Is she pregnant??

[Colin_T]

If you want to breed guppies (or any livebearer), your best bet is to have a tank of females only and have males in a different tank. When livebearers mate, the males deposit several sperm packets in the female. The female then uses these individual sperm packets to fertilise a batch of eggs. The eggs develop inside the female before she gives birth to live young. If conditions are good (and they usually are in an aquarium), the female will develop another batch of eggs within a week or so of giving birth. This next batch of eggs will be fertilised by one of the remaining sperm packets she is carrying in her body.

This process of giving birth and fertilising new batches of eggs continues until the female has used up all the sperm packets that she is carrying. They can carry 6 or more sperm packets at any time.

If you keep the females separated from males until they have used up all the sperm packets, then the females can have a month or two rest and then you can breed them again.

With swordtails, keeping males and females separate does not always work. If female swordtails are kept without a male and are unable to breed, they can change sex. The biggest most dominant female can turn into a male and breed with the remaining females. however, it is still a good idea to separate male and female swordtails for a while so the females aren't being continually harassed by the males.

 

[Nightvision]

I haven’t got, and don’t really have space for, a second tank so I may have some very over-worked females!

I’m not whether to cover the filter intake or not? With the plant cover and hiding places in the tank I should be ok? Counting on Darwinism to help keep fry strong and help with volume!

 

[Colin_T]

If you have an external canister filter then it is recommended that you put a sponge over the intake to stop fry being sucked in.

 

[Guppy_mumma]

I’m new to this so no idea where I post lol... my guppy pregnant but her gravid spot is like a orange colour that normal?

 

[fluttermoth]

I’m new to this so no idea where I post lol... my guppy pregnant but her gravid spot is like a orange colour that normal?

First of all, you don't want to take too much notice of the gravid spot; unless you know a lot about fish anatomy, what you're usually looking at is part of the fish's gut.

It also depends on what colour the fry are; if the fry are not dark or black, then the gravid spot won't look so dark; although you might be able to see their eyes when your female is very close to giving birth, and if she's a pale colour herself.

I don't think you have anything to worry about, as long as your female seems healthy, your tank is large enough and the water is of good quality

 

[Nightvision]

I’m new to this so no idea where I post lol... my guppy pregnant but her gravid spot is like a orange colour that normal?

Hi, I’m new as well and glad my post is on its way to helping others!

I found this link quite informative, as well as all of the previous comments in this thread so far! https://www.myaquariumclub.com/gupp...s-my-guppy-due-is-my-guppy-in-labor-6621.html

I went and bought water sprite, which is quite nice looking and seems to be a winner with all of my fish. I am going to use the breeder box only for separating the fry from now on!

Good luck!

 

[Nightvision]

Well, I’m the proud owner of two new fry! There were more I believe but I wasn’t quick enough to save more! - This is only due to Colin’s wonderful advice on getting water sprite where they were hiding out! Thank you!

I have them in a breeder box with water sprite to increase their chances of survival. Have ordered more water sprite as my collection was small to start with, let alone having just created a fry nest!

Have fed them the tiniest bits of bloodworm and will crush down some flakes for them for their feeds.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

P.S. Feel free, anyone, to add anything on raising fry if you wish

 

[J CZA]

Yes she looks pregnant. However, if she doesn't give birth in the next few months she could be full of worms. But she is most likely pregnant if she has been in a tank with a male

Can you help me my betta male is losing air when he gets air from his right gill. And i treat this. Hes greathing hevely i have a 10 gal tank should i use e.m. erythromycin or betta fis. Its a cut and i have a post up.

 

[Colin_T]

The fry (baby fish) will grow faster if you feed them on live food like newly hatched brineshrimp and microworms. You can also get a baby fish food that is a dry powder. It has a higher protein so they grow a bit faster.

To get newly hatched brineshrimp you buy some dry brineshrimp eggs from the petshop or via the interweb. You add a small amount of the dry eggs (about 1/4 of a level teaspoon) to 1 litre of salt water. You can use any salt for hatching the eggs, and you make the water the same salinity as sea water. Aerate the eggs and salt water and after 24-48 hours (depending on temperature), the eggs hatch and you get tiny little orange things in the water. The orange things are newly hatched brineshrimp (called nauplii).

You remove the airstone and put the container near some light and wait 5 minutes. The eggs settle on the bottom or float on the surface, and the orange nauplii gather near the light. You can then use an eye dropper to suck some of the nauplii out and add them to the tank for the baby fish. Any nauplii that go thru the net will be eaten by other fish in the tank.

