Yes, Another Guppy Thread

[robbo1078]

Sorry if this has been bought up before but I cannot work out if one/teo of the guppies I have are pregnant or not,basically, as I said in my very fist thread, I was given a tank, of which one of the guppy had fry, now im not sure if another is going through pregnancy. Bearing in mind im new and have NO idea how to sex fish I could be completely wrong ...

Anyhow, the fish seems to be staying at the bottom of the tank with her behind in the plants as much as possible, anytime anyone goes behind it, it snaps and goes a bit mad lol, over the last couple of days this has been and it only really comes out for food, also another detail is basically all the guppies in the tank (6) seem to be staying in these plants at the bottom of the tank, any ideas much appreciated? Cheers!

oops by sex, I mean find gender...

 

[SamLovesCorys]

To tell they are pregnant check the gravid spot. (Google search it!)

Female Guppies tend to only have bright colours on the rear body and tail, and also don't have a gonopodium (Google search this too!)

 

[Scales9]

If you can post some pictures of the guppies or have a look on here at other posts I did one a couple of weeks ago... " i need some expert eyes" some people kindly added their pics of pregnant guppies to help me guess when my girls will drop.

 

[robbo1078]

Ahhh okay cheers, I'll have a look

 

[OldMan47]

Sam, please stick to subjects that you actually know about from personal experience. As you said, a Google search will bring up tons of information to look through but a huge amount of it will simply be wrong. That is why this forum exists. Google searches are just that. Almost anything imaginable has been said on line and Google is great at finding those bits of bad advice.

robbo1078, I find a gravid spot as absolutely the worst way to try to judge a guppy's progress and many other fish do not even have a gravid spot due to their skin color hiding it. Take for example this 3 weeks gone molly.

Do you see her gravid spot? She was exactly 7 days from her next drop when I took that picture. On the other hand, I do find shape as a very reliable way to judge a fish's state. That is why we have a thread here that gives pictures of the various stages of development of a molly from one drop to the next. It can be reached using a link in my signature area called My Molly's Progress. When you use shape, you can learn to quickly ignore misleading colors and focus on the development of the female. Can you imagine trying to judge a woman's state by the color of her skin? No way. Instead you will look at her shape and decide that she is getting close or is far off. Shape is also far more than good eating. There is a huge difference between well fed and carrying fry. In that thread I take the time to point out how shape can be misleading if you are feeding your fish well. Mere swelling gives almost no indication of state. Shape, not size, is the real cue.