Within a month, at least one of those females should drop fry.
As you know, it isn't too early to consider what to do with those fry. You may just want to provide shelter for them with the parents. Not every fry will survive. Those that do should be healthy and actually likely to grow faster than fry in a fry tank.
There is a danger in trying to save every fry and get more tanks for them. After a while, you don't "have" the guppies, they "have" you and the fun can vanish.
You can probably do the math on this quicker than I can, but here goes.
Let's imagine that all of your guppies' fry survive. The numbers below are imaginary and a little too convenient. But they may even be conservative.
In the next couple of weeks:
Amazon dropped 10 fry and they survived.
Fancy dropped 15 fry and they all survived.
You had also purchased those 4 other males, along with your two pairs.
(That would be plenty, perhaps too many guppies for some new tanks.)
At the end of the first month there are 33 guppies in your 20-gallon tank. If the nitrogen cycle has gotten off to a good start, they should be comfortable and a lot of fun to watch.
In month 2:
Amazon dropped 15 fry and Fancy dropped 25.
There are 73 guppies in that tank. You are adding Val and hornwort. ;)
You are feeding them a couple of times a day. You have learned how to feed them without any food being left on the gravel after five-ten minutes.
Month 3:
Amazon dropped 25 fry; Fancy dropped 35.
That's obviously 133 guppies.
You are Guppy Queen of your block.
You use the gravel vacuum more than the computer.
Month 4
Amazon dropped 30 fry and Fancy birthed 40
One male died.
You are the proud provider for 202 guppies
Month 5
Amazon dropped 25 fry, Fancy 45
Another male died
Oh yes! 10 of those first 25 fry were females. They dropped 7 each on the average.
Your tank now has 341 guppies!
You put another 20 gallon tank underneath your 20 on a stand. ;)
Summer vacation begins. You have been playing softball and or soccer for three months now and are glad to get away to practice and games/ matches.
Month 6
Another male and Amazon, having lived full lives for guppies, pass on to that fishbowl in the sky...
(or the ceramic resting place in the bathroom.)
Fancy contributed 40 more fry.
The class of month 1 has 120 fry.
The young adults (20 females) from month 2 have dropped 140 fry
You have 639 guppies and are considering sealing your sister's room, cutting the door off at 2 feet,painting it with marine epoxy and flooding it. ;)
Month 7
Fancy is showing her age, but drops 20 fry.
The month 1 crowd dropped 200 fry.
The month 2 adults dropped 200 fry as well.
All of the older males died, smiling.
The month 3 females (all thirty of them) dropped 210 fry.
Well over 1200 guppies are romping around in your tanks and your sister's room. ;)
Your sister moved out.
Your mom seriously considers buying you a pair of Pike Top Minnows (Belonesox belizanus) or one of those sneaky night hunting catfishes with the long whiskers.
My math may be a tad off. But you get the picture and can take the population explosion (if every fry were saved) to the first year or two. That is why one of the nicknames for guppies is "The Millions Fish."
By this time next year, you have run out of friends who will give a home to guppies and are at risk of running out of friends. Every classroom in your school district has a guppy tank. Neighbors pretend to be out of town when they see you approaching their houses with a styrofoam box. The old geezer who can't hide fast enough, fakes a heart attack. ;) The paramedics see you and greet you with, "NO!"
All the best in fun, :)
uncle scott
[ Parent ]