# guppy question



## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

I have a trio of blue delta's in my 29g planted and I am wanting them to breed. One of the females is much bigger than the other and I believe she is pregnant. How can I tell for sure? Also how do you know when she is about to pop? I want to move the female to a birthing tank I have set-up but I don't want to move her too early

Thanks


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## cclansman (Jan 29, 2007)

The females belly will get HUGE compared to the rest, thats the way i knew. As far as when she is ready to pop, i noticed a red area on the back end were it appeared the little guys were breaking out. Soon after she popped.


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## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks. She is really big now, atleast compared to the other female. I think I will try my luck and give it a few more days until i move her unless someone else can help in this area too.


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## goldfishes (Nov 26, 2008)

If you can look close, you will see her vent drop a little before she gives birth. It is right below her gravid spot. This is a great site http://guppyplace.tripod.com/Breeding.html


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## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks 
That is a great site


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## goldfishes (Nov 26, 2008)

Your welcome


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## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

a little update. I think its too far along to move the females. I will have to try and catch a few fry when they are born. The big female is getting pretty square looking.
What do you think?


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## goldfishes (Nov 26, 2008)

Is your breeder tank cycled well and is the first time she has had babies? If the tank isn't fully cycled, or this is her first drop, the move could stress her into a premature drop. If you do move her, keep the lights off for the first night, it will reduce stress.


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## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

yes she was a virgin female. At least from what the breeder tells me and from what I saw all the females were seperate from the males. The tank is fully cycled with 50% original tank water.


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## goldfishes (Nov 26, 2008)

I say let her stay in the tank the first time. How is she?


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## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

she seems to be fine. I might have jumped the gun a little. She is fat but still eating a lot and not looking like giving birth. It has been 30 days or a little more. I just hope everything works out.
Thanks again Sewingalot


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## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

ok so i saw that my little guppy had her babies. She was a lot thinner today and then I saw a little fry swimming in the floating lettuce plant. I only saw 1 however and I can't find it anymore. I have a few questions. 
1. Could all of them had been eatin? Where I saw the little one before my danios are swimming around there like crazy. 
2. How do I get enough food in the tank for the fry, if I am going to leave them in the main tank? 
3. What is norm for fry from guppies? 
I don't think I noticed when she had them. She looked fat for a long time now and it was either today early or yesterday. I fear if it was yesterday most are dead. I had my powerhead on into last night and it is a little too strong for the tank. 
Thanks for the answers


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## Fishtory (Jan 21, 2009)

Hi Matt,



matt1045 said:


> 1. Could all of them had been eatin? Where I saw the little one before my danios are swimming around there like crazy.


Yes-- they could have been. But you might just not see them, they could still be there. They hide well.



matt1045 said:


> 2. How do I get enough food in the tank for the fry, if I am going to leave them in the main tank?


Some people grind up flake food. I don't; instead I keep lots of moss, which seems to always have something for fry to snack on, and I feed live foods like brine shrimp and microworms. Even if I don't see babies, but I see that a fish has had them, I feed as if there are babies. They usually show up.



matt1045 said:


> 3. What is norm for fry from guppies?


I think for a first-timer you could expect anywhere from 5 to 30. I'm not a guppy "expert" though.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

The other way you can tell when they're almost ready to give birth is by watching their gravid line. It's a dark line at the back of their plump belly, and it gets darker as the time approaches. 
If you have a breeder net or something similar, you can stick mom in there when she's almost ready (with some moss or something) and when she's given birth, you can just remove the mom and crush up some food for the fry.

As stated, if it's her first birth, you won't get quite as many fry, and they may indeed eat them.

You're probably only a few weeks away from the next batch. Good luck!


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## matt1045 (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks for the replys.
It seems to me that my 2 female guppies have a dark gravid spot all the time. If I look at both right now they are both really dark. 1 is bigger then the others but still both have dark gravid spots.


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