Why Won't My Guppy Become Pregnant?

[Olivia 22]

Hi,
I have two male guppies and one female guppy. I used to have three females but the recently died. I know that it is best to have more females so I will get more ASAP. Anyway, they are in a 55 gallon tank and I cannot get them to breed. I am not sure if my female guppy is pregnant or not, she looks bigger but I can't find a gravid spot. Any tips on making sure she is pregnant, or getting them to breed. (This is my first time breeding.) I have a breeder's net that I could use if nessisary but I really don't want to have to buy anything speacial (like food etc.) Plus, if anyone has succesfully bred a Platy/Guppy I would like to know because I would like to try that as well. And while I'm posting, I've heard about putting salt in my freshwater aquarium. Aren't these freshwater fish, why would I need salt


Thanks for any answers.

The picture of her is my profile picture, sorry it's so small and blurry, was the best I could get...

 

[lilfishie]

what other tankmates are there? chances are you've had fry, missed them and they got eaten.

you will not find a gravid spot because of her colour.

its always best to give fish a varied diet, not just flakes. I feed my fish a mixture of regular flake, betta pellets (have bettas in all my tanks), shrimp pellets, catfish nuggets, bloodworm pellets, frozen bloodworm and various veg and thats just a weeks worth

if you are certain there not breeding add another 5 females and feed them high protein foods like bloodworm 1-2 times a week.

platies/guppies cannot interbreed


Salt can be used for medical reasons but they don't need it all the time

 

[Olivia 22]

what other tankmates are there? chances are you've had fry, missed them and they got eaten.

you will not find a gravid spot because of her colour.

its always best to give fish a varied diet, not just flakes. I feed my fish a mixture of regular flake, betta pellets (have bettas in all my tanks), shrimp pellets, catfish nuggets, bloodworm pellets, frozen bloodworm and various veg and thats just a weeks worth

if you are certain there not breeding add another 5 females and feed them high protein foods like bloodworm 1-2 times a week.

platies/guppies cannot interbreed


Salt can be used for medical reasons but they don't need it all the time

Ok, thank you. I have betta pellets but didn't know I could give them to my other fish. Other fish mates are mostly danios. She has never look really big before but I always look closely in case she did have fry. Thanks!!

 

[This Old Spouse]

Also, the temp should be in the upper 70s for them to breed. And ... if you don't see a gravid spot, are you sure she's a she?

 

[Olivia 22]

Also, the temp should be in the upper 70s for them to breed. And ... if you don't see a gravid spot, are you sure she's a she?

Positive she's a she. She might have a gravid spot but isn't that only when she's pregnant? I have my tank around 75 degrees....

 

[lilfishie]

most females will have a gravid spot even when not pregnant so its not the best way to tell for sure

 

[Grimcoll]

Firsty can ijust say please dont ever hold a fish out of water like that to take a picture .

She does look like she could be pregnant and i can just about make out a gravid spot in the picture .

 

[This Old Spouse]

Firsty can ijust say please dont ever hold a fish out of water like that to take a picture .

what?

Never mind ... just looked at that photo in your profile

 

[fish48]

Also, the temp should be in the upper 70s for them to breed. And ... if you don't see a gravid spot, are you sure she's a she?

Positive she's a she. She might have a gravid spot but isn't that only when she's pregnant? I have my tank around 75 degrees....

guppy with a gravid spot
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/313719-female-guppies-never-have-babies/page__p__2598483&#entry2598483

 

[nicklos]

What temp is your tank? I can almost gaurantee that you have had fry in there before and just over looked them. They are extremely small when born and if not saved, most if not all will be eaten.

 

[fish48]

Olivia 22 tank temp around 75 degrees/ as you say the fry are probably being eaten

 

[Olivia 22]

Firsty can ijust say please dont ever hold a fish out of water like that to take a picture .

She does look like she could be pregnant and i can just about make out a gravid spot in the picture .

So incase she is pregnant, should I keep her in a breeders net? Or what should I do...

 

[Baccus]

Firsty can ijust say please dont ever hold a fish out of water like that to take a picture .

She does look like she could be pregnant and i can just about make out a gravid spot in the picture .

So incase she is pregnant, should I keep her in a breeders net? Or what should I do...

Rather than a breeding net get a live barer trap, it has a false bottom and allows the babies to drop down away from their mother who will happily munch them, while stopping the fry from disappearing into anyone elses mouths or the rest of the tank in general. The babies usually cotton on pretty quickly that its safer to stay below the divider and once the female has stopped dropping her babies you can remove her as well as the divider and the babies can stay in the whole trap until they are past easy snack size.

 

[Unknown10101]

Hmm, is your guppy very small, it might not be mature. Also, she might be getting fatter because you are overfeeding her. Are you overfeeding her? Also, you might hav emissed the guppies, although I have a newborn guppy in my tank that hasn't gotten eaten yet. Try feeding them freeze-dried brine shrimp, because that is known to get the fish in the mood to reproduce.

 

[fish48]

two male guppies can put a lot of stress on one female add anther 3 females or more there will be less aggression. towards the same female feed them on live foods there is simply no Better food