Pregnant Guppy

How far off do you all reckon she is from dropping her fry? I have a decently planted tank and plan on netting out the fry into a breeder box, after about 2 weeks I plan to move them into a 10L-15L for them to grow big enough to not be eaten.

Good plan for the fry. No idea how big she'll get but they do square off around the tummy when ready. The bottom curve will look more like a flat line. She will hand around covered areas more and other fish might follow her more.

AilyNC said:

Good plan for the fry. No idea how big she'll get but they do square off around the tummy when ready. The bottom curve will look more like a flat line. She will hand around covered areas more and other fish might follow her more.

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Is this the squared off look you are talking about?

It's getting there. For my fish it's been sharper but they were Platies and bigger. I'd say she's nearly there. Watch for behaviour - hiding in covered areas, other fish hovering around.

AilyNC said:

It's getting there. For my fish it's been sharper but they were Platies and bigger. I'd say she's nearly there. Watch for behaviour - hiding in covered areas, other fish hovering around.

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She has had the other (pregnant) female following her around, they seem to follow each other around a lot of the time. Is that just their regular behavior? Haven't seen her hiding in any of the plants or rocks yet though.

My fish drops hers at night time, hovering low down around the filter (very shades area) or rock with moss.

matthew12098 said:

She has had the other (pregnant) female following her around, they seem to follow each other around a lot of the time. Is that just their regular behavior? Haven't seen her hiding in any of the plants or rocks yet though.

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Guppies are pretty social, it's not unusual for females to hang out together. They're not schooling fish exactly, but they appreciate the company of other guppies.

It's if a bunch that don't normally spend time together are following and pestering a female that they're usually waiting for her to drop fry so they can get free food...

Is using Java Moss for the fry to hide in ok? I have heard it is good to use Guppy Grass/Hornwort for the fry but none of my LFS supply any floating plants or hornwort, and I do have java moss on hand. If so, should I just add a bunch at the surface or shall I weigh it down with a rock/some substrate. I'd idealy like to have as many fry as possible surviving because it has been well over 2 years since I last had any fish fry (excluding my bristlenoses).

matthew12098 said:

Is using Java Moss for the fry to hide in ok? I have heard it is good to use Guppy Grass/Hornwort for the fry but none of my LFS supply any floating plants or hornwort, and I do have java moss on hand. If so, should I just add a bunch at the surface or shall I weigh it down with a rock/some substrate. I'd idealy like to have as many fry as possible surviving because it has been well over 2 years since I last had any fish fry (excluding my bristlenoses).

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Sure, fry like java moss too, a bunch hide in the java moss attached to a stone in one of my tanks.

It's good if you can have some plants at the surface, since healthy guppy fry tend to automatically go to the surface (in the wild, they go to the shallow parts at the top edges of the rivers, since most large predators aren't in the shallow parts, the deeper middle part is more dangerous). So if you can attach some to a tall piece of driftwood or tie it to a suction cup so a bunch is at the top, they're likely to hide in there. Can add a second portion tied to a stone or something lower down in the tank, since they'll also explore the tank as they get older, and can zoom into that to hide when they like too.

The other female and the male are both following her consistently, have been for about 10 hours now, she is retreating to the cover of plants/java moss but then she bolts away when the other guppies come near. Is this a sign that the fry will be here soon and if so how long? I'm hoping that she will have them overnight.

She is also very boxy - which I know is a sign that she is in her last stages of pregnancy, but she has been boxy for a while now.