Can someone please give me some useful advice about guppy gestation. Have one female and 9 males (yes, lucky girl) and am relatively new to the world of fishies. Have noticed her size has almost doubled in the last 2 weeks and now a large blackish red spot has developed near her backside. If someone knows the telltale signs that the birth of the little 'fry' is approaching please share your wisdom. I have a breeding (floating) tank but I don't want to put her in too early or she might stress and abort or become ill and weak. Thanks, K.
impending birth of guppy fry
- Thread starter kasia
- Start date
Hi Kasia
I'm afraid it's very difficult to know when they're about to 'pop'! From adulthood onwards most of your females will be permanently gravid... I'd wait until she looks fairly big before isolating though.
One comment for you - you really need to adjust your female to male ratio... generally speaking you keep 2/3 females to one male - just because they will endlessly harrass your female (sometimes to death). Just something worth thinking about for the future..
R
I'm afraid it's very difficult to know when they're about to 'pop'! From adulthood onwards most of your females will be permanently gravid... I'd wait until she looks fairly big before isolating though.
One comment for you - you really need to adjust your female to male ratio... generally speaking you keep 2/3 females to one male - just because they will endlessly harrass your female (sometimes to death). Just something worth thinking about for the future..
R
Thanks for the information - since the situation arose I have read a lot about guppies and now I also realise that I have way too many males in the tank. I guess I haven't been concerned because I never see them pick on her. In fact, they all look really happy together but then again, I am not watching them all day. I will make sure that I even up the numbers befoe things get ugly. I also realise that she will be pregnant many times in her life so if the first is unsuccessful, I'm sure there will be many opportunities in the near future to make up for it. I really never thought I would be hosting a (soon to be very large) family of guppies like this and I admit it is a nice experience. Thanks again! K