After you have feed the baby fish, you put the airstone back in the salt water and repeat process a few hours later.

Start a new lot of eggs and salt water every day or every second day and your baby fish will thrive.

You can use a 2 litre plastic drink bottle with the top cut off, as the hatching container.

------------------------
Microworms are small white worms that small fish love to eat. You buy a culture from a petshop or interweb and keep them in 1 or 2 litre plastic containers with lids. They live on porridge and yeast.

You make up some porridge (dry oats and water) and microwave the mixture and stir a few times to make a firm paste. Then smear the oatmeal/ porridge over the bottom of a plastic container. You only need a thin layer of porridge, about 3 - 5mm thick. Allow the porridge to cool then add a couple of tablespoons of microworms from another culture. Put lid on container and wait a few days.

The worms feed off starch in the porridge and breed readily. After a week or so they will start moving up the sides of the container. When this happens you use your finger to gently wipe some off the side and put in tank for baby fish. Wiggle your finger about in the tank water to spread the worms out. Put lid back on container and use it again later.

Keep microworms cooler if you want the cultures to last longer. Make new cultures each week. If you sprinkle some bakers yeast on the culture after it has been going for a few days, it will take off and grow a lot faster.

---------------------
Baby fish should be fed at least 4 times a day and given as much as they can eat so their bellies are fat.

 

[Colin_T]

Can you help me my betta male is losing air when he gets air from his right gill. And I treat this. Hes breathing heavily I have a 10 gal tank should I use e.m. erythromycin or betta fish. Its a cut and I have a post up.

Can you start a new thread for your Betta?
It makes it easier to follow threads if they are only about one subject

 

[Nightvision]

The fry (baby fish) will grow faster if you feed them on live food like newly hatched brineshrimp and microworms. You can also get a baby fish food that is a dry powder. It has a higher protein so they grow a bit faster.

To get newly hatched brineshrimp you buy some dry brineshrimp eggs from the petshop or via the interweb. You add a small amount of the dry eggs (about 1/4 of a level teaspoon) to 1 litre of salt water. You can use any salt for hatching the eggs, and you make the water the same salinity as sea water. Aerate the eggs and salt water and after 24-48 hours (depending on temperature), the eggs hatch and you get tiny little orange things in the water. The orange things are newly hatched brineshrimp (called nauplii).

You remove the airstone and put the container near some light and wait 5 minutes. The eggs settle on the bottom or float on the surface, and the orange nauplii gather near the light. You can then use an eye dropper to suck some of the nauplii out and add them to the tank for the baby fish. Any nauplii that go thru the net will be eaten by other fish in the tank.

After you have feed the baby fish, you put the airstone back in the salt water and repeat process a few hours later.

Start a new lot of eggs and salt water every day or every second day and your baby fish will thrive.

You can use a 2 litre plastic drink bottle with the top cut off, as the hatching container.

------------------------
Microworms are small white worms that small fish love to eat. You buy a culture from a petshop or interweb and keep them in 1 or 2 litre plastic containers with lids. They live on porridge and yeast.

You make up some porridge (dry oats and water) and microwave the mixture and stir a few times to make a firm paste. Then smear the oatmeal/ porridge over the bottom of a plastic container. You only need a thin layer of porridge, about 3 - 5mm thick. Allow the porridge to cool then add a couple of tablespoons of microworms from another culture. Put lid on container and wait a few days.

The worms feed off starch in the porridge and breed readily. After a week or so they will start moving up the sides of the container. When this happens you use your finger to gently wipe some off the side and put in tank for baby fish. Wiggle your finger about in the tank water to spread the worms out. Put lid back on container and use it again later.

Keep microworms cooler if you want the cultures to last longer. Make new cultures each week. If you sprinkle some bakers yeast on the culture after it has been going for a few days, it will take off and grow a lot faster.

---------------------
Baby fish should be fed at least 4 times a day and given as much as they can eat so their bellies are fat.

Thanks, as always, Colin

I don’t think my wife will be happy with me growing worms in the shed so have just ordered the baby brine shrimp! Haha

She’s still smashing them out so I’m periodically having fun catching fry! They look happy and are eating well (ground flake and blood worms at the moment), can’t wait to see them go mad for some shrimp!

 

[Colin_T]

Microworms don't take up much space and don't look like worms. The culture container simply looks like porridge and if you look closely you can see it moving. You can keep a couple of cultures next to the aquarium or in a cupboard or anywhere.

Microworms are a good snack in between newly hatched brineshrimp and take 20seconds to feed. A quick wipe on the inside of the culture then wiggle finger in tank and done.