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New here/ pregnancy question | 7 comments (5 topical, 2 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: New here/ pregnancy question (none / 0) (#1)
by Alisa on Fri Dec 15, 2006 at 11:16:53 AM PST

Try this link
As morbid as it sounds, they like to snack on their babies. Might account for no fry in the tank after a month.

Re: New here/ pregnancy question (none / 0) (#4)
by New Guppy Momma on Fri Dec 15, 2006 at 08:21:19 PM PST

Males will also follow a droppong female and snatch up newborn fry like they are starving. Personal observation. "NO...don't eat the babies" doesn't work ;)

I didn't notice any fry until I'd had my gups for about 2 1/2 months. Then they were all over the place.

Good luck and I hope you get some babies soon.

Also baby guppies will hide in the plants and other decorations for the first week or two of their lives. Another personal observation ;)
Before all else fails....do a 25% water change ;)
[ Parent ]

Wow! Those were hungry males. Otherwise (none / 0) (#5)
by unclescott on Fri Dec 15, 2006 at 09:52:30 PM PST

they would be scrambling to mate with the female. Useful in the wild, probably a pain in the neck for females in the aquarium is the situation where they release a pheromone to alert males to the possibility that they can be impregnated, a condition true for only about 48 hours.

That might draw males to a female guppy in a stream that might not otherwise find her. In the close confines of an aquarium those males seldom need any more motivation.

A good feeding of something meaty will usually serve to blunt the female's interest in her fry. I would imagine that the males would pick up some (rinsed, defrosted or live) food too and would devote their energy to pursuing the female.

I know of at least one species which leave it's own fry along for a day. I think scent is involved with the very predatory Pike Livebearer, Belonesox belizanus. (There aren't many livebearers who are regular predators of young cichlids!) The next day the scent has dissipated and the inch (2.5cm) long fry had better have made their getaway too.

I wonder if guppies can distinguish their own fry from others and whether it would be by scent. I wonder if unrelated females would be more likely to eat fry because their scent was "different".

[ Parent ]

Re: Wow! Those were hungry males. Otherwise (none / 0) (#6)
by New Guppy Momma on Sat Dec 16, 2006 at 07:09:04 AM PST

In my observations a female guppy will not go after any fry in the first 24 hours after she drops. Then they're fair game. Maybe they do have some sort of mothering instinct but it wears off quickly. I'm sure there are some females tho that don't follow this rule.

Oh and I'm sure the males are there for the mating but sneak a meaty snack when available. Multi tasking;)

And as I've said before Nature rules my tanks. If the fry can't get away in time. Too bad. There are always more coming. Not to mention that 3/4 of my females have the audacity to drop within a 3 day period. Can you just imagine the fry load from 12 females :0 I do have a grouping of plants that most of the females like to nestle in to drop fry. As well as a purple "spawning mop" I made. Actually it was so Captain Jack could feel more at ease. But then some pretend they are princesses and deliver on top of the castle. Silly girls.

Gotta go. My big girl has a bowling party today.
So no thinking outloud today :(

Oh and regardless of how well I feed them there's still the dwarf gourami's, neon tetra's, rasbora's and the 2 goldfish (for another week or two til the fry come out of the 10 gallon) that will snap up an unwary fry.
Before all else fails....do a 25% water change ;)
[ Parent ]

Ha! Alisa beat me to it. In the Immediate Help (none / 0) (#2)
by unclescott on Fri Dec 15, 2006 at 06:14:12 PM PST

section, please start with the sections on
# Breeding
# Pregnancy and Birth
# Sexing Fry
# Fry Diet and Safety

A lot of these questions come up every week or two and have been for years. When you become more familiar with that stuff, you will still have questions, they will just be at a little different level. :)

And we will be here.:)

All the best!

[ Parent ]

New here/ pregnancy question | 7 comments (5 topical, 2 editorial, 0 hidden)

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