Guppies ?

Question

Alright. I've decided that I am going to get some guppies, and breed them.

I do have somewhere to take the little ones once it's time.

I have 3 tanks, so nothing to worry about.

Now;

I've never had guppies before, and I really need to know all there is about guppies themselves, and breeding them.

It would also be great if I could see some pictures of pregnant guppies, and guppies that aren't pregnant.

Thanks a TON! (10 points best answer to whoever give me most info!)

:D

Answer 1

A great tropical fish for freshwater aquarium fish beginners, the Guppy is a very hardy tropical fish that is also a very prolific breeder. The male is easy to distinguish from the female because the male is usually more colorful with extremely colorful and large caudal fins (tails). The female is usually larger, thicker bodied, with less color and a smaller cuadal fin (tail).

They are livebearers which means that the babies are free swimming at birth. At each birth, the female can have anywhere between 4 and 60 or more babies. If left in a community tank, the guppy fry will be quickly eaten if not secured in a breeding net or breeder's box. Sadly, even the guppy parents will partake in the baby guppy feast.

Please be responsible and have a plan for what to do with the fry. If you're not interested in breeding them they should do just fine when kept as all males or all females. Mix the sexes and you will most likely have babies. If knowing that the larger fish in the tank are having a feast (as they would in the wild) on the baby guppies bothers you then only keep all males or all females. You may sometimes see some aggression amongst the males but nothing too out of hand.

Also, keep in mind that female guppies can be pregnant when you buy them from the store. Look for the gravid spot by the anal vent or a bulging in the belly area.

They will accept most fish food including vitamin enriched flakes, frozen, freeze dried and live foods. Try to give them a variety of foods for optimum health and coloration. Feeding them live or frozen foods every once in a while should do wonders for their activity levels and general well being.

Picture

  

Freshwater Fish Species Profile and Care Information

Scientific Name : Poecilia reticulata

Common Names : Guppy, Fancy Tail Guppy, Millions Fish, Rainbow Fish

Guppy Care Level : Easy, good for freshwater beginners when you have only one s*x. This fish will breed easily in your tank if you plan on keeping males and females in the same tank.

Size : 2 inches (5 cm)

pH : 7 - 8

Temperature : 66°F - 84°F (19°C - 29°C)

Water Hardness : 10° to 20° dH,

Guppy Lifespan : 3 - 5 years

Origin / Habitat : Central America

Temperament / Behavior : This is a peaceful and hardy fish that is good for beginners.

Guppy Breeding / Mating / Reproduction : Livebearers and not very hard to breed. Parents will eat their young if not separated. Read the breeding guppies article for more information.

Tank Size : 10 gallon or larger.

Compatible Tank Mates : Many, given their peaceful nature.

Guppy Disease : Freshwater Fish Disease - Diagnose, Symptoms and Treatment

Diet / Fish Food : Give them flakes, freeze dried and live foods. Vary their diet for optimum colors and health.

Tank Region : Middle to top

Gender : Easy to determine. The male will have the larger, more colorful tails.

Heres how to breed them:

Two of the more popular tropical fish for beginners has to be Guppies and Swordtails. Guppies and Swordtails are livebearers which means that their babies come out swimming. Like most livebearers, there is not much to getting your guppies or swordtail to breed. If you have a male and a female then you will eventually have a pregnant female. The gestation period for livebearers is usually 28 days but can range from 20 to 40 days.

Place the male and female in the same tank together and they will soon mate. You are probably asking, how can I tell when the female is pregnant? When a female guppy is pregnant she will develop a dark triangular shaped gravid spot near her anal vent. This will get larger and darker as the pregnancy progresses.

While you are waiting on the female to develop the fry it's time to make sure you are prepared for the delivery. We use plastic breeder boxes and always have without any problems. A breeder box is a small box plastic box about 4 inches long by 3 inches wide and 4 inches deep. There is a removable "V" shaped trap in it which serves to separate the mother from the babies. When the mother fish has babies they fall through the slot in the "V" into the bottom of the box. After the mother is finished having babies, you can remove the "V" trap so that the babies have more room to grow.

Heres a pregnant female guppy: http://www.aquariumhobbyist.com/guppies/...

Heres a Male guppy;    http://www.tropicalfishforum.net/photopo...

( theres alot more colors then that)

That's pretty good when there stil fry but when the grow you'll have problems.

Almost forgot when you see if it is pregnant you should buy a birth box to put her in. You can buy birth boxes at any store, but if you can't you could just put it in a big glass bowl.

Answer 2

Yes that is a picture of a male and pregnant female. And the other's have given you great advice so I wont follow up.

Good luck with the babies!!

I've never kept guppies I love my mollies, you dont need anything else they occupy the top, middle and bottom of the tank.

Well really they are just there to fertilize my plants, lol. I have a plant tank with live fertilizer! LOL I love my plants!

Make sure you have alot of plants for the babies to hide in ok? You should be fine and they will grow up and you wont have to move them around like that.

put them all in a large tank with lots of plants. 29 gallon minimum.

Answer 3

you want atleast a 29 gallon tank because they reproduce so fast that u will get overcrowded. trust me i had this problem. guppies are easy to take care of all u need to know is clean healthy water, water changes, have a filter and a heater, and just feed them thats all. do more research on google itll help but thats the basics. u dont even need to see pictures of a pregnant guppy to be able to tell all there is to it is if she has a black dot by her anous or like i like to call it the booty lol. as it gets bigger and blacker thats when you know that the babys are getting closer to coming. they have them every 3-4 weeks so write down when the last time she had her babys was so u can be expecting more

Answer 4

heres how it gives birth to gupies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqCzCRCMg...