does this sound like a good set up for them till they deliver?

Will they be okay in the sorority tank? Or do I need to open up another tank for them?
Also, I know they are schooling species, but I really dont want to buy anymore of them, so, would it be okay if I just waited till the babies they have are juvenile and add them to whatever tank these girls will be in at that time? Or should I add some more to it right away?

Does anybody know what type they are?

Last question:: Can anybody tell how long I have before they deliver? The pictures arent the clearest, but they are both definitely box shaped, but they dont look as big as some of the females I looked up online.

Thanks!! -- I only have experience with Molly's, I have done about an hours worth of research so far on guppies so I know some basic care requirements, but the questions I have are something that I can't really find online.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Looks like they have a while. Breeders are a bad idea stress causes them to abort the pregency. I use a 20G with good plan cover. I have special guppies they leave fry alone. The top looks recent. The bottom is not as gravid.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Are you sure? They look really big in real life. A lot bigger than any of the guppies i've seen in stores, but still smaller than the biggest I see online.
The only other tank I have available right now is a 2.5 with no water movement so I figured putting them in a breeder net would be better than having them out in the open with all my sorority girls.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

The bottom one looks less gravid. From fertilization to birth is about a month. I would setup a larger tank. Add plenty plants.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Oh, I'm definitely going to buy another tank, but I wont have time to have it cycled before they deliver. I might just put them back in my sisters tank and let her deal with them.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Ten Gallons is the miniumum for Guppies. If you raise the fry to adulthood you can sell them. I have a females whos super gravid.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Yeah I was planning on maybe another 15g, but I gotta get to the store and figure that out, and cycle it. 
I'd probably keep this round of fry just so I can have a proper school, and whenever I have anymore I'll call up the LFS and see if they need any. -- IF i dont give them back to my sister --
They are supposed to be fancies, but she didnt know what kind. I am interested to see how the fry will look.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I would add guppies to your Colony. Genetic Diversity. See if your sister will hold on to the adults for you. Amazon Sword is great. I mean as many plants as possible. I would get that planted tank substrate. Guppies withoutnthe presence of males can give birth multiple times. guppies can live in saltwater or brackish.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

those ladies both look like blondes to me. NORMAL gestation is a month, but they can hold out to about 45 days, so don't worry if they're not dropping when you think they should.

we raised ours in a 10 for a while, before we upgraded them to a 30 gal bowfront. Guppies can be ridiculously friendly, ours will nibble on our hands if we have to stick them into the tank, and will sit and watch us as we're on the big computer.  (they're really nosy!!)

It is true that one mating can produce more than one "litter" of babies (Platies and Mollies can do this too, if I remember correctly), so you don't have to keep re-breeding them to keep getting drops for a while.

They look fairly healthy, and I know some bettas like to eat the fry, if you find yourself overwhelmed and the LFS won't take them all.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Well one of them is dropping fry as I am typing. I've seen 8 so far. 
Think it's the yellow that is dropping even though I think I see a tail hanging out of the orange. 
So exciting! I used to have Molly's before my betta obsession took full force, but I never saw fry from them, they'd always birth at night and they'd be eaten by the morning.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Woo babies! Provide them with some cover, or the mommas will eat them.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

There is a ton of java moss, duckweed & frogbit, and anarchis floating around in there. I separated the adults too, put the one that looks more pregnant but was trying to eat babies in a separate breeders box and gonna let the one that actually looks like she's laboring finish out.

What do you guys think I should do::: keep the babies in the net and move the adults to a 2.5 or move the babies over and leave the adults in the net? The nets in a 26 gallon there's more airation in the 26 than the 2.5...


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

I'd leave the babies in the net. With the water volume/temp/stability of your larger tank, they'll grow nicely.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks for the advice! I'll move both of the adults into the other tank till I get fry from the other, then maybe look at how they work in the sorority tank. My girls are all pretty chill, so that seems like the best idea till I can get another tank in and cycled.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Best of luck to you!


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

I have a few more questions

What should I feed the babies? How soon? And, How often?

On hand I have:: microworms, banana worms, brine shrimp eggs i can hatch, and hikari first bites.

Which ones would you recommend? Preferably not the brine shrimp because they are a P.I.T.A.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

we feed ours the same flakes that we feed our adults, just crushed. They're not too horribly picky. Out of the list, I'd say staple of hikari, treats of the others you have on hand.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

How soon and how often should I start feeding them?

Sorry for all the questions, I've never actually had to deal with any type of livebearer babies


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

I feed from the 2nd day, and I feed 1x a day, I had significant growth in my batch, while my fiance was feeding 2x a day, and his were half the size lol

I've read that you're actually supposed to feed 2x a day though


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks for all the help


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

No problem! Our guppies have no trouble breeding... it's getting them to abstain that's proving to be tricky


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Well, she ended up with 9, but one died, so the live total is 8. I still have 1 more female to go who looks double the size of the one that just dropped, so hopefully there aren't too many more!


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

I've had two platy spawns. They are very. Similar. I've gotta warn you, fry are a lot of work! Haha One gave birth to 22, 19 lived. She is much larger than average. Another gave birth to 14 all of which lived. But the mother died shortly after. Have fun, and good luck!


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

The first one gave birth to 9. And today I looked in the fry net where I moved the other mom to till she gave birth, and she had 16....I have 25 babies!! Thats a little much lol
I called the petstore and they said they'd take the adults back but wouldnt mess with the fry until they were close to full grown. SO I've got 25 babies to take care of for the next few months. Yippee! lol -- 
I'm kinda excited to see how they turn out though


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Mike feeds his extras to the bettas.

World record is 240-something fry in a single drop


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Holy crap! 240!?!?!?! WOW thats so many!! I would love to see a pic of that mom!! 

I dont have the heart to feed them to my bettas, atleast not yet, if they turn out to be a huge pain then I might have to do that. But my plan for now is to try to raise them so I can take them to the LFS


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/back-to-the-basics-breeding-guppies.htm

I don't think that's the momma in the picture, but here's an article about it.

He didn't at first, either, but once he got swamped with a single litter of 27, he started throwing them in there.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks for the article! Had a lot of interesting stuff in it. That's insane though, 244! Lol

I can definitely see why he does that!


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Yea, I always say that they're worse than rabbits. We have 4 definitely pregnant girls right now.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Just wanted to update with some pictures of the babies. Have no clue what their dads were, but the first drop is pretty amazing looking, the second look like baby goldfish lol. They were in the fancy tank...so they has some sort of "fancy" dads.


A male from the first drop, females look the same except font have any color other than black grey and white (males have orange caudal and blue dorsal) had 9 of these guys total. 2 females already look pregnant 










A bunch from the 2nd drop:: had 25 of these, all their colors are exactly the same so I have to look harder to distinguish male and female


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Sexing them is easy at the size they appear to be.








Male









Female

Looks to me like you have a LOT of girls! I even think the first one with the nice orange caudal with the cobra spots is a little girl. The gonopodium LOOKS triangular, not wee-wee shaped


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

the first one is a little boy, the cup I put him in for the picture must have distorted it a little bit, but yeah I definitely have a LOT of females. I know how to sex, its just harder with the 2nd drop because they are all the same exact color so I have to look closer than with the first drop.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

I figured that it could be the cup.

For some reason, we get large drops of girls. Maybe that's just a guppy thing? More girls would make sense since 1 male could fertilize a large group of females


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

I think it's a temperature thing, but could very easily be what you are thinking as well!


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

I found 1 male (so far) in the 2nd drop. 24 girls, 1 boy!


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