not an emergency

[Bren]

Hi, I have two female guppies left in my tank with 2 corys, 2 neons, 2 ? black with gold stripe tetras ( were in the guppy tank with guppys when i bought them at the pet store) and a large algie eater. My tank readings are good according to lady at pet store: pH7.6, Amonia 0, nitries0.1, Nitrates 0.3, KH 70, GH 160. I have to go away for the weekend, but someone will be home to feed my fishies. I think my females are ready to give birth as they have been pooping all day. their bellys are very rounded and the g spot on both gets very very dark at times, darker and fuller than ever. I do not have a fry tank but it is a 10 gallon tank with lots of plants for fry to hide. My question is isthere a way to tell if they will give birth while I am away this weekend. We had a batch of fry a while back but they dies and so did my other fish as i was told to feed the fish lots so the fry would not get eatten. Well I did that and the fry did not get eaten but my Nitrite, Nitrat and Amonia levels went throught the roof. I think that is what killed almost all of my other fish. My children were devistated. I replaced them with the ones I have now and everything has been good since, so this time I am not overfeeding them, when the fry come. Thanks Bren
P.S. I also placed this in the breeding advice colum but need an answer quickly as I am leaving in a few hours.... thanks again Bren
P.P.S. Both guppies seem to be pecking as if to clean the plants alto today.. Dont know if thats what they are doing or not... lol

 

[Bren]

???

 

[Jaded_Pulse]

I'm sorry, I don't know much about breeding, but I thought I'd bump this back up for you. BTW - NitrIte levels should be 0, unless your tank's still cycling?? & are you sure your NitrAte levels are so low? Unless it's a VERY heavily planted tank, I find that unusual. Also, just about others feeding them over the weekend - personally I let NOBODY feed my guys because it's so easy to overfeed. Make sure you show whoever's feeding them exactly how much to feed them each day & tell them you don't care how much they plead, they are NOT to get more than what you've allocated for each day. As you know, overfeeding makes for big disaster. Ok I'll stop babbling. Hopefully a useful person will come along soon

 

[tstenback]

There is no way to be sure if they will give birth while you are gone but if they are ROUND right now then it might be OK. They usually get quite square looking when they are very close almost like one of those monsterous cargo planes. If there are lots of plants and there will be somebody feeding the fish then even if one has its babies some may be safe....they are pretty clever at staying out of the way of big mouths. Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

[my_fallen_angel]

im not sure if you have lfet already.
I wouldnt suggest over feeding at all, as you found out the hard way.

Also do not leave any "weekend food blocks' either!!!
Thoses things are bad! The fish eat and eat and eat and eat (i think yiu get the picture )

What i found with my platies is thayt the females tend to hide alot more a day or 2 before they have their babies, in the plants and behind everything.

But apart from that you cant really tell untill she is ahveing them.
Sorry

Have a good weekend